April 30 Day 11

Trip metre 5067 nm

Distance to Horta 1641 nm

Distance sailed in 24 hrs 92 nm

Distance made good 82 nm

1300 UCT

As expected the rain and squalls caught up with us.  Just after dark!  Had to drop the main in huge gusts and pouring rain.  No sooner than everything was tied down and closed up but the wind and rain dropped.  Even saw some stars and almost full moon through gaps in the clouds.  Went out to rehoist the mainsail and discovered that the halyard was caught up on something.  In the dark I could not see what the problem was so sailed most of the night under poled out jib only.  Speed was slow and I lost out many miles.  At dawn I saw the halyard had spun around the mast and hooked on the gennaker halyard block.  It was easy enough to flick off standing on the bow.  Main up again in fading wind and dropped the jib pole.  Heading a bit more northerly.  I was hoping to hang onto the favourable wind for longer but I think the slow night has left me behind.  Lots of ominous squalls around this morning but so far no lightning.  Weetabix and coffee for breakfast.

 April 29 Day 10

Trip metre 4975

Distance to Horta 1723

Distance sailed 80 nm

Distance made good 67 nm

1300 UTC

Had good sailing yesterday.  Wind picked up and went from 1 reef to 2 and later 3 reefs.  Wind up to about 18 knots just forward of the beam, sailing too fast into quickly growing waves.  Slowed down to just over 4 knots to reduce pounding.  Wind slowly reduced and the reefs came out one at a time. By evening the wind went aft and got very light during the night.  Slow sailing on a calm sea.  Now running goose winged for the first time this trip.  Lots of clouds with some squalls in the distance.  There is very little sargassum weed now, only a few individual pieces from time to time.  I'm planning to head more north later today hopefully to go behind the lightning forecast to the north of me at the moment.    I expect rain though.  All is fine on board.

Goose winged.  Slipping along at 3 and a bit knots.

 April 28 Day 9

0900 St Martin time

Trip meter 4895

Distance to Horta 1790nm

Distance sailed in 24 hrs 89nm

Distance made good 78nm

Yesterday nice calm sailing, nothing exciting happened.  Wind was not constant but between 5 and 10 knots.  Sea very flat, overnight was also smooth with light winds.  I got plenty of sleep with nothing else to do, except play games on my tablet.   Morning brought more wind  which quickly picked up so I went from 1 reef to 2 reefs.  Seas picked up too and pounding again.  Still headed in the right direction though.  Cloudy with squalls around.  Finished the last bread yesterday, got to find something different. for breakfast

April 27 Day 8

0900 (St Martin time)

Trip metre 4806

Distance to Horta 1868

Distance sailed in 24 hrs 78nm

Distance made good 65nm

Yesterday was a good day.  The wind settled from the SSE averaging about 8 kts.  After some pounding in the beginning the sea also settled down so I could open the hatches.  Nice sunset.

"Saw" a ship on AIS 12.5 mile away, lost signal at 17 miles.  Then saw a ship about 4 miles away that closed to within half a mile.  We had a chat on VHF.  Doing 8 knots to my 4 knots so disappeared over the horizon.  The night was very smooth sailing with the wind weakening and Nuts slowing down. Slightly more breeze since dawn.  Then another ship appeared on AIS., called Black Pearl, 105m 3 masted yacht.  Chatted to them too.  They left St Martin 2 days ago, doing 12 knots, ETA Ponta Delgada on 5th May at 1600.  Maybe they can give me lift.

Another  cooing lesson:

Fry onion

Add bully beef

Stir and fry a bit more to blend flavours and add fragrance to the ambiance of Nuts dining hall

Dig up some "fresh" potatoes from  a locker 

Sprinkle some magic hot H2O potion and stir

Then add sautéed onions and bully and garnish freshly prepared potatoes  with pseudo gravy barbecue sauce

Finish off with freshly ground black pepper and a sprinkle of salt

Must be a Gordon Ramsey special as I'm in the kitchen from hell

 April 26

Distance to Horta 1933

Distance sailed sailed 85nm

Distance made good 68nm

Yesterday was bouncy beating but on a good course.  Wind eased overnight and slept well.  I could free off sheets for the first time on this voyage in the early hours but it did not last long.  Wind suddenly changed to the NE and I had to tack.  I don't want to go further North for 2 days to avoid lightning storms forecast in that area.  Now there is a 1m swell from the North, a slightly smaller one from the SE and a wind chop from the NE added on top which makes life on a 5m boat very uncomfortable.  But Nuts is fine and behaving well.  Just wish I could rely on the weather forecast.  It is difficult to plan a route when  the forecast changes so often.  This NE wind was not forecast. I guess the squalls in the distance are messing everything up.  No ships seen for several days, not even on AIS, set on a 10 mile range.

 April 25th Day 6

Ian's cooking lesson last night:

Fry chopped onions in olive oil

Add chopped up canned pork and fry a bit more

Add 2 eggs and garnish with a bit of salt and lots of ground pepper. That was supper tonight

So there you have it, Ian as a cooking influencer.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Ian is not making much progress towards Horta

Lots of distance travelled, not much gained to the end point

Today 0900

Log trip metre 4643

Distance to Horta 2001

Distance sailed in 24 hrs  84nm

Distance made good 70nm

Yesterday was slow progress, showers in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, clouded over at sunset.  Wind picked up at dinner time which made cooking supper a bit of a challenge.  Put 1 reef in to calm things down a bit and a bit later added the second reef trying to keep speed down a bit for comfort inside.  After midnight wind veered more to the south and at last I can head straight for Horta.  Started sailing too fast and the motion was violent inside.  Still beating hard and sea getting more choppy with cross seas.  Boat speed up to 5 knots but pounding heavily so added the third reef.  Later things started calming down a bit so I will shake out some reefs.  Seeing more weed again but the sun is out.  Coffee time!

 April 24th Day 5

Log 4459

Distance to Horta 2071 nm

Distance sailed in 24 hours 59 nm

Distance made good 22 nm

Slow sailing all day yesterday in bright sunshine (Day 4).  Played with fishing rod with hooks removed to see what was around.  Still plenty of Almaco Jacks.  Had curry and rice for supper.  First half of the night slow sailing towards SE.  About 2am it started raining and wind shifted more to SE.  I tacked and made some progress. At dawn the wind became gusty with squalls, 0 to 15 knots and NE to SE.  Mostly light now at 0830, about 5 knots.  I will be busy today changing course and trimming sails.  But first - breakfast time.

 Day 4 Videos

 Day 4 Update

0915

To Horta 2093 nm

Sailed 62 nm

Made good to Horta 29 nm in 24 hours

Sigh.  It's going to be a long trip

 April 23 Day 4

0600

Busy night with and squalls and no wind periods.  Spent 2 hours steering, tacking and doing 360s before wind settled down at dawn. I see there is a tropical wave on its way from the south and potential depression forming close to the north of me.  I have been watching this system so that's why I have been keeping south.  Coffee and YouTube fix before breakfast.  Sunny calm morning so far.

 

Day 3

 April 22nd

Day 3

0915

Distance to Horta (direct): 2122

Distance sailed in 24 hours: 62 nm

Light breeze from ENE and calm sea.  Slipping along at 2.5 knots. Sunny and a few clouds.  Looks like another hot day ahead.

1300  Calm, slow, pleasant sailing.  Saw a dorado (mahi mahi) amongst the jacks following Nuts so got out the little fishing rod.  Difficult not to hook a jack but eventually managed to cast the lure right in front of the dorado and hooked up.  Had to quickly grab the gaff as I was using very light line.  All went well.  Fish now filleted and skinned, cockpit cleaned and me "showered" with shampoo and sea water.  Just a tiny bit of fresh to rinse the salt from my hair and face.  So fish for supper again tonight.

 Update from yesterday, received today.

13.40

Tacked.  Wind very light, maybe 6 knots. 32C inside, hot and sweaty.

Caught an almaco jack, also called long finned yellow tail, this afternoon.  Lots of them swimming around the sargassum.  Filleted and fried in olive oil for supper.  Delicious and no bones.

Slow sailing, even did a 360.

 Day 2

Tuesday 21st April

0915

Distance sailed in 24 hours: 81 nm

Uneventful night. Slept in 20 minute intervals using the cooking timer. Wind slowly eased off to 10 - 12 knots.  Sea still very choppy and lots of slamming.   This morning the sea was down a bit and took a reef out.  Doing 3.5 to 4 knots close hauled.  Lots of sargassum weed around and can't use the stabiliser fins. Have to clear weed off the rudder using the boat hook.  All is good on board but weather outlook not so good.  I'll stay south of 20 degrees till it improves.

I guess my planned omelet for supper will be saved for tomorrow. Now just got to work out what to put with it. Caught several in 5 mins and only kept the biggest. Saw some around the boat that were much bigger but had already filleted this one.

 Leaving the Carribean, heading for home.

Monday 20thApril

Departed Marigot Bay, Saint Martin, at 09.15

Sunny, Wind E 15 to 20 knots

Weighed anchor under sail as the outboard engine was already stowed away under the starboard quarter berth. I sailed under jib only to the western tip of Anguilla while I secured stuff in the lockers and shelves to stop them rattling around.  Chain and anchor ropes drying out before stowing under the starboard bunk. I have loaded the starboard side more as I will be on a starboard tack for some time.  Sailing between 3 and 4 knots.

11.30  Rounded Anguilla and heading for Prickly Pear Cays.  3 reefs and jib, close hauled, doing 3 knots.

Sailed through the gap between the cays and avoided the coral heads which are more or less the same as I remember from nearly 40 years ago.

Prickly Pear Cays

I wonder what the local charter fleet and restaurant goers thought of this little yacht sailing through the gap and reef then disappearing over the NE horizon where there is no land for thousands of miles. Very sporty on this beat with a lot of slamming,  Trying to keep speed about 3 knots.  If I go faster it's too uncomfortable.

15.10 Going to connect to wi-fi to check the weather.  Got to keep eyes open for fish traps, shallow for a few more miles.

20.00  Still beating but wind down a bit, maybe 12 to 14 knots.  Only doing 2.5 to 3 knots, still 3 reefs and jib.  Seas very confused over the Anguilla bank.  Depth between 50m and 3000m very close.  In a few hours I should be in deep water and hopefully seas sort themselves out.  Rum and pineapple juice for sundowner but got drenched with salt spray, still tasted okay though!  Still pounding even though sailing slowly.  Might have a hard time sleeping tonight.  Closest AIS signal is 17 miles away.  Suppertime - tamale mushroom pasta.

 19th April 2026

Hi from hot and sunny Saint Martin,

In the lagoon at Saint Martin

After an uneventful crossing of the Atlantic on the downhill route via Tenerife and Mindelo in the Cape Verde to Martinique it is time to head home to the Azores. I spent about 1 month in Martinique in various anchorages and did lots of swimming and canoeing - basically doing the tourist thing and visiting old stomping grounds.

16 November, 7 Setkas preparing to leave Portimao, Portugal

In Santa Cruz, Tenerife.  Most comfortable and coolest position on the boat, lying on the floor with feet out the hatch.

Between Tenerife and Cabo Verde

Arrival in Cape Verdes

400 miles SW of Cape Verdes

Martinique

Kayaking to the laundry

I had a pleasant sail to Saint Martin and settled into the waiting for spring game. Inside the lagoon for shopping and partying and on the North coast for snorkeling and chilling on anchor.

Port Royale, Saint Martin

Once upon a time, nearly 40 years ago, Lagoon Cruises was here.  Now just mangroves.

The time to leave has arrived and all stocked up with food and water for 45 days and some extra.

Hopefully if the starlink keeps working and I'm not too lazy there should be a daily update for those who are interested.