Happy Birthday Me!

OK where are we?...

Well with Kat & Daves help, I (we) have finished the following:

DONE

Emptied the boat of all my stuff.

Cleaned the ForePeak & Heads.

Derigged Sails and StackPack.

Removed and Scrubbed the Sprayhood.

Acid Treated the teak - its like new!

Soapy washed the topsides.

Polished all the Stainless.

TO DO

Polish the topsides & Hull

Prepare and AntiFoul the Bottom.

Clean the Saloon and Rear Berth.

Kat has now left and Dave has returned to Brighton until tomorrow (weather permitting).

I spent ththis afternoon finishing the stainless and after completing the last bit, turned around to find huge red splodges of bright red bird crap! Hamble has a starling problem - perfect!

Its a bit weird being in Hamble Point Marina living 'on the hard'. Tomorrow is going to be even weirder as its my (Single Handed) 39th birthday. Another day older & wiser ...

OK well older anyway!

Hi all ...

My inbox has been full over the last few days and I have not been recieving emails properly.

If you have emailed me recently could you please resend.

Many thanks

Boo.

Quick Update!

Hi folks - Just a quick update to bring you all up to speed!

After completing the Azores to UK crossing, we (Kat & I) spent a really nice day with Jess (of Veracity fame) in Falmouth and met some of her friends on the Penryn river.

Since then we have sailed the 200nm from Falmouth to Brighton in one hit (2 nights at sea) and then had a really good day with all my friends at a BBQ hosted by Francois (thanks man!).

We are now back in Hamble on the Solent and today Doris got lifted out on to the Sales Hard Standing. Dave from Brighton is also here and helping to get her cleaned and ready for selling.

I will post more details of all the above including pictures when I have a little more time as things are hectic at the moment!

I'll be back soon...

Azores - UK (3)

Wednesday (PM) 15th July 2009

We continued to be becalmed throughout the day with the ocean looking more like a lake. I commented on the fact that you would expect to see more wildlife given the mirror like conditions before heading off to the toilet.

Sitting there enjoying the calm motion and finishing 'A Voyage for Madmen', a high pitched shrieking is coming from the cockpit. Yup, it's Kat freaking out! She's seen a whale and is convinced we are about to be rammed and sunk before I have a chance to even get my trousers up. Once I get up on deck it doesn't surprise me to find out it was 'on the horizon'. We continue on, while I continue to snooze below.

At 2030utc I am woken up to the high pitched shrieking again except this time it's not Kat, it's the AIS! I look up on deck to find a massive tanker about 2nm off our port beam running parallel and Kat grinning because she thinks she's seen more whales. Sure enough a pod of what look to be around six whales swim between us and the tanker. A quick look at the Crutey Atlantic Ocean wildlife book, with me shouting to Kat with the binoculars 'what colour are their lips', implies either Melon Head or Pilot whales. I'm going with Melon Head coz they sound cool.

Kat's phobias are semi submerged ship containers (check - had one of those), whales (check - had some of those) and sharks (gulp!).

Finally the wind started to fill in and we got full sail up to make 5kn in the right direction pinched up tight. Just in case the calms returned we took the opportunity to top up the diesel tank from the spare cans.

The winds continued to build along with the seas and before long we were racing along with 2 reefs in and a scrap of jib. We had a light dinner of Pate on toasted Pitas just as it got dark.

Kat turned to me with a puzzled look and said 'what's that noise?' If you listened carefully you could hear sonar and 'chatter' of either Dolphins or small whales. Up on deck you could see the 'Casper' like luminous trails as they torpedoed alongside us. Although she's seen plenty of dolphins this was the first time she'd heard them through the hull so was entranced with the experience.

I cooked Chilli Con Carne around midnight before the nightshift began.

Thursday 16th July 2009

Not too much to share with you guys about the first part of the day as Kat and I were in 'heated discussions'.

Noon position N46 47.61 W13 20.04 with 112nm covered.

In the evening I was below deck and Kat had just scanned the horizon and making her way back down the stairs she commented how the sky looked 'painted'. Literally as the words left her lips I heard the familiar crescendo of a squall. The boat started to accelerate as I pushed past Kat just managing to get to the gybe preventer line in time. I rounded Doris up and hove to, losing the jib and sheeting in the mainsail as the wind gauge read 38kn. She would have naturally rounded up, but with a tightly prevented boom we might have suffered some damage such as a bent boom or worse. Close one!

After the squall the seas continued to build in stark contrast to the lake we had enjoyed twenty four hours earlier. With the possibility of more squalls and worsening conditions we took down the mainsail and continued on jib alone.

Kat made some hotdog pasta for dinner as it got dark.

Friday 17th July 2009

Despite the sea being 'rough', Kat managed to spend the day reading in the cockpit wearing a cap to protect her already 'microwaved' nose. I spent most of the time below catching up on sleep and being frustrated that the seas were preventing us from making any north progress. I just managed to keep Doris slightly north of east with the waves slightly in front of the beam.

With more bad weather and likely big seas being forecast it was starting to look like we may have to 'run' east into Brest.

We finished the hotdog pasta for lunch and had another washing up session.
Our noon position was N47 23.67 W11 44.43 with only 83nm covered.

That evening we (I - Kat fell asleep) watched the 'Longitude' documentary about the Harrison clocks - gripping stuff!

The AIS has finally seen a ship before us and earned its keep. I went up to check the horizon and returned with an 'all clear verdict' just as it was getting dark. About ten minutes later the alarm sounded and we were surprised to see a huge cargo ship about 3nm away, it must have not had its 'nav' lights on - that's my excuse!

Kat has her own theory - Vampire Boats! We never see many (if any) boats in daylight, however, as soon as its dark they appear less than a few miles away, almost as regular as clockwork.

I stayed awake for most of the night calling Kat from her 'cozy pit' just before it got light around 0400utc with a cup of hot chocolate.

Saturday 18th July 2009

I cooked us some porridge for breakfast and Kat followed that up a little later with cheese and chorizo toasties for brunch. I downloaded some fresh grib files and have conflicting forecasts. The grib files suggest that the weather should be easing, but the NavTex is warning that our f6 winds will increase to f7 and possibly Gale force 8 with associated 'very rough' sea conditions.

Strategy; I decide to stay north of our rhumb line in case we have to run with the seas we can still make the English Channel entrance. Our noon position was N48 15.45 W09 47.69 with 104nm covered.

I slept throughout the day and read 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel, an easy but very interesting read about the birth of modern navigation. Kat finished reading 'The Game' (and now has a cynical outlook of all mankind!).

Just after midnight we sighted our first fishing boat, a trawler about 3nm off, an indication we are getting closer to 'home waters'. Kat headed off to bed slightly later than usual due to the 'excitement' of the trawler and I stood watch until calling her at 0500utc with no other ships sighted.

Sunday 19th July 2009

We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs cooked by Kat at 0600utc, which I followed up with cereal around 1100utc and then at 1430utc Kat got hungry again and we got stuck in to Potato Gratin with corned beef. In short we spent Sunday eating and plodding along under headsail in the dying swell.

Our noon position was N49 19.79 W07 47.26 with 107nm covered.

I spent the day as always snoozing and having an afternoon 'rave' in the cockpit listening to AeroSmith, while Kat either slept or read. At 2300utc I cooked a Mediterranean rice style dish in an attempt to use most of our fresh produce, which we ate before beginning the nightshift.


Monday 20th July 2009

By midnight the wind had dropped to less than 10kn and the headsail started to flap and gybe, driving us both mad. Kat kept watch until 0230utc, with me taking over until 0700utc. I tried everything I could think of to keep Doris moving until 0500utc when I conceded defeat and turned on the engine.

Just our luck that with our last day to go at sea and a forecast of f5 to f6 winds we are becalmed. Especially as the majority of the trip has been in
25kn+ winds and rough seas, typical!

Our noon position was N49 44.25 W05 37.81 around 20nm south of Land's End as we crossed the shipping channels. Our 24 hour mileage run was 101nm. We had a close call when we caught a huge clump of seaweed on the prop followed by a carrier bag, both of which cleared without me having to get a wetsuit on.
Thank God as its freezing!


The time is now 1300utc and the wind has started to fill in giving us full sail and around 5kn of boat speed. We might just make it into Falmouth, around 40nm to go before it gets dark. Kat wants a pub with a warm fire and a pint of Cider, not to mention a hot shower.


Reunion / Birthday Get-Together

Francois has mentioned a BBQ at his home in Brighton for us all to get together again. Hopefully we can do the weekend of August 1st as it's my Birthday! Also, it will be exactly a year since we all had my farewell party - where you all thought you would never see me alive again! If not, the weekend of 25th July is a back up.

I have yet to confirm anything solid with Francois, but in the event that he is not available on either of these weekends then another venue can be suggested.

It would be great to see you all again and catch up with what I have missed over the last year. I know some of you are now married and others have new family members etc.

This will be a short visit as I need to get back out and protect Katla (the new boat) from hurricanes in the Caribbean and will be looking to fly out early August.

I will have mobile phone coverage by Tuesday morning.

Azores - UK (2)

Friday (PM) 10th July 2009

After sending the blog to Mr Crute and downloading some fresh Grib files, I cooked us cheese & chorizo pita 'toasties' for lunch. Kat has started (and soon gave up on) reading The Planets by Dava Sobel. She still hasn't really found her sea legs and feels queasy when reading below decks.

A lack of appetite led to Haribo sweets for dinner. To be honest this is the first ever trip I have also felt slightly queasy with a lack of appetite which is unusual for me. It may be a mental thing because I can see Kat suffering mild sea sickness effects?


Saturday 11th July 2009

Due to the uncomfortable swell, we 'hove to' at 0130utc to get some sleep. The day turned out to be sunny and a 'big day' for Kat. She went to the toilet for the first time in 5 days (no wonder she's been feeling queasy!) and then had a cockpit shower. It's a good thing this isn't a three week trip as she 'only' managed to use 25l of fresh water.

I cooked us some 'cheesy chips' for lunch which we enjoyed in the cockpit.

Today's mileage was 101nm with a noon position of N42 15.39 W21 40.68.

We have been watching a massive low pressure system carefully and it looks like we will be heading straight into it. While the maximum winds we should see are only about 30kn its size and duration indicate some big seas. Wind, I can handle, waves - no thanks!

I cooked hotdogs in pasta sauce for dinner and Kat kept a watch in the cockpit from midnight to 0430utc under a clear moonlit sky while listening to The Railway Children on her ipod.

Around 2030utc we heard a 'Securite' message from a yacht called Pure Magic announcing a floating (semi submerged) ships container in position N42 54.98 W21 09.37, about 16nm away from us.


Sunday 12th July 2009

Being on the very edge of the storm system, I decided to 'hove to' after Kat finished her watch at 0430utc. If the seas start to build very quickly or if the forecast is wrong this gives me the chance to run south out of the worst of it. The Navtex has been reporting the north of the system around Ireland producing Severe Gales (9) with possible Storm Force (10) winds. We remained 'hove to' mainly sleeping for about 10 hours until 1500utc when I was happy that the Grib files matched what we were seeing before progressing slowly deeper into the system.

Our noon position was N43 12.85 W20 29.38 with 89nm covered. Dropping the mainsail and running with the steep waves (~2m) under a scrap of jib. The winds were around 25kn with squalls to 30kn.

I downloaded a fresh Grib file of the storm and Kat started to worry that our Satphone credit was running low. Mainly because she wanted the comfort of being able to talk to someone in the event of her having to look after me or get advice should anything (God Forbid) happen. Understandable as I'm still (relatively) pretty new to this sailing lark and this is her first
(significant) trip without other more experienced crew around. We sent an SMS message to Mr Crute (the ground crew) requesting a credit 'top up'.

Kat cooked her first meal of tuna in pasta sauce for lunch and we settled in to listen to James & The Giant Peach. Again a lack of proper evening meal led to too many Haribo sweets being consumed. The sailing throughout the night was pretty rough with the building sea conditions.


Monday 13th July 2009

Continuing under headsail only, we continued to make decent progress in the right direction despite squally conditions and large uncomfortable seas. Crutey sent us a confirmation that the Satphone credit had been 'topped up' which made Kat feel a bit more relaxed in light of the rough conditions.

I cooked us a 'Med style' Egg Fried Rice dish which must have been quite good with Kat having a second portion.

Our noon position was N43 52.10 W18 49.71 with 92nm covered.

In the afternoon I opened up (another) one of the pressies from Kat's gift pack (before she knew she was joining me on the return leg of the trip). A bar of Caramel choccy and 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel, I have been wanting this book for ages. I often wonder if Kat isn't the real Santa Clause or at least secretly wants to be. She always buys, makes, obtains the perfect gifts, maybe she should be a 'Purchasing Assistant' for the Rich & Shameless for job satisfaction.

We listened to the 2nd part of James & The Giant Peach in the afternoon before I cooked us some 'Casolet' Pork Beans with mashed potatoes for evening meal. This quite literally 'didn't go down' too well. I had bad indigestion and Kat proceeded to fart all night long. Come the morning, she was actually convinced that her room was full of 'Casolet gas', this turned out to be the washing up in a bucket in her room!

In the evening Kat sent an SMS text to her parents to let them know she was still alive and well, before we spent another 'uncomfortable' night at sea with (~3m) waves regularly smashing into our beams and coming over the decks.


Tuesday 14th July 2009
Kat and I continued to swing 2hr watches (more like taking turns to scan the horizon with sleep in between) until around midday when Kat cooked us some amazing Cheese & Chorizo toasties for lunch.

By this time the sun had made a welcome re-appearance and the skies showed signs of the weather starting to improve (less squalls). With the reduced wind now on our beam we raised the mainsail for more drive over the remaining (2m) swell.

After a mammoth washing up session in the afternoon the winds were down to ~10kn and we made way at a speed of around 6kn with 1 reef in the mainsail and ¾ jib with the wind just above the beam - perfect sailing conditions for Doris.

Our noon position was N44 41.90 W16 50.42 with 105nm covered.

Kat spent the afternoon in the cockpit reading 'The Game' by Neil Strauss (a book every guy should read - women don't bother as you will only get pissed off). She also insisted on banging her head against various parts of the boat. Just to complete the afternoon she gave me a colourful 'French lesson' after dropping our only tub of cotton buds down the toilet.

With the seas (and wind) dropping fast I managed to keep Doris sailing well throughout the evening and I cooked us some Chilli Con Carne around midnight before the 'nightshift'.


Wednesday 15th July 2009
Kat took a watch at 0300utc and I then kept watch from 0600utc where I saw our first yacht about 4nm on the horizon. By 0900utc the wind was down to ~6kn with a slight swell running in memory of the storm endured over the last three days. I was now struggling to keep Doris moving at any decent pace in the right direction under full sail.

1000utc and a sunglasses wearing Kat (after doing zombie impressions) is happily sat at the wheel with the monotonous drone of the engine running at 2000rpm holding a course of ~50T and shadowing the distant yacht on our port bow horizon. We have the fridge on, the stereo blasting, phones (mobile and Sat) & laptop charging and more importantly the ships batteries above their 12.2v which they have been at for the last three days due to a lack of prolonged sunshine throughout the storm.

1100utc and I have just fixed another broken mainsail slide, my last spare so hopefully this will be the last repair I have to make before reaching the UK - fingers X'ed!

Our noon position is N45 52.90 W15 31.85 with 98nm covered with 517nm to go.

Neither Kat nor I have tried to kill each other and the sun is out. You are now all up to date!


Kats Perspective .

Hey all, I had thought I may need to write the whole blog as Boo announced that, having rounded Cape Horn twice (reading 'Voyage for Madmen') he was too worn out to type. Anyway, luckily he's recovered from this adventure so it's just a quick personal perspective update instead.

As some of you know, this trip was a monumental step for me in terms of my experience thus far. The sailing I've done has always been with at least 3 other crew all of whom are more experienced / qualified than me so I've been able to take comfort in the knowledge that if anything went wrong, there'd be a healthy handful of others who'd deal with things first and that it'd be incredibly unlikely that something would happen to ALL the crew leaving me single-handedly trying to rescue them / handle the boat etc. Whether this has made me a better sailor or not is dubious but I felt it's about time I at least tried a long passage as the only other crew. My notions of embarking on a cruising lifestyle to reset all my bad habits and stress-head tendencies I've gained so far will be hard to materialise if I can't overcome this stumbling block and so, with an ashen face and literal palpitations I booked my flight out to the Azores (with a return option as a) it was cheaper and b) I still wasn't totally sure I'd actually be onboard when the lines were cast off!!!)

I put my queasiness in the first few days down partially to these nerves and partially the motion as I haven't been afloat since March so have truly grown land-lubber legs. I took Boo's advice that it always takes a few days to get your sea legs so I let him take charge of both sailing and catering.

Over a week into the trip I'm still feeling uncomfortable a lot of the time but bit by bit trying to overcome this and successfully cook something to show willing! The food's not fab but then I'm not known as a gourmet chef on land either (and I never got that cooking lesson from Paula in Horta)!

For entertainment I've resorted to listening to my ipod audiobooks more than I expected as I can only read printed literature in the cockpit which limits me to daylight and a dry cockpit (my cockpit cushions I've just made during my upholstery course in the UK are proving to be a god-send) . Saturday night was my kind of nightshift: clear moonlit skies with Doris jogging along under sail and I was able to listen to The Railway Children audiobook from "cover to cover". That's what being out here is all about for me - being forced to sit still and simply reflect and not rush from one thing to the next without ever totally finishing what I've started! I got a taster of this doing the ARC transatlantic on SY Matchmaker last November but that was a 65foot Oyster with 4 other crew so there have been plenty of new experiences doing an offshore passage on Doris with just Boo.

I've found the watch system exhausting as having been used to a structured 4 hours on / 4 hours off rota I'm now seeing how a short-handed crew operate instead. We haven't installed a formal pattern as due to me not being a competent sailor in my own right Boo is fundamentally on-call the whole time in the same way he was single-handing. This in effect means he sleeps wherever possible and has acclimatised to sleeping for 20/30 minute intervals checking the horizon and resuming his adventures in the land of nod. However when I've tried this technique (to allow him to sleep in longer chunks) I feel after 4 hours that I've been run over by a steam engine and laid into by Mike Tyson for desserts! I find it easier to stay awake for my "watch" and as Boo sleeps in the salon to see the sails etc from his bed I'm either in the cockpit (weather permitting) or sitting in the dark opposite him using my ipod for entertainment! Then I crawl into my cubby hole of the aft cabin and try to sleep. I still haven't got used to the whole "bedroom window under water" thing so wake up with a jolt most times we heel and watch anxiously out of the cockpit-facing hatch to check I can still see Boo's legs up there and that he hasn't fallen overboard! Nighttimes still bring out the goulies for me: I dream of containers and whales hitting the boat (not helped by the twack sounds of waves hitting the hull which honestly sound like brick walls not water & are a new sound to me), the boat capsizing (usually encouraged by sensation of heeling during sleep) and Boo falling overboard so then have to check out it's not real! I guess this is all stuff that you rationalise over time and I'm so fickle that as soon as it's daylight and I know other boats can see us more easily and likely to have crew awake on them I can sleep more soundly!

Dreaming also skews my perspective so whilst I was still trying the technique of sleeping between scanning the horizon I woke up during early hours of Sunday morning and could see Boo sleeping soundly on the salon bunk I threw a complete wobbler to myself that those lazy gits in the forecabin don't pull their fair share on the watch system and why does it always have to be Boo and I doing all the work! It took me til daylight to realise there were no other crew in the forecabin! Equally, next night I woke up convinced after 2 days of storm-dodging that we were about to broach or capsize completely. Boo hears a polite voice from the darkness of the aft cabin saying "Baby, are we over-canvassed?" to which he replied: "No sweets, it's blowing 9 knots and we've still got 1 reef in". Can't trust anything out here that's for sure!!!

So, despite the ongoing motion-sickness (which I didn't suffer on the ARC crossing but then the boat was twice the size which I'm sure helped!) and Mother Nature's cruel sense of humour sending my "clumsy phase of the month" to add to the lack of solid sleep and borderline madness accrued thus far I'm actually glad (in a perverse way?) that I'm here!

Azores - UK (1)

Tuesday 7th July 2009

After waking up to the sight of thick fog rolling down off the surrounding hills we decided to wait a while for it to clear before making a move. Pre departure nerves also aided in stalling the leaving process. Kat had a shower while I readied the boat and then we joined Freya in the café for some breakfast. Finally the fog burnt off and we could see clear waters outside the harbour walls. Some last minute photos of the gang (Freya, Paula, Kat and myself) before we started the process of slipping our lines and escaping from the raft of boats that were now four deep. Doris was alongside our Russian friend who didn't speak a word of English and on the outside of Doris were two French boats, only one of which spoke any English. Despite the mixed methods of communication everything went smoothly (ish) and we motored clear out of Horta marina at 11:15utc.

Kat did her thing stowing the fenders and lines before we hoisted the mainsail (2 reefs) and sailed out into clear waters. Literally minutes later another bank of fog rolled in reducing visibility to about 500 yards. Just to make matters worse the Pico ferry appeared from a bank of white about 1/2nm away doing around 30kn with nothing showing on the AIS. Soon the fog passed over us and Horta vanished as we continued to sail up through the islands. The weather for most of the day consisted of low grey cloud, light winds (10-15kn) and calm seas. We were greeted by several pods of dolphins throughout the day.

Late afternoon bought a brief glimpse of sunshine and we took the opportunity for Kat to have a 'Man Overboard' lesson (slightly surreal for an Ocean crossing). With the wind out of the NE we decided to continue N straight out into the open ocean and passed Graciosa on our starboard side.

Kat had been feeling a bit queasy throughout the day and was still looking for her 'sea legs'. I cooked us some pasta for evening meal and I kept watch until we were a decent distance from land. Despite it being a full moon, we had total cloud cover and the boat got really damp.


Wednesday 8th July 2009

The same conditions followed throughout the day with variable winds
(10-15kn) from the E and the same monotone grey skies. We have been hearing ships on the main VHF radio but as yet nothing on the AIS, probably due to the limited range of the small aerial we are using.

Lunch (Kat's creation) consisted of corned beef & mayo in Pita bread and evening meal (my creation) was a curry soup & beef broth spiced up with mash potato and soya chunks. All in all not a good day in the culinary department. The dolphins are now absent indicating we are out into the 'Ocean proper'. We have been limping along at around 4kn in the dying winds
(~10kn) and calm seas. While slow, making a good introduction to life at sea and allowing us to find our sea legs before the heavy stuff rolls in.

Throughout the evening the wind has continued to veer and is now behind the beam as we sail a course of around 60T closing our rhumbline about 30nm off course. I have also noticed two small (1 inch) tears in the mainsail caused by the reefing block. Hopefully we will get some sunshine to dry out the sail and I can apply a patch.

By morning the wind had freed up allowing us to make NE. Our noon position was N40 06.39 W27 36.48 with 111nm covered.


Thursday 9th July 2009

Early morning visibility is once again reduced to about 500 yards and we are surrounded by evil monotone grey damp fog. Still nothing on the AIS, I hope it works as this will be the only warning we get with such reduced visibility. The alarm function worked within the confines of the harbour walls so I have faith in it (fingers X'ed).

Around midday we were once again visited by dolphins and a lone turtle lazily swimming in the opposite direction. Still nothing on the AIS but we occasionally hear voices on the VHF. Thick banks of fog continued to roll in regularly throughout the day.

Our noon position was N40 53.00 W25 39.27 with 105nm covered.

With 'nothing much' to look at among the shades of grey, Kat and I basically read, slept and ate away the hours. Kat reading 'Changing Course - A woman's guide to choosing the cruising life' and Naomi James - At One with the Sea (Alone Around the World). I have started reading A Voyage for Madman - Peter Nichols. These two titles pretty much sum the pair of us up!

Lunch was yesterdays curry soup / beef broth bulked up (even further) with rice to make 'Spicy Rissoto' (according to Kat) or PotRice (according to me).

Evening meal was an abortion of an omelette that made us both feel a bit queasy, and was therefore followed by more sleep.


Friday 10th July 2009

The highlight of the night came around 05:15utc where we finally spotted a ship. I gauged it to be around 4nm away and wasn't too surprised that the AIS could not 'see it' with its tiny aerial. From the AIS perspective the tanker was not visible, being below the water line, but after a particularly large wave passed under us the AIS finally got a 'glimpse' of it and displayed it on the screen (~7nm away). I think the current set up will only alert us of ships within about 4nm at best - not ideal.

The time is now 1200utc and the wind had been rising since this morning, going from one to two reefs and now the final third with the wind gusting to 25kn+ and a horrible swell building off the starboard quarter.

Our noon position is N41 53.28 W23 31.11 with 115nm covered.

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!