Canopus

Kids Corner - J - The Wellerman shanty and spinnakers

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A shanty familiar to all those at DJS! Js first time driving with the spinnaker up, proving you can sing and drive while the spinnaker is flying - no easy feat!

2 boats is a regatta….The sail to the Canaries

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

L: Well here we are again. Out in the open ocean. But this time it does feel a little different. The temperatures are a lot colder (I am in foulies!), the boat is rolling and surfing on a distinctive Atlantic swell and we are sailing with a gaggle of boats all heading in the same direction. Whilst in port we all talk the talk of cruisers - “we’re here to have fun and run the boat conservatively with the kids on board…..” - but it does feel good to be at the front of the pack (despite being the second smallest monohull!) and the adrenaline is kicking in as we are being caught (particularly with another Moody that we got to know in Tangiers!). It might not be a race but they do say that 2 boats is a regatta.

Settling back into life at sea is a peculiar experience - especially as everybody does it at a different pace. Sititing here right now is amazingly peaceful and a point in time that you can only appreciate if you are able to experience it. We talk about making memories on this trip and today has definitely done that. J finally found his sea legs, within the day has removed his head from the bucket to singing sea shanties whilst steering the boat flying our Spinnaker. We were all on deck enjoying the conditions and ended with a family round of “the Wellerman” - quickly becoming our boat song and a sight/sound best kept for the open sea!

It is midnight now, the boat is quiet, we are trucking along at 8.5kts, there is a single tanker on the horizon and the night sky is providing a light show that you can only get out in the ocean. Since our last blogs the wildlife has also been out to play with sunfish, turtles, swordfish and plenty of dolphin showing off. Fortunately no Orcas!

So - it has been a while since the last blog - our apologies! Indeed I edit this after a handover where V informs me that she has just written up Gibraltar so you have 2 in quick succession. Sorry for any overlaps….

Since our last blog we have been said goodbye to OB, requiring a vet’s trip in Malaga, had an extended non-Schengen/boat maintenance stay in Gibraltar and had a whistle stop in Africa. We have now cleared the straits, left Orca-alley behind and powering on towards Lanzarote. Whilst, the ARC+ (the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) does not start for a month, we do now feel like we have very much started the Atlantic leg with a 5 day passage down to the start in Gran Canaria. There is also a defined gaggle of boats all heading in the same direction - all being corralled through a Wattsapp group organised by V. (If the competitive spirit on Canopus was surprise number 1 of the blog then I guess this is surprise 2!).

Saying Goodbye to OB was definitely a low point of the trip. It is amazing what a hole a dog leaves behind. He loved boat life, swimming and being in (very) close contact and we his company. Unfortunately, he just found it impossible to go to the loo on the boat whilst in motion and so he could not do the extended passages that we are now on. Seeing videos of him chasing leaves and his tail going back in the UK has definitely reassured us that we have made the right call.

Our recent stops down the spanish coast have felt a little functional to be honest - Torremelinos to stamp out of Schengen and sort the dog travel, Gibraltar to build non-Schengen time and some much needed boat work and Tangiers to find the weather window to get out into the Atlantic and down to the Canaries. Aligning the constraints of boat readiness, tides, current, wind and Orcas through the straits has been consuming - but the truth is that we had a relatively easy time of it. The passage across the traffic in the straits was very well planned by V and we got across well - albeit that by the time we got across to Africa avoiding the adverse tide, the wind had built somewhat. Tangiers was a welcome sight until we were told to moor on the windward side of a pontoon being blown on at 26kts while we cleared customs. Arriving was easy, departing less so!

Gibraltar was a long stopover that definitely grew in appeal. We entered in the very early morning through a very narrow gap created between the Gibraltan peninsular and the runway which juts out into the sea. The gap is very small and difficult to distinguish in the dark - but we managed although I suspect closer to the runway than is normal given we got blue flashing lights racing towards us along the runway as we made our entry!

It was lovely to see Granny who spent 4 days with us acting in loco parentis while V flew home with the dog and I battled with boat maintenance. The kids were over the moon to see her - not that they showed it in their abilities to concentrate on home schooling!

We did manage to get a lot of work done to the boat - we have hot water returned, the hatch lids are replaced, Starlink is up and running and we have done some good work to manage our gearbox leaks. There will never be a time when we don’t have a list - we certainly have a few more things to do in the Canaries that include some new running rigging, a new VHF and some deck hardware checks/maintenance. We certainly appreciated the help of the chandlery’s in Gibraltar - specifically Jen, Gavin and Simon - all of whom went out of their way to help.

Gibraltar itself grew in us. Early visits to Main Street and an O’Reilly’s pub reminded us of elements of the UK that we are not missing. However, as we went up the rock, met some monkeys, visited the caves (where the myth is Hercules entered Hades- to continue ur ancient legends theme!) and toured the amazing Word War 2 tunnels the place really came into its own. A visit to Morrisons also let us indulge in some UK tastes - fruit shoots for the kids and Thai sweet chilli crisps!

Tangiers, whilst a quick stop, was an introduction to Africa for the kids.

Whilst it takes a day to get into Africa, I find it highly rewarding when you do - the smells, the tastes, this colour. Tangiers did not disappoint from any of those regards. We went to the Kasbah, bought and ate locallly, relaxed with mint tea and were woken by the call to prayer. Although S got a little bit sick of the attention blondes get! The hygiene difference between the continents became quite obvious. We did not swim in the sea where they discharge 60% of the cities effluent raw into the local beach. As we left, the sea was depressing. Definitely not a place to be running the water maker.

The cruising community is beginning to gather now and we have met a number of other boats on “the circuit”. We have now met a good handful of boats doing the Atlantic. Not only is it great to share advice, tips and take solace in the fact that we all have long lists, but the kids have started to have some quality time with people their own age.

Talking of which, S/Y Malaya is creeping up on us so I might just shake out a reef. Not that it is a competition!

Stay well!

The crew of Canopus!

Video: Ibiza

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

5/9/24

Gibraltar stopover - planes, pets and monkeys

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

V: I call an Uber Pet and bundle me, OB the dog and the absolutely enormous pet airline crate in to the back of a Toyota Prius and head out of Heathrow’s cargo depot for Twickenham.

“What’s Gibraltar like?” asks the cabbie. “It’s interesting” I reply … “Well that’s what people say then they don’t like something!”

retorts the cabbie.

Well I do like Gibraltar, but after two and a bit months in the European Mediterranean, being back in the offshore British territory of Gibraltar, with its pounds & pence and fish & chips, is a shock to the system. And now London is a total shock.

I was only on the ground in the UK for 36hrs and it was sadly my last with OB, our boat dog, as he is spending the winter in the UK. Thanks to my sister for being a home from home for me and OB and while I could have stayed and played with my very cute niece and hugged OB forever, I’m strangely relieved to be back on the boat, even if it is Gibraltar!

Ok so Gibraltar, let’s level this one. I do like it but it is a curious place. A British overseas territory occupying less than 8square kms, it packed 30,000 people in to this peninsular, half of which is a massive rock! As a result the usable land is all heavily urbanised with tall apartment blocks after tall apartment blocks. What precious grass space there is, is marked as off limits for dogs (who need to be kept on a lead at all times in the territory).

This rocky peninsular has a thin, low-lying neck of land which separates it from Spain to the north. Across this neck they built Gibraltar’s airport runway. So small is this territory, the runway stretches from coast to coast and road or foot traffic has to cross the runway to get to/from Spain!

I have never walked across a runway like this before! Leaving with the dog to fly home, we had to walk across the runway, which is huge, at around 6am, in the pitch dark and with the commuters on their e-scooters heading in to Gib for a day of work.

Surreal. As is the rest of Gib. One day we were in Malaga eating tapas in the old town, the next we arrived in Ocean Village where there is an Irish bar, a Wagamamas and prices in pounds. It’s lost some of the magic. Yet they have monkeys, a fascinating history, caves and a massive rock. Maybe it will warm on me.

Our taxi driver Joseph who took us to the rock for the day was a typical Gibraltarian. He spoke both the local language, which sounds very Spanish, and English with a cockney/Spanish twang. He loves his country but clearly has an undiagnosed case of cabin fever. I don’t blame him! Taxi drivers in Gibraltar are also skilled ape tamers. Stopping at the view point at the top of the rock, several climbed on me and L , one taking a nip at L who accidentally grabbed the monkeys paw! Reflex of a dad use to handling small children on their shoulders.

But what a view from the top. You can see clearly across the straits to Africa and I could see the route we had sailed in. We arrived in at 5 am having followed the coast of Spain. My final watch had me passing right around the back of the rock, navigating Europa Point with its overalls, gusts and currents, before heading up in to the bay and the large harbour. In hindsight’s it’s a shame we didn’t do with with the kids awake but it’s kinder on OB to do the longer legs at night.

It’s sometimes hard to gauge scale from harbour plans and the final approach to the marina was tighter than I expected. In the still darkness, I nearly ran in to a low breakwater, which turned out to be the end of the runway! A police car was quickly dispatched and it sat and watched me in its full beam headlights as we tried to navigate the last stretch of channel to the marina. Very helpful!

We tied up on the welcome pontoon, took OB for a wee and went back to sleep…for an hour before the kids awoke! When I checked in at the marina and explained we arrived in at 5am, they said they were surprised to see us so soon, I explained we had kids onboard and the nice manager replied “ah, I understand!”

One happy conicidence was that a hundred yards from our marina, Gibraltar was hosting the Netball Youth World Cup! And after stopping the Scotland team coaches and getting the links, we had tickets that very afternoon to watch the matches! Scotland vs Malawi was excellent. We sat in the Scottish stand the the kids were treated to all the songs you get at a Scottish match. Watching live sport is so good for the kids, S was counting the score and with a goal every 30 seconds or so was a good for her numbers practice. J got harder maths questions on the score! We were also sat next to the injured Scottish goal shooter who gave us the lowdown on the team! So good an experience we went back the next day to watch more. Finishing with an exciting match between Tonga and Singapore. Two very different yet effective styles of netball resulted in only a couple of points between them at the final whistle. At the end of this match both teams had a mixed huddle on the court. Singapore linking arms with the Tongan’s. Words were said and a cheer went up and the two teams clapped. I asked J if that’s how his sports matches ended. And if not, should they? What an amazing display of sportswomanship.

One little luxury we treated ourselves to in Gibraltar was a land base for 6 days. I booked this a while ago as a bit of Schengen proofing and also to enable us to rip apart the boat for repairs. Our apartment was right between the marina and the runway and had fantastic views of the planes landing. It kept us all amused for hours! L did a host of jobs including replacing the broken hot water tank and changing the leaking deck hatches. I spend a frantic afternoon sorting the steering. We did manage a lot of homeschooling catch-up in the apartment too which was good.

Grannie also came for a few days, bringing essential supplies and providing the kids with another adult to throw their questions and attention at. L and I also had a day onboard to do some jobs together without interruptions which was amazing. The kids loved hanging out with Grannie and it was more than lovely to see a familiar face.

We stayed a total of 10 days in Gibraltar.

Saw the rock, the caves and the monkeys, got out of the habit of speaking Spanish, had at least one Wagamamas and rediscovers some British brand foods we had missed.

But the weather has changed, it is now decidedly autumnal. Storms are tracking further south now so we need to make a break through the Gibraltar straits at the next weather window. We can’t wait for the perfect opportunity, ok will have to do now, but we’ll soon be on our way in to the Atlantic for the ‘big’ adventure. It’s been a huge adventure so far!

J’s blog - it’s the start of term!

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hi friends and family! How is home? It has been very exciting recently here….

Where have we been? We are now on mainland Spain. The sail from Ibiza to the mainland was very, very, very (x100) roly and sick making. I was very pleased to reach the land (obvs!). When we did, we ended up going to La Manga and the Mar Menor [inland sea] to fix the boat.

I continue to be a good crew and I am spotting things for Mum and Dad such as the ball bearings in the main sheet, a pin that was falling out of the back stay and a pulley that was about to let go as we were flying the spinnaker. If I had not have noticed these then it could have done a lot of damage.

My highlights since my last blog were going go karting, having an Argentinian barbecue that I shared with Mum, learning lots of facts about the jellyfish( in the Mar Menor, seeing my friend Xavier and watching “My teacher the Octopus” ( which we did in the dark because the boat batteries finally died).

In Spain, I ate a full-on steak two times in a row as well as an Argentinian barbecue. I wanted to try new and different cultural food. In the Mar Menor I had an Indian meal. I liked how they used a range of juices and spices because I am enjoying trying new tastes. Here is what I ate for my Indian meal - A vegetarian Somoza, garlic prawns, naan bread, poppadoms, “port” and “starboard” chicken (edit - tandoori (green) and tikka (red)!), Shiah kebab, korma chicken and tried Mum’s balti. I enjoyed most of it except for the Somoza and Shish kebab. At the end of the meal, they gave us a shot each - Limoncello for Mum and Dad and a grape juice shot for S and I. It made me feel really grown up.

I am enjoying trying new things but I am still really, really enjoying glorious steak.

We don’t always eat out - Mum and Dad cook on board a lot and always when we are sailing. It is nice to but not as nice as restaurant food. My favourite were the chips that Dad made from scratch and my least favourite was the Greek spicy sausages. We did have a pot noodle pasta during a really rolly sailing trip. I made cookies with Saskia onboard.

We had some excitement last night. We were anchored in a very uncomfortable anchorage near a town called San José. Suddenly a speedboat arrived just in front of where our anchor was. The sun was going down as the boat started going round in circles and then sank!!!! We watched the man jump out of the boat and swim to shore and then mum rowed out to the site to pick up flotsam (that included a full can of petrol) and connect one of our anchor buoys so that we knew where the wreck site was. We could see the nose of the boat just pointing out of the sea. Mum and Dad had to stay up overnight to make sure it did not drift into us or disturb our anchor.

This morning we found out it had been stolen to smuggle migrants and then sunk on purpose!! Later this morning we watched it being rescued to the shore.

Rose, rose, thorn, bud: My rose was arriving in harbour after the long trip because it felt good to be on solid ground, my second rose was going through a lifting bridge because it was a new experience. My thorn was saying goodbye to Xavier and my bud is seeing you again!

I have been thinking of you all as school has started. I hope that it has been fun starting year 5.

See ya!

S’s thoughts so far (with help from Mum and Dad)

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hello Mrs Randall, Mrs Hatton, Miss Sellars and all my friends at Meonstoke school and family

I just wanted to write to you to say "hi", let you know what I have been doing and hear your news.

We have been travelling to lots of different countries and learning lots about them. We have also seen lots of animals that live in the sea - dolphins, sea turtles, Flamingoes, jelly fish, black tailed fish and yellow tails. We also went to a natural aquarium and saw an octopus and some sharks!

We have visited 4 countries - Greece, Albania, Italy and Spain. We have been learning about Greek myths and legends. There was one man called Odysseus who travelled to his home in Greece near our boat’s home. Our boat is called Canopus.

Odysseus took 10 years to get home and was helped and punished by the gods. We have followed some of his journey and seen a giant whirlpool he went through (ed: Charybdis) and passed by where the Sirens live (edit: Es Vedra). We did not see the 6 headed monster by the whirlpool.

It is nice to have OB on board. He is our dog. Mum and Dad say that he has to go home quite soon because we are getting ready to do the big trip across the ocean.

I share my cabin with my brother. My bunk haa princess sheets and is pretty comfortable and I like it in there.

The sailing is fun and we spent 10 days at sea all at once. I have felt seasick some times but I don’t care.

I have a brand new fishing rod and am allowed hooks on it. Mum and Dad say no barbed hooks! I have not caught anything yet.

I have been doing loads of learning and really enjoying my reading and writing. We are anchored in a place with lots of jellyfish. I have caught some in a bucket and spent time learning about them. They don’t have hearts and are really old!

I am really excited to be here but miss you all so much and would love to hear from you.

Love Saskia

Mar Menor to Almerimar - from Tapas to people smuggling

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Wow - it is difficult to believe how much has happened since July and even since our last blog.

Yes - more boat problems but these are becoming more run of the mill and we do seem to be getting on top of the major issues. We timed the new batteries well although we did have 48 hours effectively with no power.

So what have we been up to beyond boat repairs? Generally making our way towards Gibraltar. We have been taking the pace reasonably slowly. In part because we have a good weather pattern that seems to have settled in to blow us West. Mostly, however, we are limited by OB's bladder. Despite early indication of irreverence towards where he went to the loo, He finds that the motion of the boat makes it really difficult to relax. When he can smell the shore he would much rather wait!

We hve now cleared the final cape before Gibraltar (was nowhere near as bumpy as we were led to expect) and we have taken advantage of some lovely conditions to make the distance in manageable chunks.

The Spanish coast is not what either V or I were expecting. I confess we had both imagined sprawling eye sores full of sun burnt tourists - but this has been a long way from the truth. A dramatic coastline defined by cliffs made from volcanoes of yesteryear, Europe's only desert, salt plains and huge agricultural plants that produces half of Europes winter veg provides an amazing back drop to the journey and a huge variety of topics for our home schooling discussions.

The last couple of weeks seems to have provided its fair share of memories - huddled around an iPad in pitch black when the boat batteries had finally failed to watch the wonderful "My teacher the Octopus", playng chicken with the huge super tankers entering Cartegna, flying the spinnaker for the first time, stopping at the incredible Cala Cerrada, wonderful family tapas in Cartegna, the Da Vinci exhibition, Jasper's boat cooked chocolate chipped cookies and watching a speed boat sink right in front of us!

We have, at last, had some glorious sailing conditions as we have been blown along the coast - yesterday Canopus got over 8kts in 10kts of wind with spinnaker flying!!

Events of last night certainly provided an interesting end to what had been our best sailing day to date. We had decided to press on to take advantage of the weather - always a danger when you have such great conditions. However, the wind began to die towards the end of the day - much to the dog's dismay - so we ended up areiving late into the anchorage. By the time we arrived in San José, the dog's bladder was bursting and it was apparent that the bay was very open to the sea swell. It was certainly going to be an uncomfortable night's sleep. However, I was urgently dispatched in tender with dog and S to make the 200m row to shore. We were met by a nice little town whose African influence was becoming more apparent. After a short walk we returned to Canopus.

Pretty soon a speedboat arrived in front of the small gaggle of boats that we were a part of. About 30m off our bow and worryingly close to our anchor. The boat started behaving erratically before spinning around and then sinking stern down in the 4m that we were anchored in. It all happened quite quickly but the driver very calmly dived from the front and swam to shore. V exclaimed "that was an intentional sinking!" She turned out to be right!!

V rowed out to the site to recover the damaging flotsam (including a leaking fuel can) and to attach our anchor buoy to the boat so that we could track its location. We were obviously concerned about the occupant (who we saw get to shore) but also the navigational risk as the site was an entrance to a marina. Our immediate concern was that currents could push the wreckage either into our hull (or anyone else in our gaggle) or could disturb our anchor in what was a very uncomfortable anchorage.

It is fair to say that it was a long night. Ironically the wreck did not move at all during the night. The huge motion of the boat made it difficult for humans to sleep but apparently very scary for dogs. My watch recorded 0 minutes sleep last night and my bed now smells badly of Spaniel!

This morning we were informed that the boat had been stolen from a mooring, used for migrant smuggling then scuttled (presumably to remove any evidence). A reminder of not only our proximity to the African/European border, but the ease with which the team this morning recovered the wreck indicated that this is not an irregular occurence for them.

Today we rounded our last cape before Gibraltar. Gibraltar will be a milestone in our journey - an opportunity for a bit of a boat refresh (clean and complete a few projects) and get some land time. The kids are really excited for the apartment we have reserved because the block has a pool. Personally a bed and flushing loo will do me fine!

It will also be nice to see Granny - whom the kids are very much looking forward to seeing! Unfortunately I think we may need to say goodbye to OB in Gib as we cannot risk his bladder on the long passage to the Canaries. We will miss him as he has very much become part of the boat and is clearly enjoying the majority of the trip.

We have now reached a small town called Almerimar where we will stop for a couple of days while we spend time trying to source a small but niche and integral part of Canopus! Don't worry I'll not bore you with that tale...l

I gather it has got cold in the UK, so you will enjoy the fact that I am being mauled by the local mosquitoes. So on that note I will sign off!

Sleep well,

Video - S’s Corner - Materials sort

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hello all! S's turn to do her own video of her scavenger hunt on board 'Canopus' to find different thing made of differnt materials. Inspired by her classmates activities in their first week back where they did something similar for science. Well we had a go and had lots of fun 🤣. Shot at sea on passage to Almiremar.

Video - Mallorca

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A ten day stopover to fix the leaking stern glad turns in to an adventure.

Back to (boat) School

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What is a day of boat schooling like?

V: I’m typing this in the dark, it’s a warm and blustery night and the kids are asleep. And if the boats batteries weren’t completely toast I’d put on the lights, cool the fridge and pop on the fan next to me. Luckily we have three new batteries on order hopefully being delivered to the shore tomorrow..or the day after…hopefully!!

We are currently on anchor in the Mar Menor, it’s on Spains Costa Blanca and is a large lagoon almost entirely cut off from the sea behind a narrow spit of land covered in high rises. The lagoon is some 10 miles long and 5 miles wide and at its deepest only 6m. Prefect for long term anchoring as there are no oceanic swells which creep into the other anchorage’s on the coast and roll you out of your beds at night.

The lagoon does however have a drawback, warmer than the sea and saltier it unfortunately has a big jellyfish problem! So no swimming from the boat but the beach near where we have anchored is manageable for a paddle in the shallow waters. The jellyfish numbers are incredible and the ‘jellyfish soup’ provided huge amusement the first day in the lagoon as we motored on through the never-ending swarm. Many specimens were pulled from the sea in the ships bucket and examined, a whole morning of boat schooling was hatched about jellyfish - pictures, biology, even mythology.

I did love AI before but I’ve now turned its hand to homeschooling. Copilot has been great for whipping up quick quizzes for kids, interrogating ideas, anatomy of invertebrates (yes jelly fish are invertebrates), linking to curriculums, scavenger hunts to make historical sights fun and even kid friendly versions of gruesome historical events! Although of course it’s not always right!

So what is back to school like onboard Canopus? Well truth is we’ve been at boat schooling since we started our adventure at the end of the summer term. Sorry J and S but no summer holiday. If we can do some learning we will and in addition to the plethora of colins workbooks we’ve found our own pace.

Today the boat is staying put on her anchor so we spent the morning sorting the boats new main boom preventer before hitting the shore for boat schooling ashore. PE consisted of a decent hike along the beach to the local go kart track and a number of races to ascertain a winner (L!). Science and History was conducted in the walk back through Las Salinas where S spotted wild flamingoes in the salt pans and J learnt the historical importance of the rise and fall of the salt trade.

V and L studied viniculture in the lovely beach bar Maloca while the kids did ‘growing time’ making their own seashell-clad Salinas and irrigation systems on the beach shore. After two hours, some evidence of salt crystals but not a box of Maldon!

Next was a wild dinghy ride back to the boat past the kite surfers and wind foilers (why do I always park in a windy kite surfers spot?) and a bit of pen and paper time with maths and writing practice while dinner was cooking. The evening was topped with a glorious sunset over the hills and all tucked up before dark.

So not every day is like this, especially if the boat is moving or changing location. But still, it’s a day that happened. We all agreed a pretty perfect one, nearly! 🪫