Wednesday, 25 May 2023, 09.00 LT 13.00 GMT

Strongbowofbosham
Thu 25 May 2023 11:04
Our delight at being able to sail again was short lived as the wind was from passing small rain squalls and we were again going nowhere at 1 Kn. Back on with the engine. Then excitement, Maggy spotted dolphins and then a tremendous boiling as tuna and dolphins leapt out of the water in a feeding frenzy. We steered directly towards this boil, Paul quickly was casting a third lure in addition to the two we were trawling. We were certain of at least one tuna. When we were a couple of hundred metres away the sea went calm, the frenzy was over. The dolphins and tuna must have gulped down a whole shoal of sardines and simply vanished. No tuna for us. Still it had been exciting. As we get nearer to the Azores we cross water 1000’s of metres deep to 100’s and back again. These areas should bring more sea life. At least our lines are no longer permanently snagged with Sargasso weed.

At 17.00 a breeze filled in from the NE and we were able to sail close hauled ESE. If this stays we will take a long tack either side of our direct route to Horta. At 20.00 we tacked north towards the small crescent moon that gave a weak light over the sea. We sailed slowly but by the morning had made 30 + miles north which put us on the same latitude as Horta. A series of rain squalls passed us and woke up everybody but they passed quickly. Another tack SSE with the gain we are making on each tack embarrassingly small. It feels as though we will simply be stuck on the same radius from Horta

38:14.52N 34:59.41