Arrived in the Azores

We made it to the Azores arriving on the 28th April after a crossing of just under 13 days from Virgin Gorda.  That gave us an overall average speed of 7.7kts which is fine.  Everyone has been enjoying being alongside yesterday and accessing the shoreside facilities.  

During the last week we had another taste of what the Atlantic can offer.  After the calm weather around the high pressure system the wind started to blow again.  For the first day it was a good 15kts just aft of the beam which allowed us to fly the MPS but soon it started to strengthen and we started to reduce sail down to a reefed staysail and deep reefed main.  Ended up with 5 days of wind around 30kts to 35kts gusting over 40kts and a sea running 4m to 5m or bigger at times.  The weather is getting colder now with us being further north and towards the end of the 5 day period we started getting rain squalls coming through.  As such the shorts and t-shirts have been swapped for thermals and full wet weather gear.

Steve on the helm - not the Caribbean anymore

A couple of days of this are OK but when it just goes on and on it gets really tiring.  Just standing up is tiring as the boat is being jerked in three different directions at once,  Even sleeping is tiring.   Cooking in the galley is testing - imagine trying to cook while balancing on a skateboard and whenever you put something down on the counter it gets moved or knocked over - starts to piss you off after a while.  That will give you some idea.  So after about day 2 you just want it to stop but twice a day you have to pull on your by now wet, wet weather gear and head up on deck to do your turn helming.  And on deck its another story.

You stand at the back of the boat at one of the helm stations and take hold of the wheel.  The boat is on a broad reach and doing about 8 or 9 knots through the water.  Its sliding and rolling and twisting about in the water and you try to control it with the helm and point it as best you can in the general direction that we want to go.  Every now and then when the wind gusts the bow will take off to windward, digging the lee rail underwater in the process and you have to really lean on the wheel to bring her back on course.  The sea around you is grey and white and the air around the boat is filled with spray.  The waves rear up alongside and behind you usually dark and menacing but sometimes foaming white ominously rushing towards you.  Most of the time the boat rolls over the waves but occasionally one catches the side of the hull and a wall of water is thrown up and propelled by the wind across the cockpit and deck drenching everything in its path.  To leeward there is a foaming wake pushed out from Dulcinea’s bow.

Clemmie taking a break from the helm station

At night its all a bit surreal.  We have only navigation lights on the mast and at the stern so the deck is in darkness and you cannot see past the cockpit which is illuminated only by the red glow of the instruments.   The wind shrieks around the boat and you hear the rushing water down the sides but see little more than foam punctured by phosphorescent glows.  The boat plows on regardless - 38tonnes doing 9kts.  You just hope you do not hit anything,  On the helm station you are quite exposed and everyone clips on with their safety harness but even so your mind occasionally wanders and you think about what would happen if you went overboard.  The scenarios are definitely not very comforting.

All the crew have be brilliant.  Everyone has done their bit and no one has complained about anything through the bad weather even though we have had a couple of leaks through some of the hatches.  Scott is so proud of Sam who has been very mature, done a marvelous job and has been his right hand man throughout the trip.  

Near the end of our shift

The boat has come through the crossing with flying colours.  There was never any doubt whatsoever about the capability of Dulcinea during the trip.  We had a problem with the roller furling on the staysail and some leakage through a couple of hatches as mentioned but that was really about all.  The onboard systems have all functioned as required.

When the break in the weather comes it is magical.  You wake up one morning and the wind and seas are calmer and slowly the sun comes out and suddenly everything is alright again.  For us the weather changed a day out from Horta.  The next day we started to see the islands materialise out of the clouds.  Its always a great experience arriving somewhere new by boat.  The destination slowly takes shape around you and allows you to absorb the details gradually.  Its especially appreciated after a prolonged period at sea.

When the break comes its time to get some rest

The Azores, as expected, are completely different from the Caribbean islands.  It looks very European and in the cloudy conditions we saw them first in it looks like the UK - green fields, hills, rocky shoreline, low cloud and drizzle.  Steve showed his Australian side by exclaiming that they had “rock fences” on the island meaning dry stone dykes.  They use wire in Australia so stone is a bit of a novelty.  

First sight of Azores

We came into the harbour at Horta on the island of Faial and cleared in.  The marina is suprisingly busy so we had to raft up alongside another boat along the marina wall.  The town is interesting.  It fronts a pretty big harbour enclosed by two breakwaters.  There are a couple of main streets lined with low lying buildings which stretch back up the hillsides which surround the town.  Some of the roads are cobbled and there is a small old fort right on the waterfront.  Across the water from us maybe a four miles away is another island called Pico dominated by this huge perfectly shaped mountain wrapped in white cloud.  Horta is a bit of a institution with transatlantic yachting being where it is geographically and yachtsmen are pretty much welcomed here.  The harbour walls have been adorned with paintings of ships names from visiting yachts.

Horta Marina

The harbour with Pico in the background

The day after arrival we spent the morning cleaning the boat, repairing any damage from the crossing and then had the afternoon off to look around town.  The weather was magnificent - brilliant sunshine, warm in the sun and cool in the shade.  We all had a great dinner out at a local bar and watched Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich.  Scott and Sam caught up on skype with Calley and Nic who are now in Denmark after spending time in the US.  Think they are glad to be off the boat for a spell especially given some of the weather we have had.

So we will take off on the next leg of the trip to Gibraltar either today or tomorrow.  Another 1000Nm to go.

Everyone is still smiling

Halfway to Horta

We are currently motoring across an area of high pressure called the Azores high which dominates the northern central Atlantic.  Its about 10pm on a beautiful calm dark night lit only by the stars but we know a bright big moon will be rising in a couple of hours and that will illuminate everything as if it were day,  The boat is hissing through the water pushing foam flecked with phosphorescent plankton aside and into its wake making the water sparkle.  We (Scott, Sam and Clemmie) are the 8 to 12 watch and currently about halfway through our night shift.

Going back a few days we completed our preparations as planned and spent a day sailing from Road Town up to Virgin Gorda to give the crew a chance to sail Dulcinea.  It was a great day and in the evening we anchored in Gorda Sound off Saba Rock and had our last meal ashore for a few weeks which ufortunately was pretty average.

Next day we were up early and moved a couple of miles across the sound to Gun Creek where we completed the departure formalities with customs and immigration.  Then we shifted an even shorter distance to Leverick Bay marina to top off the diesel and water for the boat.  We left the fuelling dock and picked up a mooring and most people went ashore for an hour.  By 12:30 everyone was back onboard and the boat was ready for the off.

The weather forecast had come in the previous day from Commander Weather and had been very favourable.  It gave us the option of heading directly to the Azores, bypassing Bermuda, and this became the preferred option.  The plan was to sail North while the easterlies prevailed and then follow the high around to the east.

At 12:45 we left North Sound and headed North towards Anageda which we cleared a couple of hours later.  The last land for two weeks.  For the first few days we had to head north making as much easting as we could without it being too uncomfortable,  We were running on an extremely close reach into a north east swell and the boat was well heeled over, pitching sharply and taking water over the foredeck.  This lasted for three days.  Most of the crew were pretty quiet during this time just focusing on getting their sea legs.  Gordon was the least affected and did a great job shouldering the bulk of the galley work during this time.  Clemmie unfortunately was  quite sick but toughed it out.  By about day four everyone was over the sea sickness and feeling much more relaxed moving about the boat.

Also by day four we had made about 600Nm to the north.  The wave and swells diminished and the wind started to veer around to the south and we followed slowly altering our course to a more easterly direction.  Since then the condition have eased more and more and we now have a almost flat calm sea and four knots of wind - hence the engine.  We expect to be sailing again within 24hrs and the forecast to Horta in the Azores if favourable.  Currently we are about 1300Nm from Horta and with a bit of luck should be there by the beginning of next week.

The boat has been sailing fantastically.  We have averaged about 7.3kts under sail so far over around 900 miles.  This morning in the light conditions we even managed to fly the light weather MPS for a few hours for the first time since buying the boat.  It looked great as it is a multicoulored sail with a big styalised ‘D’ in the middle.  Despite the performance Scott is still anguishing over something going wrong.  It will certainly be a relief  for him to get to Gibraltar.

The crew have been great and have just mucked in and got on with the sailing.  We had some leakage through the hatches after spending a couple of days with water rolling across the foredeck.  Both Clemmies cabin and the cabin Lars and Gordon share got wet but everyone toughed it out.  The last couple of calmer days have allowed us to get everything dry and back in shape.  So we have Steve and Andy on one watch, Gordon and Lars on the other and Scott, Clemmie and Sam on the third.  There is a bit of competition between the three watches to see who will get the furthest mileage during the trip.  Currently Andy and Steve are in front but there is plenty of time to go.

Its been an interesting week and with everyone now in a groove the remainder of the trip should pass relatively quickly.  Big thing now is to guard against complacency as we still have a lot of mileage to cover in an awfully big ocean.

The Atlantic Crew

A Note from New Jersey

It’s hard to believe that we have left the Caribbean behind. After so many months of constantly warm weather, relatively easy(!) sailing, friendly peeps and so much natural beauty, I can’t quite imagine what Europe will be like. It is as Scott pointed out though, when we started the journey we couldn’t imagine what any of it was going to be like, then we got the hang of sailing in the US and we couldn’t imagine what sailing in the Caribbean was going to be like, then we got the hang of that. So it’s onto another new adventure and I’m sure we’ll get the hang of this.

Calley and I are currently enjoying the home comforts at Diana & Lars’ house. We have had a great visit and Calley has had a fantastic time with her cousins, Ross and Skye. There has been visits to the park, laser tag, movies, basketball, an Easter egg hunt and roller skating.

I have so enjoyed spending time with Diana - lots of talking and laughing, mostly speculating about how the Dulcinea crew are getting on, how to pronounce The Azores, and the bear in the backyard! It makes me appreciate girlfriends and realise how much I miss those relationships on the boat. Saying that, Calley and I are missing Scott and Sam very much.

We will fly out to Copenhagen to visit with Karen, Scott’s mum, on Friday for one week, and then onto London and Paris where we’ll meet up with my bestie, Heth. Can’t wait!

RIP Fudruckers...…

The Dynamic Duo

Sk8r Girl

Ready to Go

Last few days have been a whirlwind of frantic activity trying to get the boat ready and organise for Nic and Calley to leave but I think at last we are just about there barring anything catastrophic happening.

Nic and Calley flew out yesterday to New York and at the same time most of the crew arrived.  Nic has done a great job over the last few days getting the boat provisioned and ready below decks.  We have enough food for a small army.  The freezer is packed full of prepared meals and we have other foodstuffs packed in most available spaces.  It has been a bit tense as she has had to organise her trip aswell but we are pretty well prepared.  Sam and I will really miss her and Calley onboard but I will especially miss all the things Nic does to help out and her support while we are sailing.  (One thing is the editing of the blog so there may be more than the normal amount of spelling and grammatical errors.)

Our last look at the BVI's

The crew is made up of friends and relatives and its fantastic that they have been able to take time off to help us get the boat across the Atlantic.  So we have a total crew of seven onboard including Sam and myself; they are Lars, who is my brother; Steve, a friend from Australia who sailed with us last year from St Lucia to Grenada;  Gordon, a friend from Scotland and keen sailor, Andy, a friend who I met sailing in Malaysia and Clemmie who is the daughter of a friend of mine from university days in Scotland too long ago to think about.  Everyone is raring to go even though a couple are trying to get into the correct time groove.

The crew for Left to Right: Steve, Sam, Gordon, Andy, Clemmie and Lars in front

Am waiting for the professionals to give us the weather forecast but from my untrained eye it looks perfect to go on Tuesday.  So we intend to head off today for a days sailing and end up in Virgin Gorda for the night.  We will then carryout clearance formalities tomorrow morning, do the final fuel and water top up and hopefully get away by midday.

It has been very busy the last week and I am glad, relieved, and anxious all at the same time but will be glad to get underway.  Next blog will be from Bermuda hopefully in a weeks time unless we decide to continue on to the Azores with favourable weather.

There is now a link at the top of the page which will take you to a map showing our latest reported position which will be getting updated daily so you can track our progress.

Waiting in the BVI's

For the last week or so we have been hanging around the BVI’s taking it easy and relaxing before the Atlantic crossing.  We have been visiting some spots we went to last year with Pete and Claire and then looking into some new places.

We left Virgin Gorda during the last Loro Piana race and saw the boats powering up and down the Sir Francis Drake Pasage between Virgin Gorda and Tortola.  Quite an awesome spectacle and one we did not want to get too close to for fear of getting in the way.  We slowly made our way to the islands off Tortola and spent a few glorious days anchored off Salt Cay.  While we were there Scott and Sam managed a couple of dives on the RMS Rhone which is a famous wreck here.  For all you old timers it was the scene for the diving in the film “The Deep’ - remember big eel, Jacqueline Bisset etc.

We picked up Gayle for a couple of days and showed her one or two of the sights in the islands.  These ranged from the sublime (the Baths at Virgin Gorda) to the ridiculous (a floating restaurant called the William Thornton which seemed to to be more of a floating drunk tank).  Anyway we did managed to get in some wonderful sailing before she had to return home.  We are always really thankful when friends make the effort to come out and see us as it can be quite out of the way and usually involves some degree of difficulty in finding the boat.

BVI Bouganvillea

So a little bit on the plan for the Atlantic crossing for those not in the know - five friends/relations will join Dulcinea as crew in just over a weeks time.  Together with Scott and Sam they will sail first from the BVI’s to Bermuda (approx 5 days) then from Bermuda to the Azores (approx 11 days) and then from the Azores to Gibraltar (approx 6 days).  There will be a rest day at each location and obviously departure will be subject to weather forecasts at the time.  Departure from the BVI’s is planned for the 15th April dependent on weather.  This is a wee bit earlier than the recommended start of the 1st May but will make sure we have a good weather window.  

While Sam and Scott sail, Nicole and Calley will leave the boat on the 13th April and fly to the US and then Denmark and London.  After that they will train it down to Gibraltar hopefully meeting up with Heather, a friend of Nic’s, enroute.  This will be the first time any of the family will have been apart for longer than a few hours for almost two years!

Nic dreaming of a life at sea

So it is a week until the first of the Atlantic crew join the vessel and preparations are ongoing.  The biggest headache seems to be the victualling and Nic has been busy with food lists, storage, meal plans and provisioning while Scott has been trying to pre cook a few meals.  Its only when you have to anticipate how much food and drink a party of seven will require for a month with limited resupply and storage options that you realise there is quite a bit to it.  The galley oven has been running hot as we try to optimise the perfect loaf and new recipes are being tried out for use on the trip.  Believe we are on top of it though and am sure many a sailor before us has thought the same thing prior to running out of sugar halfway across.

We are booked into Village Cay Marina in Road Town, the capital of Tortola, next week and will do a final provision there.

Not sure what this is

As far as other preparations apart from food go things seem to be pretty much in hand for the Atlantic crossing.  The boat is in good order and the only worrying thing is not having anything to worry about!  Scott potters around with odd jobs trying to fix a few of the bits and pieces that need fixed.  We have some work to do in Road Town such as cleaning, restowing all the equipment and digging out sails for the crossing.  We will pick up a few bits and pieces in Road Town before we go and but that should be about all.  

We all watched the film “All is Lost” a few nights ago which while probably not the best choice of film prior to an ocean voyage did raise a few questions and made Scott look at some more of the details a bit closer.  Generally though we are ready or will be by the 15th and the only real concerns are the unknowns whether they be known or unknown.

Needless to say the schoolwork continues apace whilst we enjoy the remaining days we have left in the BVI’s.  We ran into Leopard 3 again in Jost Van Dyke and Chris was good enough to give the family a tour of the boat.  Everyone was suitable impressed; Scott with the sailing systems, Nic with the interior and the kids with the dingy.

Tortola