Homeward Bound; halfway there.
Flinns
Terry/ Nicola Flinn
Wed 20 Jun 2007 13:21
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44:30.00N 17:38.00W
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Ponta Delgada,
although it seemed to rain for the entire 3 days we were there. The marina was
filled to overflowing because our arrival coincided with that of the 50
boats in the Azores and Back ( AZAB ) race. Nonetheless, the marina staff
coped extremely well, with the minimum of fuss. The Club Naval,
whose facilities are excellent, made us feel very
welcome.
We met up with Terry's cousin, Alan Crockard, who
was one of the competitors in the AZAB in his yacht Sea Spine and we had a
thoroughly enjoyable evening when we all went out to eat together at a
superb fish restaurant.
As well as the usual cleaning, cooking, shopping
and maintenance ( almost forgot to mention the partying ) we went on an
organised bus tour of the island of Sao Miguel, which included a visit to a
pineapple plantation; regrettably, we saw little of the described spectacular
scenery as it was a very wet day with low cloud and mist.
We have been so impressed with the people and the
islands, it's likely that Flinesse will find its way back to the Azores, for an
extended cruise some time in the near future.
At noon on Saturday 16th June, the ARC Europe fleet
left the Azores, with most boats continuing on to Lagos in Portugal, with only
3 yachts heading for the UK; even so, we made our presence felt right up to
the end by crossing the start line in 2nd place, just behind the
leader. Most of the boats were able to settle onto a very comfortable reach
heading for Portugal, while we of course, yet again, were faced with a 4
hour beat of 20 miles until we rounded the island. Obviously, our punishment for
having had such an wonderful time in the Windward and Leeward Islands continues
!
Thereafter, we eased onto a fine reach,
making excellent progress in the Force 5 to 6 winds, with the occasional
gust up to 40 knots; we would have preferred something a little less exciting,
especially during the hours of darkness. We have been sailing at
between 6 and 8 knots, making about 160 miles
progress each day. The 3 of us are getting on extremely well, we are in good
spirits, we are getting lots of sleep and have even managed to catch a couple of
tuna.
We have now completed half the distance to Falmouth
and hope that the favourable winds will stay with us for another 4
days.
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