Day 6 - Bermuda to Azores
Talulah's Web Diary
Paul & Anette Morris
Sat 31 May 2008 18:30
Noon, Saturday 31st May 2008
It seems that summer has finally come! After 5 days of varied and 'interesting' weather, we now find ourselves sitting on the top edge of the Azores High pressure area. The sun shines and winds of 10 to 15 knots or less, blowing from west to east are with us. Yesterday we flew our parasail spinnaker at last - and what a treat that was, with a huge red and white 'balloon' of a sail pulling us eastwards. It's not too fast though, at just about 5 or 5.5 knots, but its pleasurable and relaxing. It looks like a pattern of sailing by day and motoring along by night is set to continue for a few days. Our overall speed has dropped as a result, and it will take a day or so longer to reach Horta, but who cares; we're enjoying it.
Yesterday afternoon saw us drying everything out in the sun (finally), topping up the tanks with spare diesel from the extra jerry cans we carry, and generally relaxing. We even managed to finish the game of Scrabble! - which I lost!
Last night we sailed on under a spectacular canopy of stars in the sky - so clear and so close you felt you could reach out and touch them. Early on there was no moonlight so each individual star could clearly be seen in all its brilliance. It was an astronomers dream, with all of the individual constellations clearly recognisable. A little later, a quarter moon rose from the dark horizon, right on the bow of the boat.
Dawn came this morning bringing a few early clouds, which soon drifted away, and we put up the mainsail and the jib to drift on again at about 5 knots in the 'waft' that we are getting from the west. If the wind comes round a few more points later today we may put the spinnaker up again.
'Only' 1030 miles to run to Horta, and with a distance run of just 114 miles (our slowest yet!) since noon yesterday, this journey looks like taking longer than we thought!
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