Bermuda to Flores, Azores 7 ... The final run in

39:09.56N 32:10.74W

22^nd  June 2015

60 Miles To The Azores

10,918 Miles from Ramsgate by log.

We have aboard Spectra an old Singer sewing machine that was kindly gifted to us by Peter Duke. It is the type your mother would have had, black with gold trimmings, a crank handle on one side and it all comes in its original Singer dome shaped wooded box. Oh and in case you have never tried to lift one of those machines they are very, very heavy. Do you get the picture? It is a lovely piece of engineering and lives on a shelf at the bottom of my bed securely restrained by a 4” high rail. I was awakened this morning when our Singer sewing machine leapt over its 4” high retaining bar and landed on my feet, lovely start to the day and a fitting end to a really s”£$””& night, just lucky I wasn’t sleeping the other way around I suppose. The wind died at about 1700 yesterday for a couple of hours and so on went the engine. Finally the wind started to come back but it was extremely gusty and changeable. By midnight it had gone from SE into the West and by dawn it was a Northerly. The result of this is that the confused lumpy seas that we were travelling through have become even more confused and lumpy which I didn’t think was possible, so much so that navigating down below is akin to a day out at monkey world, for the residents.

I have decided to keep motoring as the changing winds and lumpy seas are putting too much strain on our rig which if you remember is now minus a forestay. Our ETA in Flores is between 1700 and 1900 UTC this afternoon and it can’t come soon enough to be honest.

Moaning aside all is well, the crew are all tired as the horrible motion over the last three days has made sleep very difficult but I am sure by the time they reach the end of the jetty and have a bar in sight morale will be fully restored. The chefs, and that is all of us, have worked wonders in the conditions and we have had good hot and hearty meals delivered on time every day. We have even been baking bread which is a real morale booster particularly for Adam on his night time eating routine.

I have a blog made up of the pictures from this trip that I will send once we have WiFi connectivity so either tonight or tomorrow.

Here are the stats up to date

Day 1               74 miles            (15 hours)

Day 2               115 miles          (Part motoring)

Day 3               141 miles          (All motoring)

Day 4               116 miles          (Part Motoring)

Day 5               161 miles          (All sailing)

Day 6               172 miles          (All sailing)

            Day 7               149 miles          (All sailing)

Day 8               121 miles          (Part Motoring)

Day 9               129 miles          (All sailing)

Day 10             119 miles          (All sailing)

Day 11             157 miles          (All sailing) ½ under reduced rig

Day 12             121 miles          (All sailing) All under reduced rig

Day 13             141 miles          (Part motoring)

The arrival lottery stands at:

            Paul 21^st AM missed by a mile

            Norma 21^st PM missed by less than a mile

            Jen 22^nd AM Missed by a nose

            Steve 22^nd PM On target for the chocolate bar

            Willem 25^th Could be a winner if something breaks

            Adamant 27^th Now that is just being a bloody pessimist

Why not have a guess yourself it is a great game for all the family (Guess the ETA © Spectra 2015, 1 or more players aged 5 to 80, sorry Roger)

            Watch this space for the next rip roaring adventure as the famous five become the splendiferous 6.