May 27
Mrs Nuts writing.
Ian and Nuts arrived back in his home port, Horta, which they departed from 7 months ago. He had no internet connection for the last 36 hours so, unfortunately, there was no news from him yesterday. But, I can tell you that the in last 48 hours he had the worst conditions of the whole 7 month voyage. I am sure he will put it all into words soon but in the meantime here are some images of his arrival.
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| On dry land, with a glass of bubbly to celebrate |
May 25th 1300 UTC
Trip meter 6895nm
Dist to Horta 113nm
Dist in 24 hrs 106nm
DMG 97nm
Yesterday had fast smooth sailing, which became fast rough sailing. I realised that if I kept the speed up I would arrive near Horta in the worst possible weather so dropped the main and been under jib only since 3am. Seas are still building and becoming more confused with breaking tops. We are approaching the mid-Atlantic Ridge with it's many undersea formations that play havoc with currents in very local areas. I should pass close to the Princess Alice Bank which is less than 50m deep. Got a bit of sun which is boosting batteries. I will be using Starlink for the last time tonight because my subscription expires at midnight and I'm not spending 300 euros to renew the subscription for just a few hours. I'll get phone signal as I approach the islands. Let's hope the weather front is not too severe.
May 24 log 13000UTC
Trip meter 6789nm
Distance to Horta 210nm
Distance in 24 hrs 72nm
Distance made good 64nm
Slow steady sailing since yesterday. Got more wind in the early hours so sped up a little. If I can go fast enough maybe I can miss the worst of the weather. The problem is to get into the harbour in gale force SE wind. I would be on a lee shore with no way out. The alternative is to slow down and go through the worst wind in deep water, delaying arrival by at least 24 hours. The seas close to the islands go crazy in strong winds because of undersea banks and tidal rips. Going to push till tomorrow morning and then see what the weather is doing, the forecast changes every few hours. Tomorrow is my last day with Starlink and I don't want to pay another 300 for a whole month when I only need it for a couple of days. I can get the weather on my phone when I get close to the islands (about 20 miles?). Still suffering with little sun for solar. Rainy again this morning with complete cloud coverage.
May 23rd 1630 UTC
Trip meter 6717nm
Dist to Horta 274nm
Dist in 24 hrs 75nm
DMG 63nm
Wind been very light and running with jib poled out. Sea calm with cloudy night and morning fog. No sun today so batteries very low. Just been passed by a 12m Swedish yacht under motor with no sail up. Lucky for him as there is a nasty depression forming which will zap me as I get close to Horta. They should arrive before it hits. I think I will be in the wrong place at the right time to get clobbered. Took advantage of the calm to heat some sea water and fresh water for a hot shower with fresh water rinse off. I checked the remaining water - 66.4 litres. Not monitoring weather as often as I would like because I am not connecting the Starlink too often because of the low batteries. Coffee supply running low! I am drinking a lot more coffee now with the colder weather.
Mayy 22nd 1300UTC
Trip meter 6642nm
Dist to Horta 337nm
Dist in 24 hrs 83nm
DMG 73nm
As expected the wind eased off overnight. Took the reefs out and was under full sail by sunrise. There was light drizzle the whole night and a cool breeze. The clouds disappeared during this morning, the sun is shining on the solar panels and the batteries are breathing a sigh of relief Got as low as 15% charge. I will be able to connect the Starlink a little later. Sea has calmed down with smooth swells. Slipping along at 3 knots in a light breeze.
May 21 1300UTC
Trip meter 6559
Dist to Horta 410
Dist in 24 hrs 101
DMG 89
The wind eased off yesterday afternoon but swells still close to 4m from NW and wind from SW. I dropped the main for the night to get some sleep. I saw a ship maybe 5 miles away on my bow but no AIS signal. The catamaran yesterday I could see on AIS from 6 miles away.
Comfortable sail overnight but strong current from the NW. Wind is slowly picking up again and 25 knots forecast for this evening. It should be calming down tomorrow and then no wind at all the day after. The weather still looks uncertain after that. All okay on board. Lunch time and back to my book.
May 20 1300UTC
Trip meter 6458
Dist to Horta 499
Dist in 24 hrs 66
DMG 50
Had a very rough night with swell from the NW and wind-driven waves from the SW. Wind started to moderate in the early hours of the morning but still strong gusts. At sunrise I hoisted a jib and pulled in the rope and chain. Had to clean piles of sargassum weed out of the cockpit. Wind and waves kept moderating so I hoisted the main with 3 reefs, then later 2 reefs and soon after just 1 reef and going well. Saw a 15m catamaran on AIS from 5 miles out coming up astern of me. Took them quite a while to pass me doing 8 knots to my 6. Wind is up again and had fun hand steering and surfing the waves. Top speed was 8.8 knots. Now back to 3 reefs because I was getting soaking wet, still doing over 5 knots.
May 19th 1300 UTC Day 30
Trip meter 6392
Dist to Horta 549
Dist in 24 hrs 63
DMG 52
Yesterday afternoon I put out the rope with chain to slow down and also tied everything down really well. Been under bare poles since. It got very bouncy with short steep breaking waves, but quite small. Wind increased to maybe 25 knots overnight with some harder gusts and the seas built up to about 1.5m. The seas are a bit more organised now but still have to jamb myself on the floor between the bunks with 4 bean bags to stop being thrown around. Boiling water for coffee and dinner (spaghetti) was done with great care so I didn't pour boiling water over myself. This morning there was a little sun and plenty wind. At about 0900 the front passed over with about an hour of rain and the wind dropped to 18 knots, still from the SW. Waiting for the NW to come through and pick up. Nice and sunny at the moment with cold wind. All fine aboard, can't wait to get sailing again - maybe tonight or tomorrow morning.
May 18th 1300 UTC
Trio metre 6329 nm (set to in Tenerife before the Atlantic crossing)
Distance to Horta 601 nm
Distance in 24 hrs 58 nm
Distance Made Good 48 nm
Wind slowly picking up. Seas small but tumbling with current against wind. Gybed a few times last night to keep on course. I'm sailing a bit faster than I would like as I want to stay south of N32.5 by midday on Tuesday (tomorrow). I might drop the jib a bit later. Still some sun between clouds and topping up the batteries as no sun forecast for tomorrow. Finished my last onion last night, no more fresh veg, but still got plenty of food. Starting to get more uncomfortable, boat being thrown around on increasing waves, and looking very grey to the north.
May 17th, 1300UTC
Trip metre 6271
Dist to Horta 649
Dist in 24 hrs 57
DMG 48
Still sailing slowly under jib in nice calm conditions with sunny skies. At 3am I saw a ship on AIS, 20 miles away. Watched the sun rise out of the seas with clear skies and a large pod of dolphins swimming on the same course as me. Been snoozing, reading, doing puzzles on tablet, watching a bit of YouTube and window shopping on Amazon.
May 16th
Trip metre 6214
Dist to Horta 697
Dist in 24hrs 65
DMG 54
Still under jib only. Wind light and sea calmed down so not too bumpy. Wind on stbd beam. Cruising along slowly so as not to get too far north before Tuesday. Forecast still predicts winds of 40 knot gusts at 35N. Hopefully I'll get a bit less and only for a few hours. Even more weed around today. I have just reversed a wheelbarrow load off the keel.
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.
