ARC Europe Bermuda - Azores Day 10
We were very sad to hear our good friends on Setantii had to abandon their yacht in the early hours of this morning after contact with an underwater object pushed their rudder up into the boat. Without steerage in these very challenging conditions, winds gusting to 40 kts, they had no choice but to put out a mayday. Via Falmouth coastguard MRCC , a merchant ship , the Esmerelda, was identified to be in the area, and was diverted to pick them up. The good news is that all crew on board were safe and are now on their way back to Portsmouth on board Esmerelda. Sadly Setantii has been abandoned to the elements. We got to know Bill and Jeff on Setantii very well in Bermuda, often finding ourselves on each other's boats in the early hours of the morning slightly worse for wear, and we had been in daily email contact
with them throughout the trip from Bermuda. We will certainly miss sharing a glass of lemonade with them in the Azores, but will try and catch up with them sometime soon.
Otherwise it has been a fairly uneventful 24 hours on Fizz, with the remorseless fronts pushing through with strong to gale force winds and rain. We are still making good progress towards Horta in the Azores, and expect to get in on Sunday mid-afternoon. Alec turned his hand to breadmaking yesterday and produced some very tasty rolls. Who needs a breadmaker ? My effort at cooking beef curry last night seemed to go down well, with clean plates all round, and chef Pierre is producing pork fillets with croquette potatoes and carrots for tonight's dinner. Stu is keeping his hand in and doing some steering today so we are expecting some good boat speeds. Well, we have less than 48 hours to go now. Still lots of heavy weather to get through with forecasts of 40kts plus tomorrow night, but it won't be long before we are tied up alongside enjoying some well-earned rest.
More to follow.
Chris Willis
Fizz of Cowes