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Yesterday’s improvement in the wind happened sooner than expected. We finally turned the engine off at 1450 and have sailed well ever since. In fact we have only seen our speed drop to about 5 knots during the past 6 … Continue reading
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What are plans for, if not to moderate or change them as circumstances dictate? But more of that later. It can be dangerous to slavishly stick to a plan when conditions change, for example if driving from the South Coast … Continue reading
First of all, what went right? The cloudy, cool morning gave way to sunshine and, by mid-afternoon, it was positively hot. We had wall to wall sunshine but, as forecast, very little wind. ….. ….. We have taken the decision … Continue reading
This title can be taken two ways: meteorologically and in terms of our feelings. I’ll start with the latter. ….. ….. It’s not quite the extremes of mania and depression, rather more a question of happiness or gloominess. What makes … Continue reading
The challenge we are facing on this leg is to keep Starblazer moving as far as possible without reverting to the engine. Friday morning’s efforts are a bit more than our normal cruising behaviour though probably familiar to racers. It … Continue reading
For the first five and a half hours after leaving the marina in Ponta Delgado we had a lovely smooth relatively fast sail along the south coast of the island though we only made about three miles towards the first … Continue reading
We made landfall in Horta on the island of Faial just before sunrise. The early arrival left us both short of sleep so that day was rather a non-event for us as one or the other was asleep! We did … Continue reading
We need your help on Facebook! Find the ARC Europe photo competition, we need your ‘Likes’ on Starblazer’s Azores wall painting that Joyce did! John, Starblazer … Continue reading
If the day’s run from Sunday to Monday was depressing, Monday to Tuesday made up for it. The wind started building at noon and our speed quickly increased, so much so that a very dark night arrival became a possibility. … Continue reading
Day 12 of this trip, noon Sunday to noon Monday, had some definite highlights plus the odd negative! I’ll get the bad bits out of the way first. The boom strut/vang/kicker thingy decided to follow the lead of the wire … Continue reading