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

 Friday 5th September.

Nuts has been loaded up and ready to go for several days now but weather not co-operating.

There is a big depression passing by the Azores at the moment and if I had left a few days ago it would have clobbered me.  Im sure I would have survived but why put it to the test!

According to Windy the depressions for the next week plus should be passing a bit further to the north and give me some more favorable winds.  I dont trust long range weather forecasts (especially at this time of year) and must take what comes but not prudent to head off into gale force winds within the first few days.

Im hoping to head off on Saturday afternoon to get behind the depression and give it a few hours after the front passes and rain and sea calm down a bit.

My plan is to go between Pico and Sao Jorge as the wind will be from the North by then and seas should be calming down to 2m or so for the first night with protection from Sao Jorge.   After exiting the channel the wind is forecast to go towards the NNE which will be on the nose for a day or so as Im planning to get up to about 40N (at least)  for the crossing and drop down when getting close to Lisbon.  After that the long range weather forecast looks OK.  (changes every time I look so decided to stop looking while it is good!!)

Nuts waterline has gone down a lot.  All loaded with food for about 2 months and 92 l of water plus juices, UHT milk, lots of snacks, books, fishing tackle, inflatable canoe, snorkel gear etc etc.

Going to bite the bullet tonight and activate the Starlink Mini for offshore use.  Only for 1 month and straight back back to standby mode.  (Got to spend all my money before it is finished!!)  For this trip at this time of year in the North Atlantic I think it is important to monitor weather and my major concern is the Orca situation as I approach the Portuguese coast.  If they are active in the area where I want to go I will turn around and head elsewhere. (that is why I have lots of food and water onboard).

Info on Starlink Mini.

There was a discount  offer on the Portuguese Starlink site for half price on the mini a while ago. I paid 150E and it took almost 2 months to arrive in the Azores.  It came on the 50Gb roam package (40E/month) which I was supposed to activate 1 month after they posted it to me.  It had not arrived by that time so I put it on the "pause" program which was free but no service.  That program has been discontinued and now there is the "Standby" program.  It costs 5E per month with unlimited data at reduced speed.  I tested it out and it works just fine for WhatsApp Calls but a bit pixilated for video.  Could stream radio no problem and emails were fine.  Took a bit of time to send and download photos.  You Tube also worked OK with a bit of buffering.  Another thing to watch for is your power supply.  It is supposed to work on 12vdc but the cable supplied is very long and thin gauge.  (The supplied power adapter is 230ac to36vdc) I bought a 12v to 24v step up converter and chopped the cable to about 4m to reduce  voltage drop.  Draw from the ships battery starts at about 3A and drops to about 2 once connected.  My battery voltage averages 13.2v so you can work out the watts.

I hope it all works out OK.  So far my AIS has been transmitting nonstop for weeks so that problem has been resolved.  

Some of my dehydrated meals.  Sometimes the plastic vacuum seal bags would get punctured by the dehydrated contents which are quite hard and sharp  so we now we make bags from baking parchment paper to put inside the plastic bags before loading and vacuum sealing.  That protects the bags from sharp bits.

Water is in plastic bottles - 2l, 1.75l, 1.5l, 1l and 500mL.  Also have filled all available space in lockers with secure lids with empty sealed bottles and small polystyrene bean bags stuffed into corners for added buoyancy.   Garmin tracker will be on (hopefully with a link on the blog) as soon as I leave and daily video updates if Starlink works out and weather is not trashing me.

Nice to see other SAC skippers getting their qualifying sails under the belt.

Time is getting close and must get away from the Azores as soon as possible as autumn weather and storms are on their way and the North Atlantic is maybe not such a good place for a 5m boat to hang around.  

Been following Rajmund on his qualifying sail.  He is doing very well and sailing super fast. https://setkahorhe.blogspot.com/

With a bit of luck will do an update from the sea tomorrow.

Food Preparation

Aug 24th.

Been doing a bit of shopping.  A bunch of cans - mostly for lunches.  Dinners are dehydrated home brew concoctions.~

This is how our spaghetti bolognaise with mushrooms is born.

Spaghetti bolognaise sauce cooked as normal  (with fat removed)  and dehydrated

Add dehydrated cooked pasta.  Using small elbow noodles as they dont puncture the vacumme bags.

Add some dehydrated mushrooms for an added flavour

Put in the vacuum sealer

Finished product - Just add  hot water in a food flask for about 15 mins to rehydrate and enjoy.  Can add dried cheese flakes or whatever you like after.  Tested this recipe in August from our experiments made in February and it was delicious.  (and still alive)

I found that 100g of dehydrated food was enough for me (before hydration) as a dinner.  I am not small  but didnt need more.  It is a smallish meal but I always had some snacks with a sundowner in the evening.  

Snacks I had on the few days I sailed were salty crack biscuits with Marmite or tuna/sardine pate or peanuts with rasins.

This is how we buy our peanuts and raisins.  Peanuts come in 1 kilo bags which are very reasonable in price but will go stale if left open too long.

I mix 100g of peanuts with 30g sultanas and vacuum seal into bags that will keep me going for ages without them going stale.

10 bags of peanut and raisin snacks that will remain fresh tasting.

Doing your own dehydrated meals is probably one third of the cost of buying and much nicer as you can add lots of flavors

I will ask Mrs Nuts for her recipes in detail but she tends to make things up as she goes.

Got about 40 meals done already and aiming for about 70.

Only got a few more days before my adventure begins

 Food

Mrs Nuts has been cooking non stop preparing meals for dehydrating and our dehydrator has been going constantly with up to 10 trays at a time.  The chamber vacuum sealer has also been busy and have many meals prepared so far.

Ive got to take some pics of what is cooking and the recipes to share.  

My plan is to be all stocked up and ready to go by 30 th August.  Sister Nuts has a milestone birthday on the 30th which I cant miss and will leave the Azores for mainland Portugal  on the first weather window after.

Tropical storms getting more active at the moment so got to keep my eyes open.  I have BIG respect for those weather systems.  Bought that T shirt many years ago and dont want to buy another.

14th August

Sorry for late update but had some personal things to take care of.

After doing the 400nm sail in very mild and slow conditions I felt it was necessary to have a better test for Nuts and myself.

There was a big high pressure system over the Azores with light winds but there was a tropical depression (TS Dexter) passing to the north of the Azores with some wind and waves.  I decided to head to the North West towards Corvo to get some influence for a proper test.

Left Horta midday Wednesday 6th Aug. with a pizza and some sandwiches and enough food and water for maybe 3 weeks.  

Wind was 10 to 12kts from the North  so a beat up the channel to hang a left past  Riberinha.  Wind eased off once out the channel (acceleration zone between Pico and Faial) and slowly went towards the NW and wind dropped to  7 to 8kts.  Sea flat and clear sky with full moon and very happy windvane.  

Sailing past our house on the north of Faial with Pico on the horizon - note the bigger wind vane with sailcloth covered holes to make it lighter.  This is one of the mods from the last trip.

Beautiful evening with calm sailing  the whole night with lots of sleep but wind slowly going lighter.  By 1000h the next morning no wind and going in circles.  Battery was at 97% at sundown and 86% at dawn and back to 93% by 1130am with high thin cloud and some direct sun and 100% by 1330h.  Slow going the whole afternoon with thick grey clouds rolling in from the west.

2nd Night.

Complete cloud cover and no wind but rain squalls visible in the distance.  Had several squalls during the night with winds up to about 20kts with heavy rain and no wind in between.  No sleep during the night and passed a French yacht quite close on its way to Faial under motor.   Got a light breeze at sunrise and managed to sleep from 6am to 10am.  Nice long sleep!  At midday was heading in the correct direction for the first time in ages. 

5.30pm had vodka and orange juice  with snacks doing 4kts with eased sheets in calm seas but long swell starting to show up.  Life is good!

Friday Night to Saturday Night.

Pleasant sailing for most of the night but died in the morning.  Flores and Corvo clearly visible some miles to port.  The wind changed direction from SW to W and started picking up.  I kept beating NNW for a few hours towards Dexter with increasing wind and the seas started to build very quickly.  I eased sheets and went due north for 3 hours by which time I had gone from one reef to 2 reefs and it was getting a bit exciting.  By the time the sea was about 3m with breaking crests I decided I was close enough.  The wind went toward the NW as the front went through with lots of gusts and rain.  Still with 2 reefs and jib I turned back towards Faial in a ESE direction.  The windvane was still working very well with lots of action swinging the tiller from side to side as we surfed down steep waves many times.  

It was very exciting but on the edge of something going very wrong.  Was going between 6 and 8kts with surfs in between.  Had big vibrations from the keel on several occasions (vortex from trailing edge?). I was inside hanging on with big eyes looking outside so I decided to drop the main.  Easier said than done in the dark but once all squared away and under jib alone it was like xmas.  5kts all nice and stable with relaxed windvane with tiller in gentle swinging mode. Chicken with mushrooms and cheese sauce and pasta for dinner - homemade experimental dehydrated meal from February- delicious! (Mrs Nuts special)

The wind slowly decreased overnight but everything was going so well that I didnt bother to raise more sail.  Got lots of sleep and finished my second book of the voyage.

Repaired and modified windvane in operation in brisk downwind conditions.  I now have ropes to stop the tiller going too far over and a bungee to loop over the tiller to hold it in position when doing maneuvers.  

The sail home was uneventful on Sunday with the wind aft and going lighter.  There was still a swell running but not steep enough to surf.  Of course at 1am just before arriving at home there was a big rain squall which soaked me without foul weather clothing on and the wind dropped to almost zero 1 mile from the marina. Took me 2 hours to get there and was finally in my marina slip at 330am.

Discoveries from this last adventure.

I still love sailing!!  Dont store your sugar bowl where you have to reach over your boiling kettle to reach when making coffee.  Some kind of cover over the companionway is very useful to keep things dry inside.  When the wind and sea get rough it is very challenging to not get bashed about inside.  Lots of small beanbag cushions are very useful to wedge yourself in when sleeping on the floor between the bunks (or even to help keep you from rolling around on a side bunk)   A small fan to help keeping cool down below is very welcome.  I have 2 small deck hatches which have been open for a lot of my adventure time and make a huge difference to the comfort inside.  Olive oil stops squeaks on delrin washers on rudder pintles.

What went wrong...

My AIS transponder and plotter which worked perfectly for my first adventure started to miss behave.  There where big gaps when I was not transmitting.  I could always receive  and was not aware of the transmission failure.  It was only through texts on the Garmin Inreach from family that I knew there was an issue.  After extensive tests and communication with the agent it is decided there is a failure of the equipment and must send it back for replacement.  Time running out but have a simple AIS transponder as a spare to help out in the meantime for passage to Lisbon.

Mrs Nuts has been in cooking mode and busy preparing meals for dehydrating. We have 7 recipes that work well (for me) and can easily make 10 of each so should have plenty of food.

Cant wait to go sailing again!!

Just some info for other Setka sailors - If you have a washer on the pin of the bottom rudder pintle above a split pin - put a rubber washer or something to stop the washer vibrating - it makes an annoying noise.  Took me a long time to find where it was coming from.

Garmin Inreach track of  last adventure.

 4th August

Just a quickie.  Been watching the weather for the next adventure.  Done all the repairs and mods and ready for the next test.  I want to test Nuts in a bit more wind than the last sail.  There has been a big high pressure system over the Azores for several days with light winds. 

 Tropical storm Dexter is going to pass to the North of Faial in a few days so I am planning to head North West for a few days to get some influence and a bit of wind to see if all is well.  

Planning to leave Wednesday midday to be at sea for 5ish days.  Will take provisions for 20 days just in case.  (which means 30 days)

Will update blog tomorrow with pics of repairs and modifications.  

Got to find some good books to read!

 25 th July

Some news at last.

I decided to set off on a 400nm sail the same as all entrants in the SAC within the rules of the adventure.  I have purchased a Starlink Mini which I would like to use for weather and Orca tracking for the trip to mainland Portugal so I can not use that voyage as a qualifying sail.  Also I thought it was a good idea to spend some time at sea to learn the boat and what modifications I would like to make before leaving home base. (and my workshop).

Another thing I wanted to test was myself.  I did many transatlantic voyages of which some were single handed but that was many many years ago and I wanted to find out if I still had what it takes in the mental and physical field and did I really want to go ahead with this adventure.  Better to find out sooner than later.  There is no maybe - it is yes or no.

I decided that the sooner the better.  After an afternoon maiden sail with a reasonable breeze so I could check the reefing system, the home brew selfsteering vane, and a few beats and runs I decided the best thing was to go for it.  I knew the boat is built like a tank and was sure it could not sink or fall to pieces.

I stocked up with 40l of water and enough food for 3 weeks and plenty of tools and spare bits.

 Day 1

Departed Horta Marina midday on Thursday 17th July.  The weather forecast was for NW becoming N then going NE winds 10 to 12 kts. My planned route was to leave Sao Jorge, Terceira and Sao Miguel to starboard and return to Horta Faial.  Doing a route on Navionics made it 401nm in nice straight lines.  

The wind was at least 12kts and decided to put a reef in the main.  The wind vane is happier when sailing more upright and balanced.  There were gusts going over 15kts to start.  I could lay the west point of Sao Jorge with a bit to spare for most of the beat there but when I got within maybe 4 miles from the point the wind headed me and I had to tack upwind.  What was interesting is there was another yacht -Belgian flag running downwind close towards  me.  After passing me they dropped their running pole and beat after me to ask what kind of boat Nuts was.  They had heard of the 5.8 and thought I was one.  I educated them as to the roots.  I got around Sao Jorge as the sun was setting but could not free off the sheets as the wind kept heading me.  I could lay Terceira though.

Rounding Sao Jorge and sunset a little later.

Had very smooth and relaxing sail towards Terceira Island with wind vane working very well.  Still beating but wind slowly dropped and had full mainsail.  I kept heading as high as I could to give lots of searoom to the island.  Got lots of sleep and read my book.

Day 2

Wind had eased off and speed dropped but spent the day creeping up to the north of Terceira Island and after a nice evening rounding with a cocktail and peanuts watching the world go by I was blasted by a big sperm whale spouting maybe 50m away.  It did big breaths for a bit then arched its back and put its tail up and disappeared.  The wind picked up overnight and finally aft of the beam.

Day 3

Got some trade wind type weather with wind and waves behind on the way to the east end of Sao Miguel.

Fast fun sailing.  The wind picked up  to about 12kts apparent.  I put a reef in to help the wind vane.  Later I put a second reef in for the same reason as the wind picked up a bit more but was going between 5 and 6kts with  a surf every now and then.  The wind vane was working like a champion.  I experimented with the transom tabs and it was much more stable with both tabs down.  Very relaxed - was a big mistake.  I was down below and a wave slapped the side aft and filled the cockpit and sent some buckets of water inside. It took ages to clean out all the water and dry things.  There was not a lot but it got into the lockers under the bunk on the port side as well as my food lockers above the bunk.  Just enough to make things wet.  Big lesson learned.  When wind and waves aft of the beam keep the lower washboard (at least) in position even if things seem fine.

As I approached the turning point on the east of Sao Miguel the water depth went from over 1000m to 70m deep in a very short distance as well as the wind acceleration around the point made the waves very steep with lots more wind. I had 2 reefs in the main and was surfing every second wave without touching the tiller.  The wind vane was working overtime and it was a good test for my heart (and the vane).  After I spun out for the second time I dropped the mainsail and everything went calm and was still doing over 6kts.  Another lesson learned.  Dont be a hero.  Just reduce sail and chill.  

Once around the corner and in the lee I got some good sleep in calm water and fading wind.

Day 4

Spent the whole day trying to move in no wind.  I had phone signal so could check Windy Weather.  There was a high pressure that had moved directly over me but other than that it was useless.  It was hot and sunny and was getting sunburned.  I spent as much time inside as possible to escape the sun but with the non existent wind we were moving too slowly for the trimtab to be effective.  I was resting inside when there was a bang and went out to discover that the windvane had been damaged.  The rudder had been pushed over to 90 degrees and that pulled on the connecting rod to the vane and broke the mounting off.

Had to scratch through what I had on board and this is what I came up with-

Gave it overnight for the sikaflex to cure and it worked like new the next day.  (1 more thing on the job list).  I didnt loose any distance as was not moving anyway.

Day 5

Spent the previous night and today tying to get into little ruffles on the mirror sea to move westwards -ish.  One thing about the Setka design is that if you have 1knot of wind it will start to move.  I finally managed to wiggle my way to Ponta Delgada where there is a gap in the mountains and got moving again.  Close reaching at 4kts in flat calm seas was a pleasure.  It went calm for a while at sundowner time as there is another high patch of land just before the west end of Sao Miguel Island.  Managed to get through the calm area and  into  maybe 8kts of north wind for the night.  Nice sleep with happy windvane.

Day 6

In open sea again away from islands and wind slowly fading away.  Had plenty water so had good wash.  First salt water using Johnsons Baby Shampoo as that lathers in salt water for hair and body and then a salt water rinse off and finally a fresh water rinse off to get rid of the salt.  If careful can get away with only 500ml of fresh water.  It makes you feel really good for at least a few hours before you start sweating all over again.

Saw lots of dolphins on the way to Pico.

Had a dolphin very interested in the rudder tab combination and followed 1m behind Nuts for a long time just looking. Unfortunately no camera handy.

As I got closer to Pico the wind disappeared completely.  Jib down, tiller lashed and main sheeted tight and a good sleep.  Ais on watch!!  Did have a ship pass close.  My alarm went balistic till I switched it off.  A tanker with 60m beam - that is 12 Setkas bow to stern sideways on that ship!!! 340m length.  What was interesting though is I was monitoring them from 20nm away and was thinking about calling them on VHF to alert them that I could not move but noticed the COG (course over ground) was changing and they had altered course to pass 2 miles behind me.  As soon as they were past they resumed their original course.  Good seamanship.

Very nice sunset

There was a green flash but difficult to capture.

Day 7

This day was a struggle.  Sea like a mirror with tiny patches of ripples which indicated some slight windy patches. I spent lots of time trying to tack or gybe to aim for a patch of breeze.  Was kept company by dolphins from time to time but could not persuade them to push me in the right direction.  I eventually wiggled my way to the west of Pico where the forecast NE winds showed up and suddenly Nuts came alive.  Well NE winds ended up more N to NNW which was where I wanted to go so a brisk beat with a couple of tacks to get up the channel to Horta

The last tack into home port at 9pm 24th July.

This is a screen shot from my Garmin Inreach Explorer App

Did 789km (426nm)

So what did I learn.............

My body is not as young as it used to be.  Nuts is a very lively box of tricks.  It does not sit still.  Moving about inside when moving fast in waves needs to be planned. You need to be able to do squats from very low down.  Pouring boiling water into a coffee mug or your dehydrated meal has to be planned and done carefully to avoid burns.  The best place to sleep is on the floor.  When calm you can sleep on the leeward side to help the set of the sails.  Forget sleeping to windward when there is a lot of wind.  Have lots of hand holds inside and near the companionway.  Always clip on your harness when the wind is above 5kts.  Keep a lower wash board in the companionway at all times when wind and waves aft of the beam even if it seems dry. A Windex always points to where you want to go.

Other things I discovered.

I still love sailing.  50w of solar is plenty for a Setka.  AIS is a marvel. Navigation on a tablet is so easy it is cheating.  Garmin Inreach Mini 2 is a must and works very well.  Our homemade dehydrated meals are just fine (tested meals made in February)

Job list before next excursion.

Fix wind vane and strengthen.  Now I know it works - make a spares package and a single lead weight.

Fit hand holds on each side of companionway inside.

Look at putting flaps on cockpit drains as got water entering cockpit from breaking waves hitting transom

Fit tiller extension.

Some kind of towel holders near galley.

Fit catches on bunk locker lids to keep them closed when upside down

Connect second VHF antennae 

Cant wait for heading off again.  I have rediscovered my love of sailing. ( even though my body is getting a bit bashed up)

 23rd July

Ian has still not made it back yet.  The wind has been very light to non-existent.  We have been out of contact , apart from Garmin messages, for 2 days but this morning he was close enough to Pico to get a mobile phone signal.  

Pico on the horizon early this morning

Over the course of the day he has done about 12 nautical miles, and what wind there is, is coming from the west so he can't even steer a direct route for home.  He says it's been extremely hot.  But he is eating well, and getting enough sleep although in these very light winds the wind vane does not work well and he has had to do a lot of hand steering to try to reach the small patches of ripples where there is a little more breeze.  When he's had enough of sitting at the tiller in the sun he lashes the helm amidships and goes for a snooze.  

Yesterday a huge tanker passed quite close to Nuts.  He saw it heading his way, was wondering if he should call on the VHF to inform that he was becalmed, when he noticed the tanker changing course to pass about 2 miles astern of him,  He has also seen a lot more dolphins and a hammerhead shark.

The weather forecast is for the wind to pick up a little early tomorrow so hopefully he will get back tomorrow.

 20th July

It has been cooler yesterday and today with quite a bit of cloud cover.  He saw a whale surface 3 times, and a pod of dolphins cavorted around him while he was having breakfast. Yesterday the wind picked up and he made good time, reaching 6 to 7 knots.  The downside is that the sea also picked up and one wave slapped against the side of the hull, dumped into the cockpit and down the hatch so he had some bailing out to do.  

But he had tough night.  He was close to the coast, the wind died and he had lots of ships all around him.  And something on his self steering broke so he had to helm all the time unless he could get the boat balanced to sail unaided.  He didn't get any sleep last night.  At about 7.00 in the morning he furled the sails and went to sleep.  He drifted south a bit, east a lot, north and then south again for an hour an and a half before he woke.

Today he is going along the south coast of Sao Miguel, there is a bit more wind and lots of sport fishing boats and whale/dolphin watching tourism boats.  At one stage a lot of dolphin watchers were heading in his direction and the dolphins were too.  They surfaced all around him and he was surrounded by the whale watchers.

He has manufactured a "jury rig" for this self steering and pumped it full sika flex which he hopes will hold till he gets home.

The break

The fix

But the wind is really light, to non existent.  Tonight he is going around in circles waiting for the wind to fill in

 18th July

I spoke to Ian a couple of times today when he was in range of a cell phone antenna. Santa has brought him all the presents on his list.  Except, his arse is bigger than his poo bucket so balancing in a bouncy boat on a small receptacle is challenging to say the least. The wind is very light, he is moving at only 4 or 5 kms/hr, at this rate it will take him 10 days to get home. It is really hot and sunny, and no shade so he stays inside the cabin most of the time.  He is already burnt to frazzle just from working at the marina on the boat for the last few days so he is trying to avoid the sun. But the upside is that the battery is fully charged by the solar panels.  Tomorrow the wind should pick up a little and he might even get some rain to cool him down .

One very interesting thing is that, yesterday evening, a Belgian yacht sailed past while he was beating towards the north tip of Sao Jorge,.  They were going down wind but turned and beat back to him just to ask "is this a Setka 5.8"?  He explained it is the Setka 5.0.  He was amazed that in our far flung corner of the world a passing yacht knew exactly what a Setka is.  Kudos to Janusz.

 15th July

Been a bit busy with stuff and neglected updating the blog.  Camera been in hiding but things have been happening.  Mast got put up with the help of Graeme just before his departure to Captain a Mega Monster Motor Yacht - 86m I think.  Had big party for his farewell on Saturday to wish him well.

Nuts ventured out on Sunday afternoon  for her maiden sail.  Wind was light to start -6 to 8kts - and it went like a rocket.  I have a hand held wind speed meter and was doing 4kts in 8kts apparent wind speed on close reach. Smooth like silk and super well balanced.

My home brew wind vane on a trimtab worked very well from a reach to upwind but lacked power going down wind.  Vane too small I think - but that is what all the tests are about.  Also adding a bit more feedback for next test.  I have now made 3 different pushrod systems to achieve different feedback levels.

Wind picked up to 14kts later in the afternoon and I tested my single line reefing system.   It took maybe 10 seconds to put a reef in and worked much better than expected.  Nuts didnt slow down and just sailed a bit more upright .

Decided that the best place to sleep will be the floor.  Being a small boat it is very sensitive to where I put my weight but was surprised at how little spray on deck and how quick to accelerate.  Being a hard chine boat though there were some very loud bangs when in choppy waters and the waves slapped the hull.  Just a big dinghy! - and slightly more comfortable than an Optimist.

Next mission is to do a 400nm sail to qualify for the Setka Atlantic Challenge.  

Nuts loaded up with 3 weeks food and water and planning to leave on Thursday some time.  Im very confident in Nuts - just got to see if I can handle it.  I was pretty knackered after just one afternoon sail but I think that most of that was the built up stress and worry of getting it all going.  I cant wait to get offshore and chill.

Going live on Garmin tracker on Thursday so if you are interested in following the voyage the link to follow is - http://share.garmin.com/MJEXV

Cheers

8th July

Did nothing today (well almost).  Decided to take a break from the frustrations and worry of the delayed transport promises etc.  In the Azores 10am tomorrow actually means sometime in the near future - maybe.

Well - Nuts is floating in the marina.

Going back in time - 

Getting loaded at home.  Then offloading in marina park.  Trailer with keel was delivered a few days before. 

Then it was time to lift onto the keel for sticking the whole catastrophe together.

All got aligned up well and bolted together.

Keel and rudder fitted and touching up antifouling around keel join.

Thanks to my buddy Clive for supplying a tow to the crane at Clube Naval da Horta.

Had to wait till after 2pm for crane driver.  He was not available in the morning as hoped.

Waiting

Got slings into position and went for lunch.

Crane driver arrived and hooked up.

Only just enough height on the crane for the lift.

Sadly no still photos of the christening and bubbles on the bow but Nuts was named and blessed and got a drink of "champers".

It Floats 

Looking from aft - and fwd -

Seems to be spot on the waterline even though she is loaded up with almost all the equipment already.  Only heavy things missing are the anchors and chain.

There is my little fishing boat which was lifted out and put on the trailer.  Sad to take it out but can only use one boat at a time.  Can still go fishing from a Setka though!!

Off to my berth under trolling motor.  Works like a charm in no wind.

I hope to put up the mast tomorrow.

Many thanks to Clube Naval da Horta, Ruben the crane driver and Fernanda who keeps everything going smoothly.

I will post some more info on bits that I did before launching with pics -  like the rain dodger, extra bouyancy - rigging stuff, solar etc but off to sleep now.