Bernd via DL9BS/mm – Page 11

São Miguel to Terceira – Logblog 3

On July 28, 2022

We are now set for the night. Had an evening appointment with the haridresser before taking a shower but now all good waiting for the stars while writing this logblog entry.

It is 35nm to go to Angra Do Heroísmo on Terceira, declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, I am very excited and curious. It is peak season in the Azores and no wonder the marina is pretty full. Petra and Jan from SY Sutje are already there and I have just spoken to Jan on the Marine Radio and we agreed a plan. I have to be at the entrance of the marina at 8am sharp.

The warm ENE summer breeze is still on, 7-9kts wind speed which gives us 2-3kts boat speed. We have time…35nm with average 2.5kn boat speed would takes us 14 hours to get there, makes arrival at 11am in the morning. Too late, my appointment is at 8am sharp. We have an engine…giving us 6kn boat speed and that means in 6 hours we could be there, 3am in the morning too early. It will be something in between…also depending on the caprice of the wind. So quite out here. The lady moves peacefully with the wobbling waves, no banging, no squeaking like we had on the passage from Lanzarote to Madeira. Sailing an ocean provides so many natural sensivities. Incredible.

I have now switched on the tricolor position light in the mast top and the radar for the night. There is a bit of traffic out here, One bulk carrier and three sailboats. Two of the sailboats are going opposite our direction and the thrid one is ahead of us. The commercial vessel has crossed our course and disappears in the dark. All of them remind me about the old saying: “On the ocean of life, we are all big ships, that pass through the night.” The police was also out here but they watched us from distance and went on….lucky we are.

I take little sleep on these one night only sails. Too much to enjoy. Too exciting. One night is okay. Two nights, this will not work. You have to rest and take 20min nap sleeps also during the day, otherwise you put yourself at risk. My humble opinion and concept. My body takes one night no sleep but not two. I have figured that out in the meantime. Good night.

Fair winds…

São Miguel to Terceira – Logblog 2

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 28, 2022

In Portugal

It is time for dinner but before I pay attention to that my focus and fascination lies on the Dom João de Castro Bank, which is getting closer and closer on our way to Terceira. This bank is situated pretty much in the middle of the two islands, São Miguel and Terceira. This submarine volcano has an interesting and dramatic history, which goes back to 1718. Depending on the tide status, the tip of the volcano rises to within 13m of the sea surface or in other words the lowest depth under water is 13m. We will pass it in around 4nm safety distance at 1500m depth.

As it has not shown much activity since 2012 I am positively nervous to get along with it.

Fair winds…

São Miguel to Terceira – Logblog 1

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 28, 2022

In Portugal

We had a good start as once out of the marina favourable winds up to 18-20kts were pushing us along the coastline of São Miguel, Apart from a short area where the local wind broke down we could sustain good speed up to 6-7kts for quite some hours. I was expecting close to no wind on the leeward side of the island but…surprise, good for us. As predicted the wind has now slowed down here out on the ocean to around 8kts only and we poke along on our way to Terceira. ETA is set for the early morning hours, so let’s cross fingers the wind stays on and we keep the engine silent – the longer the better.

It is like a day in the “Aqua Zoo”. So far I have seen some Portuguese man-of-war also known under the name bluebottle. Although I have recognized them before it was me being late all the time to get them on a photo. Now I did and will share tomorrow once back in GSM coverage. The way this species of jellyfish reflects within the sunshine and sails along on the blue ocean is just impressive, delicate and graceful. You don’t want to see them at times jumping into the water yourself. Contact can be painful.

The next highlight was passing along a group of short-finned pilot whales, clearly recognized on their characteristic fin. I saw a group of ten perhaps, slow moving in contrast to the dolphin visits we also get out here now and then. I am still missing the big big whale but perhaps one day…

Last there was a turtle passing by. I would guess 7m from the boat, lucky we did not crash. I would guess a diameter of around 60cm, which appeared as a decent size to me.

Only the bluebottles I got on camera. For the rest, I will keep trying as there is a lot more to see in the “Aqua Zoo Azores”, I am sure.

Fair winds…

Santa Maria to São Miguel – Logblog 3

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 20, 2022

In Portugal, Trans-Ocean e.V.

After an impressive sunrise, the engine is now back on for the final 12nm to the port. The mainsail started buffeting when the wave forces took over from wind forces and boat speed dropped below 2kn. Time left for me to tidy up the mess and take a shower before entering the marina.

We agreed, that SY Hullu Poro will go first and SY Sutje second, so I can give Jan hopefully a hand as his Koopmans 46 is harder to manoeuvre in tight space.

Fair winds…

PS: Yoshi was there and even motivated some other sailors to help us finding a perfect berth and securing the lines. This TO community is amazing. Thanks Yoshi & folks!

Santa Maria to São Miguel – Logblog 2

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 20, 2022

In Portugal

It is 3am in the morning local time. The quarter moon managed to give the thin grey layer a new pattern with more white spots at airy flakes of clouds. This spreads some sort of twilight and results in abnormal good visibility for a night with a principal grey sky. No stars.

A pinch of 2kn got added to the wind occasionally and the lady immediately starts to get excitet only to slow down shortly afterwards to keep our average speed over ground at 2-3kn. If we are able to go on like this for the next 6-7 hours, we will knock at the marina’s gate as planned. At 9am the marinieros start the day at work. Yoshi from SY Dayo is expecting us while Babs & Rene from SY Momentum of Fal will join later the week, perhaps Friday. They are currently on the way from Madeira to Azores. Good to meet again.

Ponta Delgada already shows a blaze of light to us at 20nm distance. No chance to miss that. The air temperature at night has increased a little bit since our last passage showing 21.5°C on the thermometer at this very moment here under the sprayhood. I have therefore not put up the cockpit tent for this one night passage. Snuggled down in the sleeping bag to keep comfortably warm, I am spending all time in the cockpit to enjoy the night over a cup of hot tea, if not taking another 20min snooze.

What a fortune to be out here on the ocean.

Fair winds…

Santa Maria to São Miguel – Logblog 1

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 19, 2022

In Portugal

There was no visible sunset tonight and the sky is now 8/8 covered with a thin, slighly scattered, grey layer. I doubt it will break up at all tonight to prove that the stars and the waning moon are still there but let’s wait. It was different a few hours back, where the sun clearly dominated the scene.

There is light wind at only 5 -7kn from ESE direction and our speed varies between 2-3kn depending on the waves, which are neglebigle but still impacting the hull and its movement here and there or now and then. We are under full mainsail and 110% foresail. The lady appears to be sober and runs stable without the help of the engine directly towards our waypoint set at the entrance of Ponta Delgada on São Miguel. 38nm to go.

SY Sutje is about a mile astern following our track at similar speed. While the lights from the shore of Santa Maria have almost completely vanished the position lights up at the top of the mast of my fellow sailor friend’s boat keep its intensity constant.

Together we opted for this passage as a low wind sail and hope that we can limit the engine hours upon arrival. There was no better weather window in the forecast for the rest of the week and we picked the best promise as we were ready to move on.

It is very pleasant and relaxing so far and as expected. I wish Meno would give us the 5kn extra but tonight – nada.

Fair winds…

Canary Islands to Azores – Logblog 18

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 2, 2022

In Portugal

+++++Land, ho!+++++Land, ho!+++++ Land, ho!+++++

We have 32nm to go but the island of Santa Maria is already clearly visible on the horizon. The weather is back to expectation – sugar sailing conditions. 15kn wind from NNE quadrant with a 1m wind wave under 4/8 blue sky. As I have taken the reef in the foresail out, we are pushing ahead for arrival late afternoon in Vila do Porto, the one and only marina on this smaller island of the widely spread archipelago.

The routing strategy overall worked well with the only exception, that the wind was within some stretches significant higher than predicted. Not the first time but the first time up to this extend. BUT, they – the weather makers – rather get the wind direction right and cheat a bit on the speed than the other way round. I think for us sailors is the accuracy of the wind direction more important than the accuracy of the wind speed. Open for discussion.

The first two days on this passage from Madeira to Azores were hard. I have observed before, that it takes initially some time to get body and boat in line. More rest, less food, ultra slow movements, just be there, save energy as and when needed. The last two and a half days of this 4 days passage I could move around without constraints, had good appetite and was able to enjoy the ocean environment more. I believe this is a pattern which stays after the initial acclimatisation while starting a longer passage.

Thanks for your accompany of our passage from Canary Islands to Azores with two(!) stop-overs at Funchal/Madeira. I hope you enjoyed it, even with some distance. Feel free to leave a comment under any of the blog posts and my answer on the same will be guaranteed. It will be nice reading these comments – years after this Boating & Biking Adventures are over – to recall, who joined us mentally, if not physically, and we shared a moment.

I will start to prepare the lady for the marina now knowing that Petra & Jan from SY Sutje together with Rony from SY Blue Aligator are expecting us to come in shortly.

Fair winds…

Canary Islands to Azores – Logblog 17

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 2, 2022

In Portugal

A bit disappointed as my expectation was to have a pleasant sail through the night. Although clause hauled all the way, with winds around 13kn and a wave of 1.3m the lady is more than willing to ensure a smooth ride. The weather system we went into offered 20-25kn (still on) and a wave juggling the boat around. Menno, this is too much deviation. We add the 5kn from experience but the significant gap is not acceptable.

Under max reef again with a claused hauled setting, which is still allowing some minimum comfort, we are still bouncing into the waves now and then. It is a balance between comfort and not arriving in Santa Maria to far in the South In other words, you just postpone the pain. In sailor’s language: beating time! Sailing against the wind.

Nevertheless, my sailing limits are being pushed on this passage like never before. The same counts for my confidence and trust into our lady AND the pilot They negotiate the deal and after some fine tuning get you through the water with no complains.

Daybreak is arising and it still looks grey and miserable. Not sure we see the sun later the day. It is another 55nm to go until we arrive in Vila do Porto. The ETA will shift and best guess is later this evening and worst case scenario is tomorrow morning. The latter one is in case I will not make landfall in daylight. The harbour can be approached at any time of the day, but I prefer to wait until next morning.

And the saying goes: Jung, blief tuhüs.

Fair winds…

PS: I will talk to Jan from SY Sutje at 8 o’clock UTC on 2Mhz Marine Radio to update each other. Very much appreciated.

Canary Islands to Azores – Logblog 16

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 2, 2022

In Portugal

The weather has changed a bit for the night. Shall be interesting. Anyway, we are prepared and as long as wind and waves remain as predicted, it does not matter how the sky looks like. As per our Mission…in constantly changing nature.

Canary Islands to Azores – Logblog 15

By Bernd via DL9BS/mm

On July 1, 2022

In Portugal

Author: Bernd via DL9BS/mm Page 11 of 15