July, 2009

...now browsing by month

 

Horta, Azores Saturday 18 July

Saturday, July 18th, 2009
 

All cleared in with the authorities. Ron Seiler is on the boat after a long flight from Detroit via Lisbon. We did laundry and talked to a number of fellow cruisers. Checked out the famous Peter’s Bar here this evening.  And found the mass schedule for to-morrow. Below are  a few pictures of the passage, as posted earlier, I plan do a slide show album for the trip from Beaufort N.C. to Holland and will have better resolution photos than this media allows me. The Portuguese Man of War is such an unique creature. I never got tired of searching the surface for their bright colors. There wil be more in the slide show. It’s Sunday morning, in the mean time.

You might recall my short sense of revenge on June 30, leaving Bermuda with the 41 footer, who I managed to pass, after what appeared to be a bit snide comment at the fuel dock. But in the end with his enormous spinaker hoisted did a horizon job on me. I figured they’d be long gone from the Azores by now. Guess what? And this will give Herb Hilgenberg also a sense of satisfaction. They arrived here yesterday in the late afternoon… I asked him if he had listened to Herb. No, they had used Chris Parker instead and gotten stuck in a couple windless areas at a higher latitudes….


DSC_0028                               DSC_0005-1_edited-2   

 

 

 

Portuguese Man of War on the way to Portuguese Azores

Portuguese Man of War on the way to Portuguese Azores

 

 

Horta

Horta

 

 

Booby who just checked out the plastic squid lure trailing "Fleetwood"

Booby who just checked out the plastic squid lure trailing "Fleetwood"

 

Sailing Fast!

Sailing Fast!

Sunrise into Horta

Sunrise into Horta

Bom Dia Acores, Europa! “Fleetwood” has landed Sat. 18 July

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

I docked at the Customs dock at 6.45 local time (same as UTC). I am impressed. Horta is a beautiful spot. After I made last evening’s post and was motoring, the wind came up again and I had a very nice sail all the way in. Did not sleep much because of the excitement and anticipation. I said good bye, for the time being, to Herb. He was of imeasurable help on this passage. All in all one of the best passages, and most exciting sailing, so far. 1800 miles in 18 days, if it had not been for those two slow days the average would have been even higher. The couple of days over 120 and the one of 131 miles and not sailing the rhumb line. I had been somewhat apprehensive because the North Atlantic is so much more fickle and unpredictable than all the other seas I have sailed so far.

I see that there are quite a few comments on my posts. PLEASE, NOTE: I cannot read your comments on the high seas, only when I have internet access. So, best you write me to my SailMail address when you have a comment for me.

The ocean came alive the closer I got to land. There were Manta Rays flapping their wings out of the water, white bellies dark tops,  in the distance. The dolphins were chasing the same prey. They came closer to the boat and then they all took off in a wide long line and they jumped/breached all the way out of the surface. Too far away for photos. The sun just came up when I approached the islands and I have some fine photos to show you. I will do a small sampling, later to-day, of this passage’s shots and then later I will do a slide album of the trip from Beaufort to Holland. The picture size on this blog is limited. Ron Seiler will be arriving at Horta in an hour. This will be a brand new experience for me. Since I left in 2005, I have not had any one sail with me, except Lynne for the ten days last November on the ICW.

A te logo! Everyone have a great weekend!

Friday 17 July

Friday, July 17th, 2009

At 19.30 hrs UTC I am at 38.22 N 29.37 W with 48 miles to go a 99 mile day. Just as Herb predicted, last night,the winds calmed and lifted me towards Horta. At midday I was able to shake out the reefs and sailed with maximum sails, the 140% Genoa and the full Main sail. Beautiful day and a great sail. Just a bit of a surge but very small waves. Then the winds died and I motor sailed for a while, then they filled in again, but 5 minutes ago I turned the engine on once more and I suspect that this might last all night. At least I know that way that I will arrive early morning in Horta. I should start seeing the lights later this evening. No fish for Friday. I’ll try find out in Horta what type of lure works in these waters. Ron Seiler will meet me at the marina. He found me their e-mail and I have sent them a message advising them of my arrival. All clearing in is done right at the marina. I had a cockpit bath and started soaking some of my laundry in a bucket with bleach and soap. I get the Azores AM stations now. Armstrong is not having much luck in the Tour de France. His front rider Contador, last week, decided to take the end sprint glory for him self instead of pulling Lantz. Then to-day another helper on his team took a spill and is out of the tour. Yesterday a Dane won the etappe, and earlier in the week a Norwegian. A Swede next? This used to be the playground of the Italians and French. I will add a few photos of the crossing to to-morrow’s posting, when I have internet access again. I’m excited to be back in Europe again, in my own home. I have dug out the left over Euroes.

Thursday 16 July

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

At 19.15 hrs UTC I am at 37.19 N 31.20 W with 147 miles to go, a 71 mile day. I woke up just in time, last night, to hear Herb’s forecast, at after 11 p.m. I immediately tacked from a ESE direction to the North. As he predicted I have slowly been lifted in a great big lazy arc towards Horta. And in the next hour or so I might be able to loosen the sheets some and pick up more speed. I have been sailing with the same combination, double reefed main and 90% jib, since early afternoon, yesterday. It looks like I may get to switch to the 140% genoa. Wind was mostly around 20 knots . Very nice sail, sunny, but it has become a lot cooler. Too cold to show my zero tan line off to the Boobies. They are amusing. Lots of them now while coming closer to their nesting places. They all have to check out that strange red plastic squid lure and then they follow the nylon line a ways up to the boat, shake their heads and sail away. Makes good pictures. To-morrow should be a 100 mile plus day, now that I can go straight for Horta, instead of tacking towards it. The the last 40 odd miles should put me in the harbor in mid morning on Saturday.

It was the Monsterman. Wed 15 July

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

At 19.15 hrs UTC I was at 36.11 N 32.08 W with 218 miles to go. I did not do a check at this time yesterday, but I estimate that was a 70 mile day. Back in the slow lane. Herb never showed up at 23.00 UTC, last night. Very unusual. About ten boats called in and we ended up going back to sleep. We’ll try again to-night. The winds stayed in the 25 knot vrange and I kept the storm jib up all night and a good part of the morning, a couple nasty squalls with at least 30 knot winds came through. It calmed down some and the sun came out but the wind is still between 20/25 and huge waves. I need to get to Horta by Saturday and am pushing the boat harder than I ever have, and she is taking it. Right now I have the 2 reef main up and the 90% jib. Butonly doing 4 1/2 knots towards 115 degrees, 50 degrees south of my rhumb line… frustrating. The wind is right from the NE where I need to go and because of the waves I cannot sail hard to the wind otherwise the sails just stall out. It’s like sailing through steep dunes of wet cement. To-morrow the same and then on Friday lighter winds from the East, at last. “Away we go” got ahead of me when I had such bad luck on Sunday and another boat “Moon Dancer” is also just to the N.E. of me. They probably took advantage of the calm day when I motored at 5 knots and they probably in the 8 to 9 knot range.

Posting problem: Matthias Klemm sent me an e-mail on Sunday that there was no Friday posting. So, I figured just one did not make it and I sent it in again. Well, it was the Monsterman. My web is hosted by www.hostmonster.com and they had a hick-up with the automatic posting.

Technical Difficulties….darn computers!

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

For those of you who were getting concerned about Jack and The Fleetwood… rest assured that he is fine and that the delay in receiving his daily posts was due to an automatic software upgrade that somehow affected the automatic posting from Jack’s SailMail account.  If you are ever worried… or suspect this may have happened again.. feel free to contact me… Jack’s Webmaster at the following email:  admin@keywebconcepts.com.  I do apologize for any concern it may have caused.

–  Jim Thomas  – Fleetwood’s webmaster

Quatorze Juillet Tuesday

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

At 21.10 hrs UTC I am at 36.07 N 33.35 W with 277 miles to go. I forgot to take my usual reading at 19.15 hrs so I do not know the daily mileage for this time frame, but at 15.30 hours it was 124 miles. So had a good day, since I could go straight for the stable. But things have deteriorated again in the last three hours. The wind has gone around from S.W. to W and now more NW and they are close to gale force, about 25 plus in constant squalls with winds to 30 mph. That makes it impossible to keep my rhumb line and I sail about 20 degrees lower with just the tiny storm jib. After last night’s posting I talked to Herb at 23.00 hrs, still with the engine running. Shortly after, just like he promised, the winds filled in from the S.W. And they kept slowly going west. So, I could not go to sleep till it had steadied. Then this morning I was able to go wing on wing with a double reefed main and a poles out 90%, keeping good speed. Then the wind went more west and I had to drop the pole, then the storm piped up and the squalls. This morning I had a small school of about half a dozen, I believe, Mahi Mahi swim right up to the transom. They stayed there for a couple hours, darting back and forth just under the surface. Should have had a harpoon. By now they have told every fish around that the red squid I am towing is a fake. Lima beans cooked in spaghetti sauce, for dinner. Should have had a good french wine, for the occasion of Bastille Day. The cabin is all locked up to keep the spray out and it smells like a pizza parlor. It was a gorgeous clear night and I lost count of all the satellites that are up there moving fast flashing their strobes.

Monday July 13

Monday, July 13th, 2009

At 19.20 hrs UTC I was at 25.11 N 36.00 W with 408 miles to go to Horta, a 64…. mile day. During the night the wind went even more east and I got set to the south instead of the NE. At 9 a.m. I tacked to the North and then the winds and seas calmed and I went from the 3 reef main and 60% jib, in a number of stages, to full main and the 140% genoa with about 10 knots of wind. I was able to sail much closer to the wind but the wind was still coming down the rhumb line. It was a beautiful sailing day, not a cloud in the sky. And sailing close hauled, with a decent heel and the steady movement over the waves beats all other sail directions. It reminds me of crossing the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. The foam rushing away from the bow, it makes me drowsy and wanting to take a nap on the foredeck. But when the wind dropped even more and I was barely squeezing 3 1/2 knots I turned the engine on at 4 p.m. and it looks I will be running it a while longer, till into the night. We have been promised westerlies for to-morrow. That will probably give me at least a 100 mile day. But then it’s back to head winds and they are prognosed to be in the 15/20 knot range and that means to rough to motor, so it will be tacking and that might put me back to 50 mile days and then I would arrive late Saturday. I told Ron Seiler to arrive in Horta on Saturday and his flight gets in at 9.15 Hopefully I’ll get lucky. Our rendez vous with Herb is at 23.00 hrs UTC. That is beyond my bed time but the propagation at the usual 19.30 schedule is too weak. I had a good dinner, rice seasoned with chicken cube, sautéed can of chicken in garlic and a can of leaf spinach and I added some dried pimentos from Jeannine’s garden.

Sunday 12 July Slower Progress

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

At 19.20 hrs UTC I was at 34.56 N 37.21 W with 472 miles to go to Horta. An 80 mile progress day. At mid afternoon my daily mileage had dropped to 65. I reported yesterday the wind shift. It went from SW to NW and then slowly to NE so it is right on the nose to Horta. And the waves were so large and the wind close to 25 knots all night that I cannot sail close enough to the wind so I was about 40 degrees south of my rhumb line course. A few hours ago the wind and waves had moderated enough so that I could raise the 3 reef Main, in addition to the 60% jib. This enabled me to sail closer to the wind and faster. But in the mean time the wind has gone more east wiping out that direction advantage. So, it was fun while it lasted the previous week with 105 to 131 mile days. The forecast for the next two days are for the same unfavorable wind directions but less wind, so, if the seas flatten out a bit I’ll be able to set more sail and sail closer to the wind. Herb could not hear the boats in this area at the usual time and will try again at 23.00 UTC. Last night I had no luck at all. I have not much to report about what might have been happening outside. The shop was closed up. I took a good gulp on the navigation table when I had, for a moment, left the hatch slide open. With all the cloud cover, last night, it was pitch black. The skies cleared up an hour ago. Matthias Klemm advised me that the Friday report had not appeared on the web site. Not sure why. I have no way to check this, so, recht Vielen Dank, Matthias! I re-posted it. It might show up in the wrong chronological order. I finished the Jan de Hartog Book and started back in “Suite Francaise” about the first days of the 2nd WW in Paris. Raving reviews but I find it repetitive and boring. Still messing with the Cryptogram. Usually when they don’t come to me in the first 5 minutes, it’s haunting me for days. Instead of “broeken” the ending could also be “brokken” ( kleding”stukken”).

Friday July 10 a week away from Azores

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

At 19.20 hrs UTC I was at 34.38N 41.51W with 679 miles to go. A 105 mile day. I am staying about 20 degrees south of the rhumb line to avoid unfavorable wind direction to the North of me. Still that same wonderful 15/20 knot SW keeping close to hull speed. Just the 90% jib and at times, when it drops to near 15 knots I add a 3 reef main. The mid ocean meeting, yesterday, was the 2nd encounter or even sighting, of another sail boat in the open ocean since I left for this madness in 2005. The previous encounter was in June 2007 on my way from Trinidad to the Chesapeake. At that time the sea was so calm that we came along side and exchanged gifts, a bottle of Trinidad Rum for Lindt chocolates. We became regular correspondents, Carl and Susan McKenzie of “Morning Star”. They were then on their way to the Med from Jacksonville. I lost contact when they stopped using SailMail. I was unable to get a forecast from Herb at the usual 19.30 rendezvous. Most likely he will try again at 23.00 hrs. But at any rate, I should be heading mor N.E., towards Horta on a 80 degree course instead I am at 100 degrees. A soon as the contrary winds to the north of me change I will head for the barn. Probably to-morrow, but the Grib files show less wind than I have now and no longer the down wind sleigh ride I have been spoiled with the last 5 days. I have had a problem starting the engine and spent a couple hours in the cramped quarter berth in the rolling seas. I think I fixed it. I run it once in a while in neutral to pump out the bilge water that drips from the packing gland and sometimes to make some more current when the solar panel is handicapped by a lack of light. I am not certain why I am still dragging the trap line. I can’t figure out the Radio Nederland schedule. Friday night is Cryptogram but they just signed off and no “Klare Taal”.