Calm seas, Spinnaker up and Guitar music 37.25:65N 022.14:52W
Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Sat 5 Jun 2010 21:30
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Hi eveyone,
The Azores Islands have been pretty spectacular
from the sea. We passed between Pico and Sao George when we left Horta,Faial.
The Atlantic swell squeezing between the islands making it a bit lumpy but the
views of the lush volcanic islands was a treat. Pico the island opposite
Horta has been shrouded in cloud for most of the time we were in Horta and
the occassional glimpse of the peak just popping above the clouds at 6000ft is
almost surreal to see.
We re fuelled in San Miguel yesterday and then
enjoyed the afternoon in calm conditions 10/11 knots true wind sailing along the
south coast. Again spectacular lush volcanic hillsides keeping us company until
sunset and we watched the last lights of the island disappear on our
stern.
The wind dropped overnight accompanied by a small
squall, we sailed with just the genoa and also motor sailed until dawn.
Just before 6am Tony was on watch alone, fortunately he was hand steering when
he saw a whale approx 40ft long on the surface directly across the front of
the boat. He noticed the whale spurting water and it's back out of the water
almost stationary. The sail configuration allowed him to bear up towards the
wind and steer around it. He says he thinks we would almost certainly have hit
it.
We couldn't believe our luck as a collision would
not have been good all round. We were sailing slowly but think that we would
have still done a fair bit of damage to the poor whale and may have got away
without being holed or the keel hit but the rudder may have been quite a
problem.
The whale must have been asleep or resting, so we
will keep a sharper look out around dawn in future. At night it is just
luck to avoid them and in the day they always seem to be on the
move.
On the trip into the Azores we
saw dolphins most days, since leaving we have had them everyday and
sometimes on several occasions. They are quite beautiful with lovely
dark grey backs, light grey bellies and a pale grey stripe along their
sides. They are particularly playful and come in from all directions to play
around our bow. Today we saw them leeping out of the water and slapping
their tales on the sea before re entering the surface. We have also seen a lot
of portugeuse man of war jelly fish. At first we thought there were a lot of
plastic bottles in the water disguarded by someone---which was very unusual
because we have not seen any pollution. The plastic bags/bottles drifted by more
closely and we could see they were jelly fish----almost like a plastic bag
but with bright purple long tenticles and the most unusual pink fanned ridge on
the top edge which resembles a sail. They certainly appear to be sailing as they
were travelling in the opposite direction against the current. They look quite
beautiful despite their famous painful sting which we were told by local people
in the Azores would need hospital treatment if touched.
We are curently creaming along with the spinnaker
in light /12 knots wind. Malte has created a great mood on board with his
guitar music. We have had all kinds of spanish music from his travels in
Nicaragua and Brazil and a great version of Bob Marleys, Redemption song--- a
gift from the caribbean.
The silence of sailing and melodies of plucked
strings on the guitar make the 700 miles to go feel a little easier. We are
hoping that the forecast will be right and after about another day the northerly
winds will kick in and although cold will take us beam reaching to Portugal.
Hopefully the winds off Portugal and Cap St Vincent will be kind to
us.
Our original intention was to head for Gibraltar
but we have some close friends who will be on holiday in the Algarve
so we are hoping to meet up. Our crew mate Malte is also hoping to continue his
sea and land based journey back to Germany complete with back pack, surfboard
and guitar !!
Malte has worked with a charity project in
Nicaragua for a year before travelling/hitch hiking for another year across
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Venezuela towards Brazil to work in a
Boatyard. He then started his sailing trip
back to Europe,the first leg from Brazil to Antigua a voyage
of 2400nmiles. He joined us on Tioram for the 2700 nmiles across the
atlantic to the Azores. Now we have another 1000 miles to Portugal and if
possible he would like to get a boat to sail back to Germany. If not he wants to
travel home by land. An amazing
adventure...................................
Love to all
Tina, Tony and Malte x x
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