6:30am sharp we were in the saddle for another ride. As Rene had some morning commitments in town he kicked me off to tackle some uphill miles towards Sete Cidades before him turning back. Thank you!
It was a ride driven by some eye-catching weather.
After many attempts in the past, today morning Rene (skipper SY Momentum of Fal) and myself finally managed to get on a bike ride together. It was a short one as I am still careful with the hay fever being around. There are many things, which connect us besides riding Specialized bikes: Hallberg-Rassy and Asia! We never run out of subjects to chitchat. Not the last ride together, I hope.
Fair winds…
As sailors and live aboards you normally say “hello” to each other in different places following by “good-bye” shortly after. We are in contact while on the move but meeting in person at the time ships’ wakes are crossing itself gives the opportunity to update each other on the latest developments and sharing new sailor’s yarn within the community.
Yoshi has just completed solo sailing the North Atlantic Circle returning from the Caribbean. After missing him first time in Cuxhaven we made it in Porto Santo/Madeirea and Rubicon/Lanzarote last year. Based on our sailing plans there is a chance that we will meet again later this year.
Allways a pleasure!
Fair winds…
It was a steep downhill to get to the natural pools of “Termas da Ferrari”. I was told, these are the nicest ones on the island. Well, I was not that impressed. Getting back up again was a challenge at 15% slope and I had to walk the bike up for a while. No chance – I will never become a mountain goat rider.
This tour got heavily impacted by hay fever. The grass is blooming at its peak. Not good.
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!
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…
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…
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