We are at sea again!! We left left the island of Santa
Maria yesterday morning with light winds & sunshine, so it was a very
relaxing way to start our 800 mile trip to Lagos. By early evening the wind & swells
had picked up sufficiently to make it a difficult night at the helm. Helming was
made more difficult due to the fact we hooked up some 200 metres of fishing line
& ropes, complete with dozens of hooks, on our port side rudder.
Fortunately, this morning we were able to pull it all aboard without too much difficulty!
Today it's drizzling, but we have 20 kts of wind on the
tail, our headsails are goose winged & we are flying along, surfing
down the swells....long may it continue, (not the drizzle).
Our two week stay in the Azores was fantastic! The crews
have all got to know each other & it made for a real party atmosphere, &
sailors the world over don't need any encouragement in that department!! The welcome we
received on the four islands we visited was marvelous, & Lyall &
Suzanne, the ARC organizers made sure everything ran smoothly. It would have been nice to have had more
time to explore these beautiful islands, & to drink more of their locally
brewed beer at 1 euro a glass!!!
David.
Soy's note: the thing is , as the beer was
so reasonable (cheap's such a nasty word) we just drank more!
Marvellous!