21 Days At Sea

Anne, and the Atlantic

Just another  day on the Atlantic

Three weeks into the Atlantic crossing and we are just 100 miles from Flores, Azores. Our original destination was Horta, which is still another 120 miles beyond Flores, lying south east of it. Two things are attracting me to Flores: it sounds lovely and a burning desire to make landfall - any landfall.
Since our severe gale blew back on June 22, we have not seen more than 10 kts. of wind nor any rain. The days have blurred into one long day punctuated regularly by darkness, occasional sail trim changes, and progress, or lack of it, made towards our destination.

When Maggie and I were sailing on Lake Ontario and were bemoaning a lack of favourable winds, we would often speculate and dream of sailing on the ocean and how fantastic it would be to always have fair winds to
 sweep you along. That is certainly not been the case on this trip. We have been trapped by high pressure systems and without our gennaker and engine might still be floundering in the middle of no where. In the old days of sail, before the auxiliary engine, ship's crews could find themselves becalmed for weeks and have to resort to killing off the livestock carried aboard in order to conserve water. Fear not, we have a watermaker and an engine, so Sophie was never in danger.
We should land in Flores tomorrow. I am sure the next 24 hours will have us thinking what will be the first thing that we want to do when we step off the boat for the first time in 22 days.
Branko