Saturday 13 June 2015

To the Azores

After buying food, more food and even more food just in case, we finally left St Martin on Dad's birthday, 16th May. It was easy motoring up the Anegada passage, past Tintemare and around Dead Man's Cay off Anguilla. Our friends on Coromandel had an earlier start and although we were in radio contact it would be a few days before our paths crossed again. 

We left in light winds and it was a battle to make East. We avoided using the engine this early in the trip as we had over 2000 miles to go to Flores. We were glad of the monitor which Tristan had serviced before we set out but unfortunately close to the Caribbean, the amount of sargassum weed was extensive. This caught in the monitor blade and knocked it off, so we spent a lot of on watch time clearing weed.

The first few days were northeasterly 15 knots and Meriva sailed beautifully  often reaching over 6 knots, but alas it was not to last!   We tacked to SE to try and make East but it was very lumpy and the tack wasn't paying so we headed north again on a starboard tack. This was more comfortable and after a couple of days we had a long chat with Coromandel who were also finding it frustrating in contrary winds and struggling to make anything but North.


The sea went oily, it was amazing that we were in the Atlantic Ocean, flat seas and tranquility. I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me. 




The sunsets were amazing, it looked like it was setting behind a forest.... Not that we would see one of them for a while. 




Every evening and every morning we were joined by a pair of shearwaters who were totally stupid. How on earth has a bird evolved to land feet first on the sea using its neck as a brake is beyond me.  It was fun watching their antics though trying to keep up with the boat. 


A few days out I saw an enormous blow in the distant horizon. I have never seen anything so powerful and so high. Looking at the field guides, I think it was the blow of a blue whale which do pass from winter breeding grounds to summer feeding grounds in the north. This was a one off so I cannot be 100% certain and it could have been wishful thinking on my part!

It was the first time we have  both crossed this part of the northern Atlantic. After a few day you settle into a routine and the  four hour watches become much easier.


 We were very grateful to my daughter, Lucy who texted regularly the weather systems. Tristan had skyped Lucy and trained her to use grib files before we left. She was brilliant and when the grib file didn't work she immediately checked other sites to keep us updated. Her weather reporting was spot on, accurate and when Ugrib was down she didn't hesitate to go to other websites to keep us informed. We bought a delorme InReach tracker and had the service plan of unlimited texts. It was fantastic. We had daily weather and were able to keep in contact with family and friends throughout the trip. Everyone has been encouraging and it's a brilliant bit of kit. Really easy to use and inexpensive for what it does. 

Our biggest concern was when Lucy announced  we were due to get purple rain!  Tristan was on watch at sunset and the sun had a halo around it, we knew were in for something nasty.


The weather pattern across the northern Atlantic was unusual. The Azores high spread all the way across and we constantly had contrary NE winds. This made it difficult to push East and we made too much North. When the gale hit, we were being pushed even further west and it looked like we'd end up in Greenland rather than warmer destinations. 

We were able to reef everything down and Meriva handled the weather brilliantly although she wouldn't hove to and we ended up running away from the huge seas and strong winds. 

After things had settled down and we were able to get back into our watch routine and sleep. We decided to throw in a SE tack to try and make East rather than head too far north. This put us on a heading for landfall in Antarctica! This was frustrating as we never made any progress to the Azores for a few days. 

We finally decided to tack north and see how much East we could get in.  At least we both felt we were making progress as the negative VMG and the prospect of at least another few weeks was frustrating. We knew we had plenty of food and water, but if we got stuck in the Azores high we only had enough fuel for a few days motoring.

It didn't take long....the seas turned to glass and went oily again. No wind so we motored slowly direct to the Azores. 





We saw six turtles drifting across the Atlantic.  At first they looked dead. Very sun bleached but they moved there flippers as if we had disturbed their sleep. They were going backwards!

Portuguese men of war were abundant and at one point the sea was sparkling from the salps. Green/ brown jellyfish, moon jellyfish and compass jellyfish were common. We saw three whales in the distance but not sure which species. The amount of marine litter was surprisingly low. Mainly plastic, rope and a few planks.
Interestingly with no wind and still seas we had a very strong smell of sulphur. At this time we were in 5000 metres of ocean.  We passed several oceanic monitoring buoys.

The light was surreal. Very bright, ghostly and gentle. It was something we have never experienced before and even if the trip has taken an age, it is the most wonderful experience we have had.


Tristan has been fishing since we left......four lines out and absolutely nothing!  To make matters worse in the flat calm sea you can see all the fish jumping around the boat but no bites! Glad I packed the sardines and tins of tuna!

The evening have been spectacular. As the sun set the moon rose in the east. The reflected light from the planets, moonlight and nautical twilight meant that this part of the trip, 700 miles from the Azores , was never dark. This was in complete contrast to when we set out and the sky's were pitch black  but starry. 



Unfortunately it didn't last. We saw a super yacht for the first time for days. He radioed to say 35 knots of wind and 4 metre seas were predicted for our area.  This was consistent with what Lucy had sent us. On Lucy's forecasting, We decided to head off east to avoid the strongest winds, and it payed off. Thanks Lucy! Although the seas were huge often more than 5 metres and confused, the wind didn't get above 25 knots. We had two very uncomfortable days in this Atlantic depression but it was  better than the gale we hit previously.
The biggest problem was getting the boat balanced downwind, we sailed with  a reefed in gib and trisail. Eating was difficult, the gimballed cooker was challenged and standing up became almost impossible.  No bones broken, we were fine and when things calm down, you soon forget the discomfort and focus on getting the boat sailing again.  Whilst in the midst of lumpy seas we were joined by eight Atlantic spotted Dolphins. These species are small, skittish and almost impossible to photograph. They lept in the air and raised their tail fins and disappeared. Some were surfing in the waves, totally immersed. 

We  spent several days being told it was 400 miles to the Azores. It's likely being in a time warp, and you cant seem to sail fast enough to get closer.

The seas eventually calmed down and we at last had and ETE of 90 hours, but then it went again. The sea was grey, the cloud base thick, and it was cold and mizzley. More like a summer in Cornwall.  This gave us time to sort out the mess below and eat a hot meal. My first in two days. I get anxious when I know bad weather is coming so I tend not to eat. The last 300 nautical miles seemed to take forever. We were both tired of being at sea but the constant sail changes, wind shifts, changes in sea state kept us focused. I had kept back some goodies, statistically hidden around the boat so we had treats and good food, essential to keep the skipper happy!  A pod is spotted Dolphins joined us again and storm petrals.  Life is good.

We heard from our friends, Linda and Andy off Coromandal, who had arrived in Flores. We still had 150nm to go. With Lucy's weather forcasting and Linda's sailing experience, we kept plodding in the general direction of Flores. The last 100nm were a struggle. We were tired and even holding on was an effort. Overnight the seas and wind calmed down, it was a relief to feel more vertical but the last of wind was typical of this whole trip. 

The wind picked up the next day and it was a battle to reach Flores before sunset. We didn't make it so we took shelter in the lee of Flores and continued our watch routine. As soon as  it was daylight, we motored into the marina at Lages and were greeted by Linda and Andy who took our lines. That wasn't as easy as it sounds. The surge was unbelievable and Meriva would not go where we wanted her to. Typical, it's almost as if she knows what's good for her. We are snatching and jerking and after the crossing we can't help but feel a gale is preferable to bouncing off other boats or pontoons.

We are glad to be  able to walk on land after 2900 nautical miles and 25 days at sea and tree hugging was mandatory. However the Azores is still in the middle of the Atlantic and our journey is far from over!