Yesterday this IMCOA 60 came in next to us and I had a chat with skipper and crew raising my attention towards the ongoing AZAB Race. Very interesting! 37 boats will arrive in PDL over the next couple of days to fill up the marina. Correction of the extremely diverse contenders will be by IRC rating rule.
Fair winds…
There is a magnificent garden here in Ponta Delgada, which we explored today. It is less than 2km walking distance from the marina and entails a nice little coffee/lunch bar. Although the park is relatively small, it offers great variety on trees and plants.
A visit is highly recommended in case you are in town.
Fair winds…
There are no major damages reported within the Azores caused by Storm Oscar. A fellow sailor came in yesterday with ripped foresails. Looking at the conditions of the sails a bit closer, I would not have left A Coruña with the same. Both foresails rotten and porous. The main sail does not look very encouraging either.
Clearly, Madeira has been hit hardest. Many flights cancelled, walking trails closed, roads blocked, etc. Maximum rain with 604 l/mˆ2 in 24 hours has left its stamp. The brutality of forces can be seen in the video showing the Ribeira de Santa Luzia in Funchal, a downtown river stream I have crossed many times.
While we have to write off three fender socks only, Porto Santo has lost its main tourist attraction. The golden sand is gone and with it the scenic beach! I have cycled this unique island in October 2021, when it looked like this. Very sad. Climate change is and will be changing landscapes as it always did.
Normality is back here in Ponta Delgada. Some boats have already left Azores yesterday heading East, either towards the Channel or Gibraltar. The ARC Europe is going to leave today, some of them having a short stop-over in Santa Maria before finally heading towards mainland Europe. We have a bit more time, which will hopefully bring the North Atlantic weather system back to “normal”.
Fair winds…
The current low pressure system dominating the eastern part of the North Atlantic got more attention over the last couple of days and is even dubbed “Storm Oscar” by now. The talk is around an “Atmospheric River” pouring extraordinary rain. I believe hardest hit sits on Madeira, where statistics with 5 times over the last 60 years illustrate the exceptional weather situation. Soon it will also affect the mainland peninsula. With record high water temperatures in the Atlantic reported by NOAA for 2023 this “Atmospheric River” just seems to be another sign of global climate change.
As sailors we have to cope with it or stay at home. Overall I think we have been lucky again on various aspects. We picked a perfect weather window from St. Martin to Bermuda and were relatively lucky on the passage from Bermuda to Azores. While following the sailing recommendations from Jimmy Cornell it becomes apparent, that his big disclaimer is justified in nowadays obviously happening climate change. While the risk factor has changed, I believe, available weather information has greatly improved to compensate for the same.
The expected swell pushing into the marina at yesterday’s afternoon high tide did not happen. My guess is, that the stronger winds gusting 45kn from North and the constant pouring rain were dominant over the swell pushing it back and down. Right or wrong, good for us! The night was peaceful, wind down to 25kn only and no further line checks needed during the night.
Under the given conditions we had a pleasant quality time in our cosy 43ft – 5 star – nest but are relieved that it seems over, for now!
Fair winds…
After 6h deep sleep last night with earplugs, we woke up around high tide, 3:36am. While wind was not the determining factor, it was the swell shaking the boat around dragging the lines. From Waltz to Rock’n Roll. It was not the worst swell ever but for sure significant. We checked all lines.
After adding two more lines of defence (nine in total now) and adjusting the others, it was time for a cup of tea before we went back to sleep, earplugs in. Nothing else we could do. Others were busy on their boats same time.
The wind peak is going through right now, gusting 40kn, but my concern remains the swell at the next high tide, 15:59pm. Once the water starts falling the swell shall start to ease a couple of hours laters. Looking forward to that moment.
We shall be alright.
Fair winds…
PS: SY Beagle with Alice and Ulli are fighting their way from Bermuda towards Azores since 8th May! I feel sorry for them and hope for the best on the final miles and landfall being close to Horta now!
PPS: SY Christina with Elke and Ulli are fighting swell in Calheta/Madeira being in a similar situation like us.
The peace will be over in PDL for a while with a low pressure system passing through over the coming 24 hours. All lines of defence are in place, let’s get over it. My concern is less the wind but rather the swell. Cross finger!
Fair winds…
It is still not the weather which makes these days perfect but glad we have time and are not under pressure to move on.
It was 4am in the morning when I got the ultimate idea, what the problem on our slow starting generator might be. The pre-heating relay not doing its job and thus additional crank turns needed, before it reluctantly starts?!? Got a spare relay from the onboard warehouse and the test after replacement indicated: symptoms eliminated, all good again.
These days also allow for some decent cooking and I opted for a “Simple One-Pan Wonder” from Jamie Oliver. The local ribs here from the market hall are 90% meat and 10% bones and not vice versa. After two hours slow cooking it is hard to resist any longer. Gorgeous.
Tomorrow we will look into the small leakage from the water maker.
Fair winds…
A random photo taken while myself strolling through town today, a public holiday also in Portugal.
Reading between the lines, I think we are lucky to be here in PDL already, although it is early in the season. Marina Horta is getting crowded and there is no more space in the marina now. People arriving from West are forced to anchor on questionable grounds. The anchorage was already jammed when I left 2 days ago. Even worse for people still on passage in the middle of the Atlantic, headwinds or no winds are being reported.
The weather on the Atlantic is playing dirty. Low pressure systems are coming and going far too much South, which is part of the trouble. They come and go without much notice. Difficult for sailors.
Similar here in PDL. Fellow sailors looking for a window towards Mainland Europe are getting mad, or at least frustrated.
I hope the dirty weather game will be over in a month time, latest.
Fair winds…
There is no doubt, we had better days at sea compared with the last 28 hours. Although the overall wind forecast was okay, it turned out slightly different. The dead zone behind the island of Pico has got its on challenges and is a long and wide zone. From gusts to no wind in seconds combined with wind shifts of more than 90 degree are not very entertaining. These were the first 50nm. The second 50nm, once we had left the dead wind zone, were okay but the wind increased steadily gusting over night close to 40kn, much more than predicted. Scattered showers gave the atmosphere the extra kick. Waves piling up. It was that very particular moment in the morning hours, when our newly spliced tackle blew off and the foresail flattered uncontrolled up in the air. Damned. What’s next?
Radioed my fellow sailors on SY Northstar, that I have to slow down to fix a broken sheet line. Not sure how, as it is out of reach on the foredeck with the bow jumping up and down in a chaotic sea state.
Back under the cockpit tent I made a plan. In the meantime the boat sailed under main sail only, in 2nd reef at 4kn only but on course. Not too bad but painful compared to the 7-8kn we had before.
The buoy-hook was the solution. A device I never used before but forms part of our inventory. Inventory of the category: you never know, better get one! We have plenty of that.😅
With the help of the buoy-hook I managed to get the sheet lines back fixed to the eye of the sail hanging up in the air and we were almost happy. Almost, because the weather was still disgusting and the wind and sea state at that time did not allow for proper sailing anymore. High sea with insufficient wind straight onto the stern. Predicted were 350 TWD and not 295 TWD! What a shame. Bugger off.
The engine took over, for the by then last 30nm, to get into PDL.
The welcome could not have been better. The Gorch Fock greeting SY Hullu Poro at the entrance of the harbour into Ponta Delgada and a cultural potpourri of German, Austrian and Israel fellow sailors accepting my lines at the pontoon.
All forgotten. Sailing is great!
Fair winds…
PS: I take some sleep now.
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