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| Nice sunset tonight |
May 15th
Trip metre 6149nm
Dist to Horta 751nm
Dist in 24hrs 33nm
DMG 21nm
I have just been drifting under bare poles with the tiller lashed since yesterday until mid morning. Wasting time till the depression passes north of me. Put up the jib this morning to get a bit closer to the depression's forecast position as the weather models change. I'm aiming for 35N 35Wby Tuesday. Then I should be in strong winds but not too severe. The weather models do not agree too well and for the long term forecasts they are completely different. And the forecasts change every few hours. Sailing at about 3 knots with the wind aft of the beam. Sea still choppy with uncomfortable motion for a 5m yacht. Still a lot of sargassum weed around. There are no gaps bigger than 10m between patches of weed. Most are the size of a side plate but some are as big as a car. This does not look good for the future.
May 14th
Trip metre 6116
Dist to Horta 772nm
Dist in 24 hrs 48nm
DMG 39nm
Wind picked up in early hours of the morning and I was sailing too fast under jib alone so I dropped it. Just drifting along with tiller lashed and doing less than 1 knot. Movement of the boat very uncomfortable with no sails up to steady it. Frustrating having to stop and drift when there is a good wind from the stern but can't take a chance of running into the depressions. Did inventory of remaining food and have enough for 25 days without rationing. Also found my missing tomato sauce! Getting some hazy sun from time to time which is charging the batteries slowly. I like to have a reserve before spending time on Starlink. Spend most of my time jammed in on the floor reading.
May 13th
Trip metre 6068
Distance to Horta 811
Distance 24 hrs 83
DMG 65
Wind picked up and sea nasty. On a beam reach with only jib up since early hours this morning. Forecast is for 2 strong depressions to pass over the Azores and gale force winds as far south as 35N. I have decided to sail very slowly to let them pass by to the north of me. I'll try to get a bit more east then stop and wait. Getting pounded at the moment with breaking seas hitting the beam and crashing over the boat. Getting warps and chain ready to deploy as drogues.
May 12th
Trip metre 5985
Dist to Horta 876
Dist 24 hrs 89
DMG 80
1300UTC
Rain all day yesterday and through the night. Saw a ship on AIS at 4am and then a yacht. They were doing 5 knots and me 2.5. Then discovered they were motoring when they passed me. Spoke to them on VHF to confirm my AIS is working ok and he said they saw me from 16 miles. Saw another 2 ships this morning. Just had a pod of pilot whales paying a visit, didn't hang around for long because I am moving too slowly (wind has dropped). Batteries very low, complete cloud cover and just getting a slow trickle charge.
May 11th Day 22
Trip metre 5896
Dist to Horta 956
Dist in 24 hrs 90
DMG 80
1300 UTC
Very cloudy with rain, no squalls, just constant rain. Caught a mahi mahi yesterday and had it fried for supper. I ate a lot, there was more than enough for 2 people. I did a stock take on water to see see if I needed to catch some of this rainwater, but I still have plenty. Getting cooler now, even with the companionway mostly closed, and of course the hatches are completely closed. Wind easing off and a rather confused sea. For the first time I hade a current pushing me from the stern, about 0.7 knots, since early yesterday.
Video from yesterday evening.
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