Test Posting

See if this still works

Landfall!

At the customs dock at the Horta Marina waiting to check into the Azores. Took us 18 days to complete the passage from Bermuda.

Land Ho!

Just sighted Flores, the western most Azores island. We should be arriving in Horta in about 24 hours.

Calm After the Storm

Well, the storm finally abated toward the end of my shift last night around midnight. This morning, of course, there isn't enough wind to sail so we are motor sailing at a low RPM to conserve fuel. Lots of blue sky this morning but the seas are still unsettled, just rolly enough to be annoying.

Dolphins!

Every afternoon the Dolphins visit to play around the bow of the boat

Full Moon Bust

After all the great lead up nights to the full moon with clear skies we had cloudy conditions last night. I only had a few peaks of the full moon during my 3am to 6am watch. On watch now until midnight, maybe the almost full moon will be out tonight but may be playing hide and seek with the clouds

Things That Go Pop in the Night

And in the day too!

It's been a crazy 24 hours but it started a couple of days ago when some wind finally appeared at the beginning of the evening so we were able to put up the asymmetrical spinnaker on a starboard tack and were able to ride it overnight. On Sunday there was not enough wind so we motored at 1000rpms to conserve fuel. Late afternoon some wind came up again so we put the asymmetrical spinnaker up again and had it overnight into the morning Monday. We motored for a bit with the wind almost directly behind us from the west so decided to try wing to wing but with some of the wave motion we were slamming the boom too much so we put the spinnaker back up on a port tack. We couldn't quite get the angle we wanted without it collapsing so we attempted to set the whisker pole to it. While we got the end of the whisker pole attached to the sail and added a preventer when Joe started to bring the pole down the mast the coupling attaching it to the mast snap and the pole slap Joe across the arm and chest.

More stunned than anything else Joe was ok and we got the pole detached from everything then set up the spinnaker as we have been. We strapped the pole to the foredeck to deal with later. The rest of the day we sailed with the spinnaker, not going as easterly as we wanted to go but still making progress all be it slowly. We now had gone over 24 hours without the slow motoring so we were happy about that.

In the late afternoon the Dolphins showed up again and gave quite a show around our bow. We also saw in the distance plumes of spray from whales. At 19:30 local time (+2 GMT) we eagerly watched for the rising of the almost full moon then watched as the moonrise and sunset played off each other.

I came on for my watch at 20:00. Most of it was spent alternating reading a few paragraphs of Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi then checking the wind angle and the spinnaker to make sure all was ok, sometimes adjusting our course to keep the wind coming over the port aft quarter between 130 and 150 degrees.

Finally, with about twenty minutes left on my watch and dreaming of sleep I heard a soft pop. Next thing is I see out of the corner of my eye the spinnaker collapsing into the water on the starboard side. Standing up in a panic I start banging on the deck yelling the jib is down, it's in the water! I shout down into the companionway for Tefo to get up on deck. I pop out the back of the cockpit as Joe came out of the stairs from the back cabin. He was relieved that it wasn't the actual jib but the spinnaker :-)

I warned all that the deck was slippery as Joe asked me the get the boat hook down from where it is mounted behind the cockpit. He was trying to grab the spinnaker while I went forward on the boat and was able to lean over and start grabbing. We got the whole spinnaker back up on the boat but by now I was soaked and shivering being I was wearing shorts and was barefooted. While Tefo and Joe started to account for all the lines I ran back into the cabin to dry off and change clothes. When I came back up Joe and Tefo had all the lines accounted for and were starting to sot out the spinnaker and bag setup. We tied the top of it to the dinghy da its in the back and got it all sorted out to the bow of the boat then made sure the sock as pulled over then stuffed the extra into a sail bag and secured it for the evening. We did one more check to ensure that no lines were dragging in the water then started the motor and motored the rest of the night on a 090 heading, our preferred heading, at the slow 1000rpm setting. I finally got to bed just after 1am.

Just about the time I had my 10am to 3pm shift the wind started to come up again so Joe and I set up the Genoa and have been riding that all day. It's been a bit of a rolly ride all day because the swells are a bit from the side and again, we are going in more of a northeast direction instead of east progress is slow but we are making progress.

We decided that instead of heading for Horta we would head for the island of Flores first which is about 120nm closer. This way if we find about 150nm of sailing we could motor the rest of the way then refill there before proceeding to Horta. So, hopefully this means that we will get into Horta over the weekend.

As for the whisker pole, Joe was able to make a repair to it due the fact fact he has a nice little workshop on the boat the includes a drill press. The pole in now holding out the genoa and has helped to calm the tugs and snaps that was happening when it would lose air as it went down a swell then refill with air. It also looks as though the reason that the spinnaker came down is the fiberglass collar on the opening of the sock chafed through the halyard near the top of the mast. Joe is going to add something for anti-chafing on the collar and make the top part of the halyard wire so that doesn't happen again. We have made a number of new discoveries concerning chafing on this trip. A long passage like this puts so many different stresses on a boat than standard cruising.