| Saturday morning, June 26, with the wind still out of the NE, we took advantage of the reduced sea and wind conditions to motorsail north in order to get out of the countercurrent. By midday, the wind had eased to 4 knots ENE with seas 2 feet, and we were enjoying beautiful weather. Around 36 degrees north latitude we finally lost our countercurrent. Because of the NW countercurrent, we made only 67 miles toward our destination on Saturday.
Saturday evening, with the wind increasing to 10-13 knots ENE, we began to sail. When Phil tried to send off emails and our daily position report later that evening he found that the email modem had become inoperable; the modem would not key the transmitter. Luckily for the remainder of the passage, Phil was able to put in our daily position reports via ham radio operators. On Sunday, after two days of NE to ENE winds, the wind finally came around from the south. We sailed with 15-20 knots of wind, seas 3-4 feet, and 1� to 2 knots favorable current. Sunday ended up being the best run of this passage, 150 nautical miles. This day also saw a mixture of blue skies and overcast skies, and this daily mixture of sun and clouds continued throughout the remainder of the passage. By evening, with the winds increasing to 28-30 knots and seas to 8-10 feet, we took down the main and sailed with just the staysail. All the motion caused from the southerly seas and westerly current made for a long night. We both were tired on Monday. Monday morning, June 28, with the wind subsiding to16-20 knots SSW and seas to 6 feet, Phil started to hoist the mainsail but found that the main halyard had become wrapped around the mast steps during the high winds Sunday night. After trying unsuccessfully to undo the main halyard, Phil used the drifter halyard to hoist the main. From midday Monday until Tuesday evening, with winds SSW to SW 10-15 knots, seas 2-4 feet, and � to � favorable current, KUHELA peacefully sailed along through the water. What a difference from 24 hours earlier. Tuesday evening we started to motorsail due to light airs. Early Wednesday morning Phil took advantage of the calm conditions to climb the mast steps to the spreader and untangle the main halyard. By midmorning we were once again sailing with winds SW to SSW 8-12 knots. By evening, though, the light airs had returned, and all through the night and all day Thursday we either motorsailed or motored. We didn�t start sailing again until Friday morning. Friday, July 2, our last full day at sea, we sailed with winds SSW to WSW 7-10 knots and seas 2 feet. During the night as we approached the island of Flores in the Azores, we had some squalls and the winds became variable. At first light, with the island only nine miles away, we were able to see just a sliver of its outline as it lay hidden behind the overcast. We arrived at the small harbor of Lajes, Flores at 6 a.m., Saturday, July 3, hoisted our quarantine flag, and anchored shortly thereafter. We had traveled 1800 nautical miles from Bermuda to Flores in 14 days, 15� hours. Our intention was to stay at this island for about 3 days before heading to Horta on the island of Faial. As Flores was considered by many the most beautiful island in all the Azores, we wanted to experience firsthand its beauty. Plus, we were both tired and were looking forward to a good night�s sleep without having to be awakened every 3 hours for watches. |
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