Horta Azores (4)

My last post (hopefully) from Horta - I've been here way too long!

Kat has now arrived after a stressful departure. Her outbound London to Lisbon flight was delayed and she missed her connection to Horta. So after a night in a hotel, she finally arrived Saturday morning. We immediately set about rigging up the AIS and new replacement handheld GPS, intending to leave Sunday morning, however the weather wasn’t ideal and there were a few things I still needed from the chandlery to make the AIS aerial connection on Monday morning.

We did a final supplies shop Sunday afternoon and joined Freya and Paula (our new found friend) on Grateful Red for a delicious meal of Spag Bol and Mohitos in the evening. It’s now Monday evening and the water tanks have been refilled, the AIS is working and we have checked out of the marina (Ouch, the bill hurt!) , so tomorrow is D-Day!

AIS + GPS mounted on a piece of Ply - Heath Robinson would be proud!

Despite the weather forecast for the first part of the trip not being ideal, we should be in Falmouth in the next two weeks. I will try and post updates every few days, you all know the drill by now.

This is my first ever passage (of real consequence) with Kat so wish us luck!

Horta (3)

Ok so whats been going on … Hmn .. Not much!

Frey arrived (at long last) with Super Flavio and they have been beavering away making repairs to poor Otahi. Breakages / breakdowns include Engine Impellor, Heads, Laptop, Solar Panel Regulator, Self Steering, Cooker and some Sail repairs.

I have finally been persuaded to purchase an AIS (after looking at the Landsend AIS feed) and opted for the self contained NASA Radar. Horta price 519 euros (£444), UK price £209 – slight difference! Price match – what is that?!?! The look I get from the local chandlery says ‘what part of the word MONOPOLY is it that you don’t quite understand?’ Being essentially in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean they can pretty much charge what they like – and they do!

In addition, while scrambling down the harbour wall to get back aboard Doris, I managed to drop my handheld GPS in the water (about 2m deep). It was in my pocket after trying to find some terminals to make a cable for it. Now, the water is absolutely disgusting with god knows what is in it (I know what I put into it and that’s bad enough) and a film of oil on the surface.

The GPS is (sapposed to be) ‘kind of’ waterproof, so I either say goodbye to £100 or get the wetsuit on, in the hope it’s still alive. With Frey’s motivational speech of ‘Just Do It!’, I take the plunge! Seconds later I’m coughing and almost spewing my lungs up as my mask leaks like a sieve (due to not shaving for over a week) and handing her the yellow treasure – which is full of water.

Question, why make something that is ‘waterproof’ to a limited depth and not design it so it floats? – Genius! A quick ‘thankyou’ to the shower attendant woman who let me into the showers after climbing out despite them being closed for lunch – I think she took pitty on me, or maybe she could just smell me?

Great! … now I need both an AIS ... and a replacement GPS. While discussing all this with Kat, we decide that the best thing all round is for Kat to order the new toys and then bring them out to Horta, in which case she may as well sail with me back to the UK. After all, it’s about time we actually sailed a bloody passage together!

So .. despite Kat’s comment of ‘I’m absolutely sh*tting myself’ as she booked the flight.

On Friday 3^rd my new ‘crew’ arrives and I will have the luxury of both company and sleep to arrive fresh in Falmouth around 2 weeks later and Kat has her second date with the Atlantic Ocean. Thats the plan - Wish us luck!

Nothing else to report really, Flavio is leaving on Monday and Frey is arranging for someone to come and crew with her back to the UK. All being well, we might even leave together. Watch this space…

Not Quite A New Boat - Take 2.

I would like to re-introduce Katla.

Otahi has landed! - In Flores.

Shes alive ... !!!

----- Original Message -----

From:"Otahi"

To: "Simon Boo"

Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 3:22 PM

Hi boo
in flores had a good trip going to horta on sunday i think.where are you?
Love frey

Not Quite A New Boat

I was going to proudly announce today that I (we - with Kat's help) have bought a new boat. Its amazing what you get up to while waiting around in marinas with an Internet connection!

For those of you blog followers who are interested the details of her are HERE

Yes - I know shes wood, small, and has no engine!

Anyway, maybe its not meant to be...

UPDATE: Even though my offer was accepted I was slow in getting my deposit paid and hence beaten by a local buyer. CRAP!

Otahi / Euge - Update

Just a quick post to let everyone (with growing concern) know the latest news from Flavio & Freya on Otahi. James recieved a SPOT update yesterday stating their position as N39.65 W34.10 putting them approximately 260nm from Horta. I have no idea why I have not recieved the same SPOT update on my Sat phone.

Anyway, they have actualy 'gone past' the Azores being slightly north of the islands, probably due to winds, or ... they have decided to carry on straight to the UK!

I hope its the former as a. as I have been waiting for her for 2 weeks and b. the weather forcast for returning back to the UK is far from ideal for at least a week.

Also, Marcus (of Veracity) has reported that Richard & Sarah of Euge have arrived safe in Falmouth.

Horta Azores (2)

Well it’s now the 15^th of June and I have been here too long (13 days) and really need to get Doris back to Hamble point for selling. Not much to tell you really...

At least the sun is shining again lately, food, coffee and beers are cheap and I have had some fun (read drunken nights) company (albeit briefly) with the crew of SunBird. Unfortunately, Ben & Medi, the 2 Andy’s, Steve the Skipper and Amanda all set sail on Saturday morning at short notice, bound for Palma in the Med possibly via Morocco depending on the winds. I helped them pack their shopping before getting out of their way.

Medi doing what she likes best!

I have been trying to salvage the ‘Doris’ painting, after initial attempts were smudged by both rain (paint that refused to dry) and people climbing over it. At least I have made ‘my mark’ so to speak among friends (Euge & Timshel) and thanks to Kat it’s a damn sight better that I would have managed alone.

Its a 'work in progress' depending on boredom!

Our Danish friends of BlueOcean.

Adrian & Leonor of Bacan enroute to Brighton as we speak.

Still no word from Otahi (she is not actually overdue), but according to calculations she was just over 1200nm away the day I arrived which means based on a rough average of 100nm per day she should arrive any time soon. It’s a shame that Ben & Medi couldn’t also be here to welcome her in and have the ‘crew’ back together again. I will update as soon as she arrives!

Lastly, for those who may be interested (or amazed!), Marcus’ (little Marcus from Sweden) tiny Dory which he sold in English Harbour before flying home has arrived here in Horta.

There’s some brave (or stupid) people out there!