BVIs to the Azores - Day Nineteen 37 41.159N 031 36.400W

Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Sun 15 Jun 2014 20:42
Sailed for 4 hours yesterday evening at 3 to 4kts before the wind dropped down and the speed dropped below 2.5kts, so the engine went on and it's been on ever since. With a low rpm to keep fuel consumption down we're making around 5kts. Occasionally there's a bit of motor sailing as the wind will come up for maybe 30 minutes and give up to another knot before dropping down again. The sea is flat apart from a surface ripple and there's still a 1 to 1.5 metre swell which collapses the sails when they're up - most frustrating! So we tend to take them down to prevent wear and tear. The weather's been good all day so far and it's been a lovely sunny day, so a good day for a motor boat ride if you have to have one. It's also good for scanning the horizon for whales and dolphins, but apart from a single dolphin which jumped well clear of the water twice about 15 metres behind the boat, nothing has appeared. It's lovely to see dolphins close around the boat, but whales at a distance! Our noon-to-noon run was 121 miles and, as I write, we have 132 miles to go. We'll have to stop the engine before dusk to let it cool down a bit and add oil - not the easiest thing to do with a swell running. Hope we have some wind by then to be able to sail a bit and keep the boat moving.

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