The first leg is completed

3rd December

The first bunch of 4 young competitive sailors left Portimao on Sunday 16th November, Ian waited till Monday 17th and the last 3 left 24 hours after Ian.  They all took roughly a week to get to Tenerife but there was another huge storm system which stretched all the way from the African coast to Madeira.  For Ian it started on the Thursday evening, by morning he dropped all sails and trailed warps to steady the boat.  The wind was from behind so he was still drifting in the right direction.  Finally, on Saturday morning the wind dropped enough for him to start putting up a bit of sail.  It was still blowing hard and at one point he recorded a boat speed of 11 knots, which is ridiculously fast for a nutshell like that.  Then on Sunday afternoon he was becalmed.  He drifted over the line at 2am on Monday.  Not wanting to enter an unknown commercial harbour in the dark, he intended to drift around till daybreak but no sooner had he crossed the line than the wind came up and he roared up and down the coast much faster than he wanted, dodging ships.  Now he's in a marina with the other contestants, swapping stories.  Most of them sustained damage of one kind or another except Ian.  One of the guys had to fly back to work, another has gone home to see his family and one has had to fly home for medical treatment.  The next leg starts on 10th December.

 The race officially began on Sunday 16th November from Portimao marina.  It was supposed to start on the 11th from Sagres but a huge ferocious storm was approaching so the 3 boats in Sagres headed for Portimao marina to wait it out with the other 5 Setkas.  4 of the most hardy contestants elected to start on Sunday 16th but Ian felt it was still a bit marginal and waited till Monday morning while another 3 started on Tuesday.  

Ancymon and Pixel leaving Portimao on Sunday

Nuts a couple of hours after his delayed start.

Gale force conditions were forecast to develop between the coast of Africa and Maderia and by Thursday evening conditions started to deteriorate.  For 24 hours between Friday and Saturday Ian ran under bare poles towing 80m long warps with 3m of chain attached to steady the boat.  It was very rough so Ian slept on the floor wedged between the bunks to stop himself being thrown around the cabin.  All was well, he remained in good spirits and was thankful that he downloaded a lot of movies onto his tablet.  

With no internet access on board Ian's only way of sending updates was by Garmin Inreach which is very restricted so no pictures.

The first boat to cross the finish line in Tenerife this morning was Ancymon, 6 days 18 hours after crossing the start line, followed a few hours later by Falka and Pixel.  Asia G is due in tonight and Ian hopes to arrive Monday night.

 Update before the official start

10th November

Ian returned to Lisbon a week ago to do some last minute chores, one of which was to replace the rigging on Nuts.  He was not happy with the quality of the stainless which he bought here on the island (316 ss is unavailable) and it had started to rust already.  He bought new 316 rigging from a riggers shop but had to fly home before he could complete the job.

When he arrived at Belem marina, 2 other Setkas had joined Nuts and he was delighted to meet up with Bart, a Pole living in the UK, and Erdal from North Macedonia.  They had a great deal to talk about, ideas to exchange, anecdotes to recount, and so on.

Ian, Erdal and Bart

Once again the Yate Clube de Lisboa made them very welcome and held a dinner in their honour so they had the opportunity to meet the club members.  They each gave a short speech relating their sailing adventure thus far.  They even made a promo video which they posted on Facebook.

On Saturday 9th the three boats, Nuts, Pixel and Ancymon, headed out of the marina and down the Tagus River to the open sea.  Some club members accompanied them on their own boats.  They headed well off shore into deep water beyond the Continental shelf in order to avoid the orca whales.  That added a lot of extra miles to their route but better spend a few more hours at sea than encounter an inquisitive killer whale.

They arrived at Sagres after dark on Sunday night.  Facilities are very limited there and they found the mooring uncomfortable and not secure enough in a big blow..... which is on its way.  The weather forecast is for a huge storm to move into Southern Europe in the next day or 2.  Not only will it be packing a punch of Southerly wind and waves, but it is also very extensive and will last for days.  

All the contestants have agreed to postpone the start, scheduled for 11th, until they can get a break in the weather, and right now that is undecided.  Not wanting to see out the storm in Sagres, all 3 boats left this morning and headed for Portimao, some 20 miles to the East, to join the 5 other Setkas taking part in the Challenge.  

Getting close to departure.

Sitting in Horta  Azores and watching qualifying sails.  Not easy for those that have left it late.  Nice to see that they are determined and real  sailors.  I had it easy doing the qualifying in summer and feel guilty that my sails were so easy and very slow.  Even my sail from Horta to Lisbon was a piece of cake.  Spent most of my time watching movies and reading books.  The Orcas did give me a bit of stress though.

I did try to get some bad weather to test the boat and myself  and got a bit hammered  but it was still not the same as those trying to qualify in the Baltic or Adriatic in autumn.  My hats off to them (never wear a hat but you get the drift).

Nuts sitting in Belem marina being looked after by Clube Naval de Lisboa (Antonio my mentor).  He is looking after my new outboard motor as well. He is a star!!

I bought a Honda 2.3hp because of the good reviews on all websites I could find  and the fact that it is air-cooled and doesnt need a fresh water wash after use.  It is a bit more noisy but if it makes noise it means it is working. I see on several blogs that other skippers have also chosen the Honda. Not the cheapest option but maybe the best for the Setka ?

1st bag packed - 43 dehydrated meals plus a bunch of sardine and tuna pate tins as well as some normal tuna and sardine tins.   Can take 46kg of bags on my flight so might as well use it.  Also bought a new stainless steel kettle for boiling water as I melted the handle on my previous aluminum one. It got used a lot.  I love my coffee and all meals need boiling water.  If my cooker fails Im FU ..? ##@## ED. 

My cheepo cooker uses 1 can of butane in about 8 days.  Breakfast coffee, mid morning cofffee, after lunch coffee, late afternoon coffee, dinner dehydrated  food and an evening coffee.  Never tried actual cooking on the stove only boiling water.    Got 12 cans in cockpit storage box.   Should keep me going for a bit  Got a very small frying pan and some olive oil and cant wait to dispatch a a Mahi Mahi and give it the taste test.

Getting close now.  Today 2 boats withdrew from the challenge. It is a huge disappointment to me but I think it is an even bigger disappointment to them.  They had already qualified and gone through all the complicated stuff but I guess there are always other factors that we are not aware of.  I wish them well and and maybe we can sail together in the future.

There are several other entrants  that have gone quiet. Maybe they  should express their

 intentions or withdraw publicly so all the participants know what is up.

Lets go sailing in these amazing yachts!!

 Sailing to Lisbon and arrival

I arrived home in Faial just before a hurricane and was busy preparing our and my sisters house for the gales and then came down with flu so been slow to update.

We were fortunate with the wind direction and did not get the full force.  There were some less fortunate with damage and blown down trees.  This was the first storm here in the Azores when I did not have a boat in the marina to worry about.

The last days sailing Nuts to Lisbon were very easy.  Wind between 10 and 20kts from behind till a front passed and then beating in calm seas with the wind slowly going onto a reach.

I was following the Orca reports every few hours and was not happy to discover that they were at the entrance to Lisbon and already sunk one boat and attacked another.

I quickly put 2 reefs in the main and slowed down.  I eventually dropped the mainsail to keep sailing just fast enough for the trimtab selfsteering to work. I watched the Orca.Pt site very often to see what was cooking with the Orcas. 

They moved North to Peniche so all sails up and sailed as fast as I could for Lisbon.  Unfortunatly the wind was dropping all the time.

I was very lucky with crossing the shipping lanes.  I went North of the traffic separation zone but did just cut the corner a little bit as there were no ships.  AIS was a huge help and the alarm kept me alert.  Crossed the main traffic zone during daylight and was surprised to see fishing boats in the middle of the lanes.

Land Ho just before sunset

Sunset with failing wind. Spent the whole night hand steering close to land.  (Very close) I didnt trust the wind direction to stay stable and enough for the wind vane to not crash into land.  Took the whole night to make a few miles to Cascais.  Was doing quite well until the current changed and then went backwards.

Sunrise just passing Cascais. Got a light breeze and was making about 2 kts in the right direction when a little RIB appeared on the bow.  2 tough guys from  Clube Naval de Lisboa had left their marina in the dark to tow me as the current was against and no wind forecast.  They traveled about 10nm to reach me and towed me all the way to Belem Marina.  I did not ask for any help but they did this as a curtesy. What can I say but Im humbled by their hospitality.

I have seen this river many times out of an Airbus window but it is another experience to see first hand.  Very interesting with many historical features.

This is a monument to historic sailing discoveries at the entrance to Belem Marina.  I tied up in the marina at about 10am feeling very tired as no sleep the previous night.  Antonio took me to the Marina office to sign in and get the shower block codes etc. I just had to present the boat registration card, insurance document and my Passport.  (in fact didnt present my Passport just my Portuguese Permanent Residents card)  

Was invited to a lunch at the Club restaurant.  Had a nice hot shower and had a huge mixed grill with a glass of wine then back to Nuts for a sleep.

I was very fortunate to pick a good weather window.  The seas were a bit rough and choppy as I was following a depression but had favorable winds.  My plan was to go to 40North and drop down to Lisbon when I got close  There are normally winds and current from the North on the Portuguese coast and didnt want to end up beating there.

Im very happy to be in Lisbon early to avoid autumn weather from the Azores.  Was actually hoping to be earlier in Portugal but had a very nice sail.  Sailed 1063 Nautical Miles in 12 days with 2 days in go slow mode.  Was very pleased I made the decision to get starlink to check on the Orca situation.  Maybe I would have arrived at exactly the wrong time without.  50w of solar was a challenge using Starlink.  It is plenty for my AIS and Tri color nav light plus a bit of compass light and a little of led interior lights.  Also charged up tablets and phone.  I watched a lot of downloaded video on my tablet and did a lot of reading.  Only connected Starlink for a few minutes 3 times a day to monitor the weather and Orca.Pt.  Also chatted to friends on Whatsapp -voice and video.  Did a speed test and got 460mbs. 

Now going to make more dehydrated meals and get my house sorted for Mrs Nuts over winter.  (firewood etc)

I fly back to Lisbon on the 2nd November and looking forward to meeting other Setka Skippers and starting the adventure.

 Report from week one

14th September

According to the GPS odometer Nuts has sailed 671 miles since leaving Horta last Sunday and has 352 miles to go.

 Mostly Ian has had good weather, although a front with lots of rain and some wind will pass him tonight.  So far (after the first day) he has had the wind behind him, it has been warm but not too hot, enough sun to charge the battery but not so much that he gets burnt.  After the front passes he will be beating for some hours and that will be colder and more miserable but won't last too long. His ETA in Lisbon is Thursday.

The blue dot marks the position of Nuts

This is his report this afternoon 

"I hit a big sunfish this morning. Big bump and a rumble as we slid over but it missed the rudder and stabilizer fins. I saw it surface behind the boat - about 2m diameter. Saw a turtle while having a shower.  Still nice and sunny."  

He also saw 3 ships during the night, the first he has seen in many days.

And he sent a few video clips:

Cruising along

Rainbow

Sliding down the waves

Sunset

Calm seas

A small squid landed on the deck, not big enough to eat

Nuts heads for Lisbon

 9th September

On Sunday morning Ian and Nuts left Horta Marina heading for Lisbon.  The weather still wasn't great with rain squalls, a big swell and wind against tide. He beat up the channel to clear the Northern tip of Pico island.  He hoped to find calmer conditions in the lee of Sao Jorge island, but it wasn't much better, and he was hard on the wind again after rounding the southern tip of Sao Jorge. The first day and night were really rough and uncomfortable but during the day yesterday (day 2) the wind backed and eased off so he could free off.  Now he has a fair wind on the beam, about 8 knots, and really pleasant sailing.

Follow his Garmin tracker here https://share.garmin.com/MJEXV