AL SHAHEEN -
Sailing 2002/3:
UK and Ireland: March to August 2002
Al Shaheen was launched from Universal Shipyard into a cold and brown Hamble River
on a brisk day at the end of March and I immediately sailed her to Lymington with
Sheena Jolley. On 25 March we did a presentation sail in the Solent for Yachting
Monthly with James Jermain but, unfortunately, there was little wind in which to
really show her off. A few days later Tony Brimble and I sailed her to her summer
berth at Sutton Harbour, Plymouth. This was a fabulous sail in cold but bright weather,
mainly easterly F5, so we bowled along under poled-
In mid-
After that we made my favourite anchorage at Castletownshend, in wonderful weather, before heading back to Glandore and an overnight passage to the Scillies where we moored to a buoy in New Grimsby Sound and explored Tresco Gardens and Bryher. We had a very uncomfortable night there in a westerly blow, which worsened as it veered to the NW and then north. By morning it had moderated and we skimmed across Tresco Flatts and out of Crow Sound back to Plymouth with a northerly wind off the land and flat seas. This was the “shakedown” cruise before departure for the Atlantic in August!
Biscay, Spain and Portugal: August & September 2002
After a wonderful party in Plymouth attended by 15 or so friends, Tony, Sheena and
I were given a splendid send-
The Atlantic Islands, Porto Santo and the Canaries: September/October 2002
After 10 days in Cascais, I was getting itchy feet so when we got a favourable wind
we sailed direct for the Canaries instead of making further south to Lagos as originally
intended. It was so lumpy off Cascais, after the recent SW blow, that I was unusually
sea-
As Funchal has a poor reputation as an anchorage, we decided to leave the boat for
a few days in Porto Santo marina and take the ferry to Madeira, rent a car and explore
the island. We had a wonderful time exploring this wild and beautiful island and
driving over hair-
After a two-
Next day we sailed coastwise to Puerto Radazul, a little marina where we had decided to leave Al Shaheen for a month while we returned to the UK and, after “putting her to bed” we left for Gatwick on 11 October.
Returning on 12 November and joined by Tony Brimble a few days later, we sailed her to San Sebastian de la Gomera, our port of departure for the Atlantic. Sheena arrived on the 22nd and, two days after the ARC, on 26 November, we set sail, having waited for foul weather to pass through. For me, this fully justified not being in the ARC!
Atlantic crossing: La Gomera to Grenada. November/December 2002
We motored for half a day before the wind picked up on a close reach and a SW course
to gain southing in order to reach trade wind latitudes. We were very lucky to find
the trades on Day 3, ENE at 20 knots, so we stowed the main, rigged both headsails,
set up the Monitor and rolled away downwind. The NE trades blew at 18 to 25 knots,
day after day, for the next 15 days until we were 50 miles east of Grenada. It was
a technically easy passage, lots of wind, constant rolling and a mean boat speed
of over 7 knots. The Monitor did all the steering while the crew kept watch and just
rolled the headsails up when heavy squalls came up on us. We streamed the Aquair
towed generator which gave us 6 amps at 7 knots, and power sufficiency, but made
fishing impossible until it seized up in mid-
We arrived in Prickly Bay, Grenada on 14 December after 18½ days at sea and 2,768 miles sailed. During the crossing some slackness had developed in the steering system and I suspected that the skeg guide bearing had again worked loose. We slipped her on 23 December at Spice Island Marine and a South African mechanic and I engineered what we thought would be a permanent solution to the problem. In the event it only lasted 3 years before giving problems again!
Tony returned home for Christmas and my elder son Richard, and his wife Mary, joined us on 19 December for a couple of weeks Caribbean cruising. We spent Christmas Day in prickly Bay and had Christmas lunch together with Saltwhistle III at the Moorings Hotel in Secret Harbour.
Cruising in the Eastern Caribbean, January to May 2003. Grenada to Anguilla and back again
After Xmas, we sailed with Richard and Mary to Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou then to Union Island and spent a couple of days in the Tobago Cays. From there we raced Firefly (Stewart Whiting OCC driving Andrew Bray’s boat) 25 miles to Bequia. It was lively sailing, hard on the wind all the way, and a close call but Stewart won by a few hundred metres! We spent New Year’s Eve at the Frangipani in Bequia and R&M then departed for St Vincent and the UK.
After two weeks in Bequia, Sheena and I made a one-
Whilst in Marie Galante we received an email invitation, as two of only 4 guests, at the secret wedding of David and Susie (Saltwhistle III) to be held in 5 days time back at Ladera Resort in St Lucia, 140 miles back the way we had come! We arrived on time back in Rodney Bay, a little salty after a testing sail and had a very enjoyable time with John & Christine Lytle (Oriole) marrying off the Saltwhistles in an idyllic setting.
Once the wedding was over, Sheena left for the UK and Denis and Heather Dryden joined me for a couple of weeks to sail to Antigua. Progressing to Antigua by way of Martinique, Dominica, The Saintes and Guadeloupe (Des Haies) we arrived in English Harbour on 7 March and then spent a few days at Green Island and Nonsuch Bay before D&H left for the UK on 19 March.
Once Sheena returned we had another few days at Green Island before sailing up to St Maarten via Gustavia in St Barts. Five days anchored off the end of the main runway was enough for me and we proceeded north to Anguilla where we anchored in Road Bay and spent a very enjoyable week exploring the island. From there we returned to Antigua via St Eustacia and St Kitts, arriving covered in grey ash from the Montserrat volcano as we beat up past Redonda at night.
From Antigua we back-
