Common Sense - The Best Laid Plans …

37° 9.3’N 43° 0’W
Well it doesn’t do to get too complacent, does it? There we were, finally making some reasonable time and distance, enjoying the good wind conditions  and planning to be in Horta not too far behind the rest of the ARC fleet –  hopefully still on our target of the 31st. The sea gods thought otherwise.  Friday night saw strong squalls from the east, combined with the problem of not being able to furl our headsail (we’d had to replace a frayed furling line with a spare spinnaker halyard that wasn’t really right for the job)
and we were forced to run south for the whole night. It’s painful to go backwards, losing those hard-won miles, but it’s even worse under such horrible conditions, with big swells slapping us sideways every few minutes. We couldn’t have been more alone, or further from help, right in mid-Atlantic. Times like this are a test of character – Terry held the fort, I had a meltdown and, unbelievably, Padraig had a good sleep!
After the storm comes the calm – so we’ve just had a full night of motoring in very light winds, but at least we’ve been heading in the right direction. And now, at last, the wind has come up to about 16 knots, we’ve turned off the engine and we’re making about 4.5 knots on a heading a little north of our course line. We’re probably looking at an arrival on June 2, which means we’ll miss the start of the Azores cruise. We just want to get there safely, without further drama or damage. Lots of love to any friends and
family watching our progress – we’re doing OK and looking forward to catching up with you on-line soon.