Crossing the Atlantic - Virginia, USA to Flores, Azores

Silhouette
Pieter, Pauline, Robyn and Kerry Lindeque
Tue 24 Jun 2014 15:28
39:22.7N 31:09.9W
 
Sadly, it is time to make our way back to Europe. We had a wonderful and eventful time in the USA and, as has happened all too often on our trip, we said “we will just have to come back”.
 
Our good friend, Alan Haynes, joined us in Annapolis to help us sail Silhouette to the Azores. This is a 2300 mile trip with quite variable weather and potentially strong winds. Nice to have extra manpower on the boat for the long trip. This also means we get a lot more sleep at night, a bonus!
 
We left on the 3rd of June from Yorktown, Virginia with a rough plan of sailing southeast for 3-4 days before heading almost due east for the Azores. This trip was all about watching the weather patterns develop (low and high pressure systems moving west to east), staying out of the strongest wind but just as much staying out of the ‘no wind’ areas. We where only partially successful in these attempts.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADeparture on the 3rd June
 
 
Some statistics for you
Total distance: 2282M  (4226km or 2626 miles)
Duration: just under 15 days
Average speed: 6.5 knots  (7.5 m/h or 12 km/h)  with maximum surfing speed of 18 knots
Hours motored: 100 hours  (roughly 25%)
Number of sailing vessels spotted: 2
Number of cargo ships spotted: 12
Number of fish caught: 0 (not for a lack of trying though!)
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
 
 
This trip was very different to our crossing in November when we sailed westwards towards the Caribbean. Then we had settled tradewinds. This time we had winds from all directions and at all strengths. For a lot of the time we had a bit too little wind  (hence quite a lot of motoring and the low average speed) and twice we had winds that where just a bit too strong to be comfortable. Along the trip we had to do a few repairs such as sewing (rip in the sail cover as well as a strap on the foresail), small piece of the mast track which fell out needed refixing (the constant vibration made the screws ‘unscrew’ themselves). These where certainly no major problems to deal with.
 
Silhouette was well stocked when leaving the USA. We managed to buy a lot of good quality fruit and vegetable and a lot of vacuum packed meat. We really did eat well along the way despite the lack of fresh fish: Alan cooked his renowned chilli con carne,  Robyn and Kerry baked a chocolate cake to celebrate our half way mark, the girls made pancakes with bacon and maple syrup for Sunday breakfasts. Pieter’s birthday on the 16th of June was another highlight. We cooked a 3 course meal with his favourite trifle as dessert.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Loopy kids at our half way point                                                  Alan serving tagine
 
 
Our first sight of land was on day 14 before nightfall. Flores was still 60 miles away at that point. We dropped the anchor at 5:30am on day 15, glad to be back in Europe but mostly just needing a solid night’s sleep.