1 July 1996 Horta, Azores
We hired a car first thing and went on a tour. The first stop was up to the Caldeira, the volcano rim. Unfortunately, it was low cloud and we couldn’t see anything. We went down to a seaside town called Ponta Do Varaduro where there was a nice area amongst the volcanic rock by the shore which had been tastefully concreted (like Yugoslavia). There was a swimming pool with a diving springboard – the boys loved it, we declined - it was freezing.
We then went to Capelinhos where there had been an underwater eruption in 1957 which created an island that gradually joined to the main island to create a new headland. It’s a weird place with an abandoned lighthouse on the old headland. The new headland is mostly ash and there is no vegetation. The wind sweeps across with huge gusts causing sand storms. Glenys couldn’t handle the dust because of her contact lenses and retreated to the car. We visited a photographic museum which shows the various stages of the eruption – very interesting. We then completed our circumnavigation and found a restaurant for the evening in Fetiera. Nice, filling meal – good day!
2 July 1996 Horta, Azores
Another hangover – too much port last night. I went to the garage, filled up three diesel containers, then filled up our tanks. Glenys and I then went to the supermarket and bought six cases of Superbock and two cases of red wine. We got the heavy stuff before we dropped the car back (£67 for a day inc. petrol – gasp!) We all had a quiet day doing our own thing. Glenys and I went for a walk along the old breakwater. Goulash for dinner – nice weather at last so we ate upstairs in the cockpit.
3 July 1996 Horta, Azores
We got up at half past six and caught a ferry across to Pico. When we arrived, we caught the bus to Lajes. We went to a Whaler’s Museum which was very interesting. They had a good video of the Whalers catching a sperm whale in their rowing boats and the process of slaughtering it at Lajes. We had a good meal at Lajes and then caught a bus back to Madalena, where, after a quick stroll, we caught the ferry back to Horta. Pizza for dinner on Glencora – nice day.
4 July 1996 Horta, Azores
Job day. I decided to go up the mast and found cracks in the T-ball fitting plate for the baby stay. I discussed it with the rigger at Mid Atlantic Supplies and he suggested I remove it and he would re-weld it. I drilled out the rivets and extracted the 4” long 1” wide plate from its 1” hole – keyhole surgery. It was a “sweaty palm” job because if I slipped, the plate would disappear down the inside of the mast! I managed to get it out OK and dropped it off for welding.
Clarinet practice for an hour and I then looked at our Magellan GPS. The NiCad batteries had leaked and destroyed two tracks on the circuit board. I threw the batteries away and patched in two wires and miracle of miracles, it works! We had a Mexican dinner and went for a drink with Michael, Liz and Jonathan (11) on “Crystal Star” (UK).
5 July 1996 Horta, Azores
There was a big party last night, so at half past nine this morning, the Mid Atlantic Supplies shop hadn’t opened. I managed to get the fitting off him at ten o’clock and I then had to file it smooth. I asked about borrowing his riveter, but he said he hadn’t got one! “What!!” He then said that he would try to borrow one – could I come back at lunchtime? While waiting, we extracted ourselves from the raft. I went back at lunchtime and thankfully he had the rivetter. One hour later, the job was done.
The afternoon was spent tidying up for the local sailing club’s annual race to Sao Jorge tomorrow. In the evening, we went to the Clube Do Navale and had snacks with free beer and wine while the race briefing and admin went on. There was local folk dancing in the square by the marina with brass bands – interesting.
6 July 1996 Horta to Vila das Velas, Sao Jorge, Azores
Up at seven o’clock, to get the boat ready for the nine o’clock start. We motored out into the light NE10 winds and put up the sails. We had a good approach to the starting line and crossed either first or second. We kept away from the chaos of the favoured upwind end of the starting line. We started sailing towards Pico, but the wind was very light and we struggled against the strong current.
We did OK at first and then I made a tactical mistake and decided to sail close to Pico instead of heading more north. We lost the wind and the other 75% of the fleet of 28 boats picked up a favourable current - local knowledge always wins...
At one o’clock, with very little wind, I decided to motor. After an hour’s motoring, the wind picked up to NW15 and we had a good sail for the last two hours. I did the honourable thing and dropped the sails to motor through the finish line.
We were directed against the town quay, where they rafted all the yachts. The square next to the quay had a big sound stage set up with a local group playing Azorean folk music, restaurants and bars in big shipping containers and hundreds of people having a good time. Dazed by it all, we had a beer and went for a stroll. First stop was an 85 metre Portuguese Navy Frigate, which we had a quick tour of. A beer in a bar, a stroll around town (boring) and back to the square.
In the evening, we went to a dinner given by the Velas Yacht Club, with prizes. Then back to the square for more bands, drinking etc. I couldn’t keep up the pace and went to bed at eight o’clock for a nap. I got up again at eleven pm and watched a very amusing group of priests singing folk songs and generally getting the crowd excited. A rock band came on at midnight – pretty crap so I went to bed at one o’clock. My Dad stayed up until four o’clock and ended up in the mess of the frigate, having a beer with the crew. Dirty stop out!
7 July 1996 Vila das Velas to Horta, Azores
We managed to drag ourselves out of bed at nine o’clock this morning. Chris from “Crisden” (UK) said that some coaches had arrived to take us to breakfast. With visions of eggs and bacon, Dad, the boys and I jumped on board only to be taken to the local Milk Cooperative. We then had to stand outside in the cobbled yard and watch two folk groups dance in traditional costumes. It was very good but we were cold and hungry! Eventually they dished out hunks of bread, cheese and glasses of fresh milk – a very rich breakfast with our delicate dispositions! It was amazing to see the local farmers arriving on donkeys, each with two 5 gallon churns of milk to be processed. (They also arrived on horses, motor bikes and tractors).
The start of the race back was due to be at half past eleven, but was delayed because most of the competitors didn’t arrive back from breakfast until ten past eleven and the majority of yachts were still tied alongside at half past eleven! It was a very small area inside the port with 28 yachts milling about behind the starting line, so we stayed out of the way. We had a beautiful sail back to Horta. (Well, everyone that is apart from Dad who was a “bit delicate”!)
Tactically I was brilliant coming in 5th, well ahead of all the other cruising boats. (Actually, I just followed one of the local Horta yachts, who were leading the smaller race class!). When we arrived back against the wall, we had a quick celebration beer and a nap.
I got up at seven pm and we went off to the prize giving ceremony and dinner. Short speeches (thank God), loads of food and drink provided by the Portuguese Navy. Good Dao and Barraida wine as well! The problem with the food was that we weren’t sure what we were going to get, so I stuffed myself with bread and cheese and two bowls of soup - then they brought out the Bacalau! I managed to force down a plateful of the “Bacalau a Bras” which was wonderful. What a fantastic weekend for $2000 escudos (£8)!
8 July 1996 Horta, Azores
We all had a quiet morning. I rang Gillian and asked her to get Tony and Andrew’s house key before they leave to go on holiday, then we can go and pick up our stuff, before they get back! After lunch, the boys and I stayed on the boat while Glenys, Mum and Dad took a taxi up to the top of the volcano and then walked back.
I worked out our route back to Southampton, all 1379 miles of it. It was very odd to be studying charts of the Solent again. I was amazed to find out that the English Channel is only about 60 metres deep! The hikers didn’t get back until half past eight, so we went out for a meal and ended up drinking until half past one...
9 July 1996 Horta, Azores
Hangovers all around. We had a quiet day. The hikers were stiff and aching after their exertions yesterday. Glenys finished off touching up the painting of “Beatrice of D”.
Craig finally managed to ride his bike without stabilisers. He was so proud! The bike is a complete mess – it wobbles and shakes and the back tyre has disintegrated. It was a solid tyre and had become very brittle. It developed a split and then big lumps kept falling off. It was making life very difficult for him especially as the tyre had flat bits on it! I cut the tyre off and left a very thin ¼” strip of rubber on the rim. He reminds me of the little boy in Nazare with his bike without tyres. I wish we could buy him a decent bike right now, but it’s better to wait until we get back to Tamworth.
We went out for a meal to a restaurant where they provide you with hot blocks of granite and you cook your own fish, pork, squid and chicken. Great fun. Another late night – stayed up until half past one again.
10 July 1996 Horta, Azores
Mum and Dad caught a taxi to the airport at half past eight. We now have to get ready to sail again. I expect to leave within the next few days. A hurricane, “Bernina”, has just passed over Antigua, St Martin and the BVI. It’s heading towards the Bahamas and Florida. We would like to know that it’s not going to swing north and give us gales. We had a quiet day tidying up and recovering from two weeks of hard drinking!
11 July 1996 Horta, Azores
We did a few jobs, filled up with water, tidied up, etc. We had a good NE15 wind today and the forecast is for the high to be to the north of us. We’ll probably have to go north for two days to pick up westerly winds. We watched total mayhem when “Crisden” and “Sea Lord” left. They had been drinking for four hours in Café Sport and were a little tipsy. Glenys cooked a stew ready for the first day on passage and we’re all set to go tomorrow morning.
12 July 1996 Horta, Azores
We were bad, bad, bad last night. At eight o’clock, after dinner (and a very reserved glass of red wine), we heard a jazz band at the bar. We strolled down, but they had temporarily finished. We decided to have a beer. Unfortunately, the band didn’t come back to play until ten o’clock, by which time we were into our 3rd beer... We decided that we wouldn’t bother sailing and stayed up drinking until well after midnight. Surprise, surprise we had hangovers this morning. We cancelled the day and mooched about.
I repaired the brakes on Brett’s bike; Glenys took the boys to the beach in the afternoon while I played the clarinet. It was a beautiful day and I wish we had left today. Glenys rang her Mum yesterday evening and spoke to Gareth! He’s back in the UK for a while and is hoping to come down to Southampton to meet us – I hope so, it’s been over a year since we saw him and Fi. Their daughter (Maia) is now 1 year old!
13 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 1)
Up early and tidied the boat up. Craig threw his bike away (awww!), I took Brett’s to bits and stowed it in the front cabin. We filled up with diesel. One of our diesel containers has leaked all over the deck, so we’ve now only got 5 spare containers which is about 120 litres. It took me half an hour to scrub the spilt diesel off the deck and ropes, etc.
We paid our bill and motored out into very calm seas. We hugged the shore of Faial and then headed towards Graciosa. By two o’clock, we had enough wind to sail and had a very pleasant beat into a 10 knot wind until six pm, when we started the engine while in the lee of Graciosa. Thirty minutes later we were able to sail again and had a pleasant sail up to midnight. The biggest problem has been the few mosquitoes that we have brought with us – the bastards kept buzzing me and I couldn’t sleep properly on my first off-watch. I hate mosquitoes!
14 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 2)
At about one o’clock, the wind veered to southerly so we were on a broad reach to hold our course of 070°M. The winds remained light but at least we were moving. At half past nine, I decided to steer 030°M as we need to get further north to try to find some more wind. There is also a SE setting current which is pushing us further east than I would like. At midday, I stopped the engine and poled out two jibs and we plodded along at 3 knots. Our 24 hour run of 100 miles was quite pleasing.
We’ve (once again) slotted into our routine and we’re constantly tired. Just after dinner, we spotted a pod of small whales. Two came over and swam under our bow, so we think that they were false killer whales. We could actually hear their song as they swam under the bow of Glencora. We had a pleasant sail at 3-4 knots up to midnight. Thankfully, we have no more mosquitoes – I hope that they’ve all flown off to their deaths!
15 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 3)
A very beautiful, starry night. It would only have been better if we had a full moon, but unfortunately we’ve timed it badly again and we are approaching a new moon. We had a slight bit of wind at dawn and dropped one of the jibs and put up the main. At midday, we were sailing straight at a big squall, so we reached on a course of 090°M for a couple of hours to avoid it. The rest of the afternoon was a pleasant broad reach. Nothing of note apart from my wonderful clarinet playing on the foredeck. Another pleasant sail until midnight.
16 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 4)
At three o’clock in the morning, we ran out of wind, so Glenys ran the engine until six o’clock. I spent 3 hours messing about trying to get some decent weather faxes. I’ve tried Offenbach, Northwood and Bracknell and I’ve got some good surface charts but not much in the way of projections. It looks like we are in the middle or west side of a high with a strong low tracking NE to the NW of us. There is a huge high over the UK. I expect to get light winds for the next day or so and then I think that we’ll get stronger winds associated with a front.
We spent all day bobbing along at 2-3 knots in very calm seas – very relaxing! At about seven o’clock, the wind died on us and we decided to motor through the night (unless the wind picks up).
17 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 5)
At midnight it looked like we had a bit of wind, so I turned the engine off and tried to sail. At one o’clock, I gave up and we motored until six o’clock, when we turned the engine off and stood still in a very glassy sea. Last night, the sea was so smooth that I could see the reflections of the stars in it. Very beautiful, but very frustrating!
I spent ages trying to get a weather forecast. It looks like we’ll have light winds for a while yet. We’re hoping to be home for Christmas! After breakfast, I cracked up when a Portuguese Man-of-War jelly fish overtook us and put the engine on again. At two o’clock, there was just enough wind to sail. We flopped along at 2-3 knots for an hour and then the wind died again and we hung around until dark.
I’ve started to do an hour’s clarinet practice before dinner, so this calm weather has some benefit! The boys keep asking “how many days until we get there?” - it’s the first time that they have taken a real interest in where we are going! The highlight of the day was spotting some whales breaching. They were too far away to identify correctly, but they were clearing the surface of the water so I suspect that they were false killer whales. At half past eight, we had just enough wind to sail but by eleven o’clock, Glenys had given up and started the engine again.
18 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 6)
At midnight, I managed to get us sailing again but only for an hour. We motored for the rest of the night. I was visited by a couple of dolphins who streaked through the water leaving a very bright phosphorescent trail behind them. Our tri-colour lamp on the top of the mast has failed so we had to run on our navigation lights. Dawn brought calm seas and blue skies (again!) There was a tantalising bank of clouds to the NE and the bit of wind that we had was from the north.
At half past six, we hadn’t reached 45°N, which is my current Holy Grail (I’m sure that there’s wind up there!). I’ve finally sussed out when and where to get some decent weather faxes covering current and 24 hour projections but 48 and 72 hour still elude me. I carried on motoring towards the line of cloud (4/8ths CuNi) in the hope of finding wind. At half past seven, I managed to start sailing in a N10 breeze just before the cloud line. By half past nine we had a big 2-3M swell from the NW with only a N10 breeze. There is a very big depression due at 45°N 60°W on the 20th (possibly the remnants of hurricane Bertha?) - I hope it swings North!
I had a busy morning, I went up the mast to change the tri-colour lamp, nearly caught a nice tuna but it jumped off the hook – oooh, I’m mad! Then I slept for 3½ hours – I needed that! We saw some big whales which we think were Sei whales. We put 4 containers of diesel in the tank. (I estimate that we have 165 litres in the tank and 24 litres in one container). We ran out of wind after lunch and slopped about, with no sails, all afternoon. We had a beer with dinner and started motoring at eight o’clock. No wind in sight, so just motoring NE at night to keep the morale up!
19 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 7)
We motored until three o’clock in the morning and then managed to start sailing at 2-3 knots. We had a beautiful sail North until dawn. The weather faxes show the SW12 wind that we have got – we’ve finally got to the North of the high (or rather, it’s gone South!) It looks like we’ll get a front through tomorrow with rain and a F4 wind from the South. The forward forecasts are for more fronts but with moderate wind – we’d better enjoy our last day of blue skies, I think.
The Magellan GPS has failed again – I suspect it needs a new power supply – my bodge job has obviously not worked. Again, thank God I bought the handheld Garmin GPS. We saw another pod of large whales, but we’ve no idea what they were – it was a big group of about 10-20 whales, but it was ¼ mile off and we only saw their backs and spouts.
After a lunch of tinned tuna sandwiches, we caught a 15lb tuna! I didn’t mess about with the net and landed it OK this time. It was a very hot afternoon, sailing along at 3 knots downwind - very, very pleasant. The wind stayed with us up to midnight, but it was very rolly.
20 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 8)
We rolled and rolled all bloody night with the main crashing and banging. Glenys picked up some weather faxes around ten o’clock and I analysed them at midnight . The first one (for the next 24 hours) shows a huge low at 45°N 65°W - we’re at 46°N 20°W. It’s <990mB and the Azores high is 1030mB so the isobars look terrible. This must be Hurricane Bertha – gulp! By the 22nd however, the Azores high should have dropped to 1016mb, diminishing the wind speeds considerably. I suppose air is rushing from the high into the low and equalising the pressures – fascinating and I’m glad it’s happening off Canada!
I sorted the sails out at daybreak. We had been sailing downwind with the genoa poled out to the leeward side. I steered 20° further upwind and gybed the main and voila! A lot less rolling – I must remember that. We had good wind all day and up to midnight. It’s about time that we got some miles in. I spent some of the day writing to-do-lists for the work we need to do over the next 4 months until the launch of Boat Net. It’s very frustrating waiting and waiting to get to Southampton.
21 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 9)
We had a very pleasant night with good wind on our starboard quarter and clear skies. At about four o’clock, Glenys had a close encounter with a ship. The ship had been steadily approaching us from behind and was expected to overtake on our starboard. About 400 metres away he did a slight correction to port and then a very radical 60° turn to port, passing about 200 metres to our rear. Glenys was hopping mad and called them up. They treated it very matter of factly simply saying that their course was now 068°. I suspect that they hadn’t seen us until they made a slight course change to port and then panicked. I think Glenys has a right to be paranoid.
At breakfast, a front went over us and we had drizzle. After this front, we should get lighter north westerlies as the Azores high is forecast to stretch north. We finally passed our halfway point (Yahoo!). The cloud started to thin about lunchtime and we rolled downwind in the sunshine in the afternoon. The boys are keeping to themselves, designing a Space Port in Lego. Brett didn’t talk to me all day apart from showing me his latest creation.
At dusk, the wind veered to the north (actually NNW) and we set off on a boisterous reach. The wind was only 15-20 knots, but it sounded like a gale after a week of calm days!
22 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 10)
The wind picked up a bit at two o’clock and I reefed the main and dropped the mizzen. Because we kept rounding up, I had a bit of a struggle with the main because one of the slides has broken off causing the slide below it to jam when I tried to drop the sail. I had to set the autopilot to go upwind and managed to free it when the main sail was flogging. Unfortunately, the horrendous noise forced Glenys out of bed.
The wind calmed down a little and veered to north by dawn. We had been following the light of another yacht all night and at dawn he was about 3 miles ahead of us. Later in the day we managed to talk to him on VHF. The yacht name is “Papiotte” and they left 3 hours before us! We had a marvellous day’s sail, reaching in fairly calm seas, which stayed with us up to midnight.
23 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 11)
My first watch from midnight to three o’clock was idyllic – the wind was light, slightly forward of the beam, calm seas, cloudless sky and a myriad of shining stars. I started to feel very melancholy that our voyage and this phase of our life was coming to an end.
At four o’clock, on Glenys’ watch, the wind suddenly picked up, so I was dragged out of bed to reef the main and drop the mizzen. A sail batten pocket has been slightly sticking out on the mizzen for a couple of weeks and as I tried to drop the mizzen the batten caught on the shroud and pulled half of the pocket off – if only I’d got around to repairing the small bit of stitching! By nine o’clock, the wind had died completely so we started to motor.
During the morning we have acquired a hitchhiker – a homing pigeon stopped for a ride. We gave it some food and water and it let me pick it up. It has two leg bands – Red, J39961, GB95 and Blue, 7292. We’ll have to find out who owns it and write to them to find out where it was supposed to be going!
I tacked the sail batten pocket back onto the mizzen. We stopped the engine at five pm and managed to sail at 2 knots until seven o’clock when the wind died completely. What a dilemma – enough fuel to motor for 24 hours which will get us 120 miles, but it’s 250 miles to Falmouth! We decided to motor overnight and see what tomorrow brings!
24 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 12)
I tried to sail at half past one, but not much joy. An hour later, the wind picked up enough to sail as a front went over. We had a good sail for the rest of the night, with overcast skies and albeit with a cold biting NNE wind. We spent all day hard on the wind, but thankfully the wind isn’t too strong. We can tell we’re getting close to England because it’s COLD. Thermal trousers, jumper, jacket, wellies and woolly hat were needed today.
We crossed onto the 200 metre shelf and we have seen quite a few fishing boats wandering about. “Homer” the pigeon is still with us and is getting more cocky. He actually came round the deck into the cockpit this afternoon, but was quickly banished back to the front deck when he crapped on the seat. The front deck is littered with his “calling cards” – what a mess! He shows no inclination to leave us at the moment. We’re getting restless now that we’re close to the end. I’ve been looking at the Almanac for somewhere to go – it’s going to be a big shock to pay £15+/night. The wind continued until midnight.
25 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 13)
It was a cold night with quite a few ships and fishing boats. I hate fishing boats – they have right of way, we try to keep well clear, but it seems that they like to come and have a look at yachts. We had one that trawled on a parallel course, 400 metres away for one hour. Another turned straight at us and passed about 200 metres behind us – very worrying!
By dawn, the wind had started to drop, but at least we are on the chart of the English Channel. At about seven o’clock, the wind started to veer so that we can only hold 100°M instead of 75°M – what a bummer, France here we come! Just after midnight, we tacked for England and then the wind died on us. We decided to motor straight for Falmouth to refuel and have a 24 hour stop over. At about three o’clock, the wind picked up to a pleasant 12 knots, so I decided to sail for our waypoint off Start Point – forget Falmouth!
At half past seven, after a few unsuccessful attempts to enter the warm interior of Glencora, Homer finally got the hump and took wing. He circled the boat three times and then set off in a northerly direction – I hope he makes it home!
We had a wonderful sail, with blue skies and calm seas until ten o’clock, when Glenys lost the wind and we had to motor. We decided that we will head for Dartmouth to refuel.
26 July 1996 Horta to Dartmouth, UK (Day 14)
At midnight, there was enough wind to sail and we zipped along at 5-6 knots until dawn, when the wind died again and we started to motor. It was total chaos last night with ships and fishing boats everywhere, at one point, I had 7 ships and 8 fishing boats in sight – I didn’t read much of my book! At dawn, when I dragged myself out of the warm embrace of my sleeping bag, I was rewarded by the sight of land – home at last!
As we were coming into Dartmouth, we spotted a basking shark just off Skerries Bank. We circled it a couple of times and had a very good look at it. I went and got my snorkeling gear out and wanted to jump into the water and swim with it. Glenys vetoed my little adventure probably because the fish was over 20 foot long, looked like a shark and we’re nearly home. I was gutted...
We went into the River Dart, which was total mayhem - ferries, yachts, power boats and dinghies everywhere. We filled up with diesel and moored on a floating pontoon in the middle of the river. We went into town and had lunch with a couple of pints to celebrate - one of the pubs wouldn’t let us take the children in - welcome to draconian England. We bought a few magazines and retired back to the boat for a quiet, exhausted evening.
27 July 1996 Dartmouth to Southampton, UK (Day 1)
We treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast and mooched about until two o’clock. We motored out of the river into a flat calm sea and motored all night up the south coast well inside the shipping lanes.
28 July 1996 Dartmouth to Southampton, UK (Day 2)
We approached the Needles at dawn and then simply motored up the Solent and round to Shamrock Quay marina in Southampton.
As the great and wise Porky Pig says, “Th-th-that’s all folks!”