Our Travels In 2001

It is now three and a half years since we left Victoria Dock in Melbourne to
begin this voyage around the world. Each year of cruising has taken us to
new places where we have met up with old friends and made many new ones.
Many friends joined us this year, we caught up with others we hadn't seen
for a long time, and we made many new friends along the way. For the first
three weeks of April while Carol was in the US, Peter spent the time in the
little shipyard at Torredembarra, Spain, getting “Evanna” ready for the next
stage of the voyage. Carol returned on board, and “Evanna” set sail on May 1
for what was to be a great season of cruising.

The voyage took us down the coast of Spain to Gibraltar, then north along
the Atlantic coasts of Spain, Portugal and France to the NW corner of
Brittany, across to Ireland, then back to the Channel Islands via the coast
of Cornwall. In some ways it could be called the "Year of the Rivers" as we
put into so many beautiful river estuaries. Tidal rivers are always
fascinating as their character changes so markedly between high and low
water, and the reeds along the banks are a birdwatcher's paradise.

Spain & Portugal (May, June)

On the coasts of Spain and Portugal we found some lovely fishing harbours.
As the “Evanna” is so self contained with her 10 kva generator, water maker
and large holding tanks we really don't need a marina. We much prefer to tie
up in a fishing harbour or lie at anchor in a bay and use the dingy to go
ashore. One of the exceptions was the marina of Fuengirola where we met up
with friends Di and Brian who looked after us for a week, and then cruised
with us to Gibraltar. Like everyone else we had to climb the "rock" , meet
the apes, and do all the tourist things in Gibraltar before putting “Evanna”
out through the straights to follow the coasts of Spain to Portugal.

While the small ports of Peniche and Camarinas in Portugal were delightful
little fishing ports, we needed to put into the larger harbours of Lisbon
and Porto for some serious sightseeing ashore. From Porto we took a train
ride up the beautiful Douro valley to the town of Regna. We both love train
rides, and it was a great way to see the countryside.The cruise followed the
Atlantic coast of Portugal north into Spain again. In the northern Spanish
harbour of Gijon, Carol stored the ship up for the passage across the Bay of
Biscay. It was also our last chance to stock up on good Spanish wine before
getting into the more expensive French varieties. The stores, together with
the full fuel and water tanks put the ship well down in the water, and
although this reduces her speed a little, it makes for a more comfortable
ride at sea. We had to wait in Gijon for a few days for a front to approach that would back the wind around to the south west from the steady easterly
that had been blowing. The south west gale lasted a couple of days, and with
reefed sails, “Evanna” made short work of the passage across the Bay of Biscay to Rochefort in France.

France  (June, July)

Rochefort is one of those little French towns you dream about but so seldom
find. About 40 kms up the river Charente, this unspoilt little boat building
town still has its dry docks and rope factory (all museums now) where many
of Napoleon's fleet were built. Strangely, tourists have not yet discovered
Rochefort, and the town happily goes about its regular business without the
economic need of souvenir shops and all the other regular tourist trappings.
Douglas arrived on board for the cruise up the French coast, and we set sail for La Rochelle.

One of the great hazards of travelling in a yacht is customs, especially in
the EU. We were boarded several times at sea by the French customs. Every
year the French put in a good deal of effort searching out foreign vessels
that have been in the EU for longer than 6 months in any one year. Any yacht
unlucky enough to be caught is fined the considerable amount of 40% of the
value of the vessel. There is no argument or discussion, and most owners are
obliged to sell their yacht in order to pay. Fortunately we knew about this
law, and the French enthusiasm for enforcing it, and had “Evanna” put under
custom bond last winter in Spain, a formality that exempts the yacht for
that period. The French were noticeably disappointed when we showed them the bond papers!

St Nazaire was one of several German submarine bases during WW2, and the massive pens are still intact. They are likely to remain  for a very long
time to come as they are built of 2 - 3  metre thick concrete. While the
pens completely sheltered the U-boats from Allied bombing,  the U-boats were vulnerable in the lock at the entrance to the harbour where they would be stationary for half an hour while locking through, and several were
destroyed before the lock was also enclosed in 2 metre concrete. It was great to tour the area with Douglas who has written several best selling books on the war. Susan and Seamus from Boston joined us at St Nazaire for the cruise north to Brittany.

At Brest we anchored in the bay off the village of Roscanval. The idea was
to meet up with our old friends Albert and Corry on Sea Wolf who were
beginning their cruise back to Australia. While anchored side by side we all
met up with some delightful French people who  entertained us royally for
several days before we wished the Sea Wolf  "Bon Voyage", and headed “Evanna” across the Celtic Sea for the three day passage to the south west coast of Ireland.

Ireland  (July, August)

Peter last visited Ireland in 1970 on the yacht Barracuda, and while he was
expecting some differences he wasn't prepared for the tremendous economic
changes that have taken place since Ireland joined the EU and became known
as the Celtic Tiger. Despite this upsurge in living living standards, the
Irish are still as generous and friendly as ever as we were to find during
the next two months.

What better landfall than the tiny fishing harbour of Castle Haven on the
south west coast. A street lined with fishermen's cottages wound up hill to
the village where the church, store and pub were all the locals seemed to
need for daily life. Pam and John joined us for a couple of weeks, and as
Pam is not a keen sailor they kept the hire car. Carol and Pam stayed ashore
in the car, while Peter and John sailed the “Evanna” from harbour to harbour,
joining the girls for a few tours inland, including the beautiful Ring Of
Kerry. The evenings were spent searching out the best of Irish music in the
pubs.

Waterford was one of our favourite berths in Ireland. The 15 nautical mile
trip up the river took in some of the most beautiful river scenery imaginable. As well as visiting the famous crystal factory, we used Waterford as a base to tour much of the area inland. We then all left “Evanna” for a few days and spent some time in Dublin around museums and galleries and Trinity College. At  the famous Abbey theatre where we saw the play "Translations".

 Cornwall & Channel Islands  (August, September)

The passage from Waterford to the coast of Cornwall was a wild trip. The
Irish Sea is not a reliable stretch of water even at its best, and this time
a south west gale gave us a very lively ride. We were happy to round Lands
End and put into the shelter of Falmouth. The Cornish harbours and towns are still delightful despite the enormous expansion of tourism, and Falmouth was just one of several that we explored. Joanna joined us for a few days as we pottered along the Cornish coast. The tiny harbour of Cawsand was our
favourite.

It was now getting on toward September, and time to look for a winter berth.
We decided on St Helier in Jersey where “Evanna” could be left in safety in
the care of our friend Tim Riddell (and beyond the reach of the EU customs).
On the way to Jersey we called in at St Peterport on the island of Guernsey
and passed a very pleasant couple of days walking the small winding streets
of this old town. Tim was waiting for us in St Helier so Peter and Tim spent
a few weeks doing some much needed maintenance on “Evanna”, while Carol tried to keep her home in some sort of order as the men were tearing it apart! There was always time though for some interesting distractions. We spent one wonderful day with Douglas Botting and Lee Durrell, starting with a visit to the German Underground Hospital which is now a museum to the occupation, lunch at the Pottery, then Lee took us on a private visit to the world famous zoo set up by her husband Lawrence Durrell who endeavoured to save endangered species by breeding them in captivity. It was a fitting end to a great year of discovery., and time to plan for the next.

Many of our friends are now crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean on their
way to the Panama canal and the Pacific Ocean. It is tempting to join them,
and we do envy them the warm weather on those lazy tropical beaches, but
after a while one tropical beach tends to look a bit like another, and there
is still so much to see in Europe that we've decided to stick around this
part of the world for a bit longer. We'd like to spend one summer in the
Baltic and also see the Norwegian Fjords before crossing the Atlantic. So
keep a watch on our cruising plans in case there's somewhere you'd like to
join us. We hope to see you on board “Evanna” one day.

Peter and Carol Evans