Bernie’s Blog - Day 12 – Friday 5^th August 2011

Leg Five: Azores to Dartmouth

At time of writing we have just 55 miles to Dartmouth so should be in about nightfall. I have made a round-up of this circuit of the North Atlantic that has taken two years. We departed Dartmouth on 13 August 2009.

Darrell won the Sweepstake (£10 from each of us) as we passed 12 miles to south of the Lizard Light at 0627 this morning.

It was a quiet night with not much traffic – just a few fishing boats and merchantmen but nought to cause us a problem. Darrell and I were on watch and saw the Space Station at 0440. It transited almost directly above us from west to east and we observed it for several minutes. This was our second sighting of this trip. We are  now cruising along the Cornwall and Devon coast and after Start Point (at about ????) we will do a ‘Slapton Beach’ run along the 5 metre line if conditions are suitable. That normally places us between 50 – 100 yards of the beach; which looks very close for us and even closer for the fishermen, picnickers and nudists (Blackpool Beach end in case you are curious!!)

Yesterday was not our healthiest day for food, but most enjoyable. I made the Hammy Cheesy Eggey Topside for lunch; Christine made Brownies for tea; and in the evening Chris made an excellent pizza from scratch. This lunchtime we will have the now famous low cholesterol ‘Susan Ayu all day breakfast’ – bacon, beans, eggs, mushrooms, fried potato and toast and anything else that we may find suitable! At least we are still eating fresh fruit to balance our diet!

So our long adventure is almost at an end. The team spirit and care taken for each other on a long ocean voyage makes it all a very special experience; and one that none of the crews of the past two years would have missed. Our Skipper (Peter – P1) is the very best and we are never in any doubt that we are in good and safe hands.

(Skippers note: Not sure about the above re Skippers competance, what I am sure about is that I would do it all again with the same friends as Crew)

So, until the next great adventure it is good-bye form all of us. See you very soon.

Oh, and would you like to see the photos?!!   John Ch1 Vs 13-14.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Clockwise circuit of North Atlantic and Caribbean - August 2009 to August 2011:

Leg 1 – Aug 09            - Peter, Bernie, Andy, Christine, Mike              Dartmouth to Algarve (via Camarinas)

Leg 2 – Nov 09            - Peter, Bernie, Andy, Christine, Rod               Algarve to Gran Canaria

Leg 3 – Jan 10            - Peter, Bernie, Andy, Christine,                                  Gran Canaria to Antigua

Leg 4 – May 11            - Peter (P1), Bernie, Rod, Peter (P2), Colin     Antigua to St Maarten to Horta (Azores)

Leg 5 – Jul 11            - Peter, Bernie, Andy, Christine, Darrell              Horta to Tercieira (Azores) to Dartmouth

Total Distance – 8229 miles and taking 69 days sailing

Between Legs 3 & 4 - ie March 2010 and May 2011, Peter & Sue cruised the Caribbean on their own, and occasionally with friends, visiting Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Lucia, Antigua Race Week, Dominica, Grenadines, Grenada

A further distance of 1220 miles

Total distance over past two years: 9426 miles

Well done the good yacht Susan Ayu whose 10^th birthday is this coming week