Ellös
to Ipswich 1-5 June
Éowyn's maiden voyage would be
a real test. We would sail from Ellös to Ipswich, some 
550 miles. The plan was
to arrive on TH November to coincide with the last night of a
major, week long rally of the Little Ship Club. The crew were
myself, Willie Meikle and Andy Chatterton.
We set out in fine weather, routing thought the Skagerak and South West towards Ipswich. However the winds soon turned against us and it was the motoring abilities of the HR40 which were tested rather than the sailing qualities. We motorsailed into a SW6 for several days before the gods looked kindly on us with a NW4/5 to see us in to Ipswich on time.
There were a few teething troubles on the way as there was an electrical short in the mast and the saloon lee cloths were not up to the job, but overall, I was delighted with the yacht.
I had five frantic days loading my personal items on the boat and by burning the midnight oil, just finished in time for the next leg.
Ipswich to
Hamble 10 - 12 July
Crew
this time - Myself, Chris Neighbour, Chris Nicholson, Mike Birch,
Richard Daniel.
Again the wind was
on the nose but we were able to sail more than the maiden voyage.
We put in to Ramsgate on Saturday, Eastbourne Sunday and finally
crept 
into Langstone Harbour with
only 0.5 metres under the keel and dropped anchor for the first
time. The next morning we sailed to Hamble Point Marina, the base
of Trans World Yachts, the UK Hallberg Rassy agent.
In the 3 weeks at
Hamble Point we were ably attended to by Rob Woods of Trans World.
He not only organised the warranty work, but put us in touch with
excellent tradesmen who installed the Bluewater equipment. Here
the Hydrovane from Galatea was fitted, as was a 
Duogen, High Output Alternator
and other electrical equipment, installed by David Ashley of On
Board Power. The Bimini was fitted by C & J Marine Textiles
and the Twistle rig and sails by Dennis Maidment and Andy Cassell
of Ratsey and Lapthorn.
The leecloths were strengthened and the Raymarine Sonar reprogrammed. The electrical fault turned out to be an incorrectly wired Tri light.
Hamble to Canaries 3rd August to 1st September
This would be the
first major test for Éowyn. We were strongly crewed
for the month long passage. I was joined by Mike Birch, Mike Burns,
Neil Cowan and Alick 
Downing. We left Hamble
point with good weather and fair winds but within 24 hours, we
had a South Westerly and yet again we had upwind sailing. The
Hallberg Rassy 40 is slightly fractionally rigged and I discovered
that on the wind even in light airs, some of the genoa needed
to be rolled in. One of the Twistle yankees is of heavy enough
material to be used upwind so we also experimented with that.
Yet again it was the engine which saw more use than the sails!
We had a quiet passage
across Biscay although 100 miles behind us, there were storms.
We made landfall in Northern Spain and spent a night on the anchor
before sailing round to Camariñas a small town in a beautiful
Ria. Surprisingly, there we met HR "Cocomarje" and her
Japanese owners - she had been alongside us in Ellös when
we took delivery of Éowyn
! The
passage had been notable for the culinary skills of the crew each
trying to outdo the other! Alick had brought several joints of
meat from Smithfield market so we not only had roast beef, lamb
and pork but our own freshly caught tuna as well !
After Camariñas, a short sail took us to Bayonna where we spent three days waiting for an improvement in the weather. The restaurants and bars were given a thorough testing!
We set sail for
Oporto and as before with Galatea, we found ourselves the only
yacht in Portugal's second
city. The entrance is shallow and challenging but with the help
of local fishermen we managed not to run aground and tied up at
the ferry dock - there are no yacht facilities here. Look carefully
at this view of the old town and you will see a lonely Éowyn
!
We spent three days in Oporto, sampling the delights of the port warehouses before an uneventful sail to Lisbon. Another three days were mainly spent sightseeing using the excellent tram system. Here Alick left us to return home to complete a piece of jewellery he had been commissioned to craft and the four of us sailed on to Lagos in the Algarve. Our stay here was extended as there was a complication in the paperwork to reclaim VAT on export. We put this to good use in the local hostelries and even produced our own tapas par excellence!
Once the VAT problem was sorted out, we set sail for Lanzarote with a brisk North-easterly breeze. This was the chance we were waiting for to try the Twistle rig. Up it went and soon we were surfing at ten knots in force 6! However RTFM took over (Read The F _ _ _ing Manual) I had not rigged the Twistle correctly and in a gust at night, the poles spun back and caught under the shrouds, removing the foghorn in the process. The damage was not too bad and after consulting the instructions, things were fine. It is important in the Twistle not to let the pivot joint come aft of the pole ends. In a later update, I will include some photos of the Twistle in action.
In Lanzarote, the only problem was to find flights home at school half term. I gave up and stayed 10 days!
Lanzarote to Las Palmas 14 - 25 October
Chris and I flew out to complete the delivery to Las Palmas ready for the start of the ARC. After an enjoyable scuba dive with Island Watersports, we set sail for Fuertaventura. The wind was not only kind to us, but we overtook an HR53 into the bargain. We had already met several ARC crews in our travels and here we encountered a very bold German family. Berndt and his crew of wife and children aged 5,7 and 17 were circumnavigating in Nis Randers their 35ft steel cutter. Bit crowded I think !!
We cruised down the East coast of the island and encountered not only dolphins but also several schools of pilot whales.
Again the winds were kind as we made the final 60 mile passage to Las Palmas and berthed on pontoon 17. We were helped in by eager ARC participants who soon explained we had arrived at the "Party Pontoon" Éowyn had completed the first part of her grand adventure.
On 10th December the crew flew out to Las Palmas to complete the preparation work for the start of the ARC on 21 November.
St Lucia to Bequia and back
Crew (yes you're right - it was too many)
First section - Skipper + Chris Neighbour, Willie Meikle, Grace Meikle, Mike Birch, Val Birch, Jacqui Neighbour, Zoe Scott
Second section - Skipper + Chris Neighbour, Jacqui Neighbour, Vicki Neighbour, Roger Dance, Janice Bernhardt, Zoe Scott
After the ARC arrival we took a well earned night at the Bay Gardens Inn at Rodney Bay. After that we were joined by Mike and Willies wives, Chris's daughter Jacqui and her friend Zoe. We enjoyed the ARC social life for a few days culminating in the Grand Prizegiving (none for us!) We set sail for St Vincent, stopping off at the delightful Marigot Bay and a crew change at the most delightful anchorage in these parts at Anse de Pitons. We dined at "Bang", run by the somewhat eccentric Lord Glenconner and with Janice and Roger on board, next stop was Cumberland Bay, St Vincent.
We returned Éowyn to Rodney Bay and left her in the Marina for our return in March
St Lucia to Grenada
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Skipper + Chris, David and Ruth Thrush, Malcolm Campbell |
At the beginning of April we returned to Rodney Bay and after a few days preparing Éowyn, we were joined by Ruth & David Thrush and Malcolm Campbell. We also met with neighbours of Ruth & David in Newton Ferrers, John & Chris Little on the Bowman "Oriole".
Our cruise took us to the Pitons via Marigot Bay, St Lucia and after an Island tour we set sail for St Vincent, but not before a "jump up" at "Bang" where we were treated to acrobasts and fire eaters!!
After setting sail, we were joined on passage by "Vincent" a small heron who stowed all the way until he could reach land in safety. We had an excellent dinner with Chris & John ashore at Petit Bayahaut and after that we set sail for Bequia - for us, the jewel of the Grenadines.
Several days at Bequia included meals at "Gingerbread" and Macs Pizza with, inevitably, several dives for Graham & Chris.
We briefly visited Mustique but stayed overnight at the Tobago Cays - a crowded anchorage as usual. A quieter place was Mayreau where we had a good walk and supper at Dennis Hideaway where the man himself was on great form. Next we tried Union Island with the beach barbeque by "Shark Attack" and thence on to PSV but eating on Petit Martinique. Onwards to Hillsborough on Carriacou and then to Tyrell Bay where we dined again with "Oriole's" crew. Finally we made landfall in Grenada to visit old friends and see at first hand the devastation of Hurricane Ivan
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After the crew left for home, we started the work to put Éowyn to bed for the season. a great layup cover was made by Dave Royce of Grenada Marine Canvas and we felt that owyn was safe on her stands and chained to concrete bases.
