Category: Portugal Page 10 of 24
We have to move on, not easy but necessary. The weather window shall be okay to sail over to Madeira now and spend a few days in one of my other favourite marinas in Funchal. The last bits and pieces of former Hurrikane Danielle have been pushed away by a huge high pressure system currently developing southwest of Santa Maria and moving in our favour. That is the plan, a bit fragile but “tries make wise” as Volker from SY Hexe use to say: “Versuch macht klug!”
Moving on, I am still a bit puzzled how different the Atlantic Islands are. This not only from a landscape point of view but also from climate, culture and cuisine, just to name a few. Not to forget the cycling 
aspect.
The passage north to the Azores from Lanzarote was not a piece of cake for me but without doubt worth the effort. A brilliant archipelago during summer.
Feel free to join me out on the ocean over the next few days!
Fair winds…
I have shifted again. Above shows simulated passages over the next 48 hours. Looking now for the white line with a planned time of departure tomorrow, 14th September, in the evening hours.
Time for a tasty omelette.
Fair winds…
The lady will get a new dress. While we replaced the mainsail two years ago, it was now time to upgrade the foresail as well. It will be delivered to Lanzarote in October. We are then perfectly equipped for all type of events and any dress code required.😉
Fair winds…
Apart from many other excellent fruits and vegetables cultivated across the Azores, the melon produced only here on Santa Maria Island requires special attention. With a splash of Kefir into its core and a spoon to dig into it, you will not stop until hitting the pure bark. They call it a gastronomic wonder.
Extremely tempting!
It was an interesting night – no sleep. Very quiet all afternoon and evening until short tempered gusts up to 36kt started to shake hands with ambiguous silence at 5kt. Total silence until…💨
Lucky 13 lines gave a good load distribution on the pontoon and its cleats. With a bit of fine-tuning and the help of the integrated dampers the boat movement was smooth at any time. Even the ball fender at the stern did his job giving some proportional relief to the spider network.
This situation shall stay on for another 24 hours. Despite these circumstances, I am glad, that I did not set sail for Madeira on 8th trying to escape these excrescences of Madame Danielle. Initially Madeira was cleared from these winds but now it appears, that the track of former Danielle is moving a bit further South, 2 degree in latitude, I would guess, which equals to about 220km.
The original passage plan estimated an arrival on 12th and the wind & wave conditions at Funchal are anything else than pleasant at that time for a single handed sailor without fixed appointments and commitments.
I am glad that I could talk to Sutje Jan this morning on the Marine Radio. Due to a very fast passage they will escape most of the following severe sea state although one more challenging night is still ahead of them before arrival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. We will try to connect again at 8:00 UTC tonight.
Need a strong coffee now.
Fair winds…
It has become quite here in Vila do Porto on Santa Maria. I have taken the marina photo to the very right above upon my arrival a week ago. The bigger tuna fishing vessels have been hauled out last week as the season is considered to be over. Commercial quota has been reached. At the moment we are the only sailing boat in transit left, all others are either running diving business or staying/living here with their boats over winter.
The wind shall increase over night up to 35kt in gusts and by Monday evening Danielle shall finally be history.
Have a relaxed weekend.
Fair winds…
Another decision was needed to leave Azores today or enjoy further days in Vila do Porto on Santa Maria as the weather window is not bad but certain conditions convinced me to stay.
Hurricane Danielle is still mixing up the northern part of the Atlantic. Its movement is a bit unusual turning a small circle over the next few days and then heading east, where it will slowly lose momentum as shown on the chart from NOAA above. At least that is the current 5 days forecast.
The remark above “Hazardous conditions can occur outside of the cone” are evident for an area around mid way between Santa Maria and Funchal. 33kt of wind gusts (excluding the +5kt additional based on experience) and 2.9m waves with 8s wind wave period. On a four days passage, this would be our approximate position.
Although these conditions are in principal managable, I decided to give it a miss hoping that the northern Atlantik will come up with a less challenging window in a weeks time or so.
Skipper Jan from SY Sutje together with his 1st mate Reinhard did finally throw the lines this morning heading over straight to Canary Islands after 2 month of excellent accompany within the Azores. We will try to connect via HAM Radio tonight to see how it goes.
Fair winds…
To me, the Golden Globe Race is the ultimate race around the world. The conditions for this retro-race are driven by the first successful solo-sail around the world completed in 1968 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. Cross fingers for the girl (!) and the boys to come home safely. Fair winds…
