38:34.9N 28:42.9W
The Caldeira (Crater) on
Faial
Dave’s Blog of the final few
days:
The first gale to hit us had been a force 8 on Tuesday and
Wednesday 26/27May. The following day gave us a brief respite before the second
low pressure system we were expecting arrived. The winds started increasing not
long after midnight on Thursday. This low was smaller but more compact
than the first and by breakfast on Friday it was in full swing with consistent
winds in the high 30/low 40 knot range.
Winds reaching 44 knots were recorded bringing this gale up to a force 9.
The mainsail had been reefed to its lowest sail area at 5am and the genoa had
been furled to leave just a small handkerchief sized sail. As we finished
breakfast it was decided that there was still too much sail area for the wind
strengths we were encountering. The main had to be dropped, this we did
immediately. Unfortunately whilst dropping the main, not an easy task on a
bucking boat in high wind, it was noticed that there was a 3 foot tear along the
seam of the leech and a 3inch tear on the luff where the sail had rubbed
on the spreader bar. Not good news, we still had over 600 miles to get to the
Azores.
Reducing the sail area made it far more comfortable and Whitemeadow
twisting and turning up the windward side of the waves then surfed down the lee
side performing graceful carve turns at the base that any skier would have been
proud of. Spray poured over the boat so we left 'George' to continue helming
while we retired to the cabin, battened down the hatches, and watched a DVD.
Regular visits were made on deck to check for shipping etc,. and to note the
state of the sea which was gradually building to equal if not exceed the waves
of the first gale. Extremely exhilarating.
The gale abated by early
evening and we had dinner and allowed ourselves the luxury of a glass of wine
with which we toasted each other and George for getting through the gale without
injury(other
than the torn mainsail). Fate then played its second card
of the day when the boat violently lurched just as we finished the toast. A
quick rush on deck showed that George was no longer in control of the
the boat and for a time we had to resort to manually helming. Later inspection of the linkage on
arrival in the Azores revealed that a bolt had sheared. Phil soon set up
Maggie to take over helming once the winds subsided to a mere 30 knots and by
about 11 we able to leave Maggie in control but only under very close
supervision.
For the next four days of 30/31 May and 1st/2nd June the wind
continued to blow between 20/30 knots between WNW and NNW allowing us to run
before it on an approximate bearing of 90 degrees. The low's progress east
slowed and we managed to keep a hold of its shirt tail as it moved toward the
Azores. This was very fortunate for if it had pulled away from us we would
have been left in an area of low and variable winds. The only sail used in this period was
the Genoa, and because of the strength of the wind this was furled to leave just
a half to three quarters of its potential area. Whilst the boat would have
been better balanced if the mainsail had been hoisted it was deemed prudent to
leave this down because of the damage it had suffered. The wind finally left us
as we neared the Azores early on Wednesday morning 3 June. When we were
just 20 or so miles from Horta we eventually had to use the motor to complete
the final few miles. The mainsail was raised but only to allow it to dry
before being being despatched to a local sailmaker in Horta for repair. At
11.25am we eventually tied up to the marina key. This part of the
Atlantic crossing had been accomplished.
On Wednesday afternoon and
Thursday Pete and I explored some of Faial and Pico whilst Phil arranged for the
repair of the sail, plus some time to his own. Pico was fascinating far too much to
record here. On Friday Pete left
for home, Phil went over to Pico to meet up with his old boss from Plymouth and
in the evening Robin and Chris joined the boat. Robin bringing with him a
replacement bolt for George. Saturday was spent shopping, undertaking some boat
maintenance and a visit to the local whale museum. On sunday we hired a car and
visited other parts of the island including the site of the volcanic eruptions
in the 1950s. A fascinating area covered in ash. We then did our
best to navigate our way to the central crater on the island using tourist
sketch maps and encountered the same problems as Pete and I had on Pico, The
maps are drawn by impressionists. We did succeed and were rewarded with some
stunning views. Then back to the
boat stopping on the way to have an excellent meal in a restaurant on the
outskirts of Horta. I then packed
and on Monday left to fly to Ponta Delgada where I spent the afternoon and
evening before flying back home on Tuesday. This left Phil, Robin and Chris
hiring a car to make their own trip round Pico on Monday before setting sail on
Tuesday for Plymouth.
At the beginning of this trip I wondered how it
would live up to my expectations of such long sea passages in a small boat
particularly across the Atlantic. All my questions were answered in the
positive. It most certainly was not boring but then it was my first trip. I had
thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. We had seen the Atlantic both glassy
calm and also somewhat angry with majestic seas whipped up by high winds. We had
been fortunate to catch site of the odd whale and several groups of dolphins
along with thousands of ‘by- the-wind-sailor’ jelly fish and numerous birds
thousands of miles from land!. A really positive experience and despite being
pounded by wind and waves Whitemeadow coped with all that was thrown her way
giving us confidence that all was well.
Pics: The Caldeira on Faial. The Azores are now
encouragng Whale-watching rather than hunting and killing.