Thousands of sailors have visited Horta, Faial on there way from the new world to the old. After having sailed 2500 sm or more from the Carribean Islands , they write the name of their ship on the walls in Marina Horta. Some paintings are very artistic, others, like ours, are more humble.
After twenty days we arrived in Horta, Azores, having sailed 2558 sm. We were a little bit faster than we had expected. There are a lot of of blue water sailors here on anchorage who visit the Azores in May or June (before the Caribbean hurricane season) on their way to Europe. Now we have to wait for our PCR test. The video of our journey is available here.
Our weather routing leaded us to the most westerly group of the Azores islands. To our disappointment, the marina in Flora was not accessible and anchorage not allowed because of ongoing repairs. In 2019, a severe storm had destroyed the harbour, including the incredible strong breakwater (Kaimauer).
Our sailing route from Antigua to the Azores was determined by wind and followed the classical approach. First, we sailed N (North) or NNE (North North East) close haul (dicht am Wind) against the E or NE trade wind. Then, for two days, we used the engine to cross the calm Horse Latitudes. Therafter we nicely connected to the westerly winds that there prevail and sailed East, reaching (vor dem Wind), to the Azores. Two days later, the same strategy would have lead us into a storm. Thanks to our friend Ivan, who informed us with weather routing, for the last 2000 miles we had a safe and fast trip so far.
Skipper, Rudergänger oder der Smut – je nach Situation – fordern alle zum Erscheinen an Deck auf. Rufen Skipper oder Rudergänger, so ist dies meist mit Arbeit (z.B. Manöver) verbunden. Bittet der Smut, so wird verpflegt. Zumindest für zwei an Bord die weniger „anstrengende” Zusammenkunft. Obwohl, es wartet der Abwasch auf einen der beiden… (Gastbeitrag Markus). Bild: Ein Squall (Unwetter) im Radar erfordert All Hands on Deck.
The last days two days were demanding for the crew. Our self steering windvane system (fully mechanical without need for electricity) didn’t like the unbalanced set of sails (storm headsail and main sail with one reef) and didn’t steer properly. Additionally, our electric autopilot broke and we had to replace the connection between the motor and the hydraulic pump. (Thank you, Markus.I now know while some blue water sailors take a full backup autopilot system as an emergency spare with them). Now everything works perfect and we even managed to maintain a good speed (about six knots) in these difficult days with little sleep and damp clothes. Less than 400 miles to the Azores…
Today wechad to replace a shakle (Schäkel) at the top of our Genua (roller furling headsail, Rollfock). Raising the headsail then up again with 20-25 knots of wind and waves four to five meters high seemed to be too risky. Therefore, we raised the red storm headsail instead (too small for this moderate wind conditions, but better than no headsail at all).
Cooking on board is difficult when you have Atlantic waves, as things tend to fall down in the rolling boat and pots may fly through the galley (Kombüse) if not secured. Nevertheless, Markus and Finn never fail to produce excellent food, like Bärlauch-Pesto with Gambas and Spaghetti, or self made Gnocchi, and always fresh bread.
Not far away from the ill-reputed Bermuda triangle, where things tend to disappear without any trace, in the deepest night, deckhand Markus looks up from the helm (Steuerrad) to check our light wind sail Gennaker. It’s gone. He looks into the stars where once the 110 sqm sail had been. The sail had stopped flying and started swimming and then diving without giving notice. A chafed Halyard (durchgescheuertes Fall zum Hochziehen des Segels) was the culprit (Übeltäter). After a short moment of confusion the crew of three managed to catch the sail and to pull it on board. This happened three days ago, and the sail is flying again.
Bisher verstand ich unter Angeln mit Hilfe eines Köders einen Fisch – wenn möglich zum Verzehr – zu fangen. Anscheinend ist das auf der ORINOCO anders. Hier schleppen wir von Sonnenaufgang bis Sonnenuntergang Köder hinter dem Boot her, welche aus unterschiedlichsten Gründen, ständig getauscht werden. An den eingeholten Ködern werden alsdann Knoten erneuert (oft mehrmals hintereinander), Haken geschärft und Gewichte neu verteilt. Leider nur mit mäßigem Erfolg. Der bisher einzige Fisch unbekannter Art hatte mehr Gräten als Fleisch. Dafür wurde dann auch noch das Bier zum Abendessen, welches gerade stattfand, verschüttet. Heute neue Technik. Um das Boot wimmelt es nur so von Fischen. Angel vom Heck an den Bug und seitlich einbringen ….. wieder nichts. Beim Badestop hat dann der Skipper Unterwasseraufnahmen von den Fischen gemacht. Zu den Bildern gibt es dann morgen Bratkartoffeln mit Gurkensalat. So vergeht die Zeit. (Gastbeitrag Markus)
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