The next leg
Weds, Aug 25, 2021
On the Bus
The next leg: Ireland to the Canaries
I’m writing this sitting on the Concord bus traveling down Route 1 from Rockport ME to Logan airport where I’ll board a flight this evening at 6pm, arriving Dublin tomorrow morning. From Dublin I take the 30x express bus to Donegal, then a local bus to Killybegs where I suspect I’ll immediately fall asleep on the boat. The Harbour Master has already sent me the code to the marina’s security gate.
The last few days have been a flurry of activity that all magically came together yesterday. In no particular order: Parts for the engine, sim card for international calling, a guidebook for the coast of Spain, weather software, polo shirts for the last crew, dental work, haircut, and a last minute COVID test.
As hectic as that seemed to me, I suspect Pete Fasoldt, my nephew and crewmate for the next leg of the trip is dealing with bigger challenges. He has been technical climbing in Pakistan during the month of August and the last e-mail I got from him the day before yesterday included the update, “ I’m fresh out of the mountains, will have a few days of in country travel to get to Islamabad, but my plane tickets are still all set to leave here the 27th of August. I too will have to get a Covid test before I depart …”
Meanwhile I’m on the Concord Bus with air-conditioning, internet and a movie … but if anyone can manage to overcome travel obstacles it would be Pete, so I’m confident he will find his way from the mountains of Pakistan to Killybegs sooner or later.
Once Pete shows up, the refrigeration unit is fixed, the genoa sail put back on, the autopilot reassembled, and the food restocked, the next destination for the boat is the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. The total distance is 1800 miles, which should take 18 days of sailing or less. With just the two of us, that means some combination of 12 hours on watch each day but, unlike crossing the North Atlantic, we ‘ll be able to pick our weather windows and include at least one stop-over on the coast of Spain on the way. When the winds are favorable the boat steers herself on autopilot and standing watch is not bad. It’s often a good time to sit back in the helmsman’s chair and read a book.
If all goes as plan, we hope to be in the Canaries by the third week of September where Kay will join with time to cruise the islands before finding a Winter’s berth for the boat and then fly back to Boston in mid-October.
Such is the plan.