“ To have been born in this burnt-out geology of ashes, in the middle of the Atlantic, conditions any moderately sensitive being,” Cesar Manrique. Lava fields of Timanfaya National Park Lanzarote, Saecwen’s first Canary Island landfall is a dramatic volcanic island. Cesar Manrique was an artist who dedicated his life to the protection of the natural landscapes of dark ashy earth contrasted by white-washed houses. The traditional houses are made with materials from the volc

Madeira is full of surprises. After our 495-mile crossing from the coast of Portugal - Saecwen’s longest passage to date - we were greeted in the early hours of the morning by the lights of the Holy Island of “Porto Santo”. Approaching at night we were able to pass the lighthouse on the north eastern outlying island before rounding up into the main harbour. It was chilling to think how the very first ships to discover these islands made a safe landfall hundreds of years a

On 16 th July Saecwen took her departure of Continental Europe. With a fresh northerly wind forecast for several days, these seemed the ideal conditions to continue our voyage south. With Heloise’s brother Justin embarked aboard ship as third crew member we set sail from Cascais, just to the west of Lisbon, out into the Atlantic Ocean. The moment we cleared the shelter of Cabo da Roca, Europe’s most westerly point, we were hit by extremely strong gusts of wind coming down th