Yessss... we're in Horta! How good it feels to be here (again)! Again a nice milestone, back in Europe and 1.510 nm closer to home. We have now sailed a total of 3,230 nm and still have about 1,500 to go home to Bruinisse.
It is a fine crossing with many hours half wind 4 bft! This is certainly not very common on the North Atlantic Ocean from west to east at a higher north latitude degree. These can be difficult crossings with a high chance of a storm on the way. We know this from our own experience when we sailed with the Brandaan from New York to the Azores in 2010. We sailed our first real experience of storm gained with 18 hours of lying down in wind force 9-10. So we have no doubt whatsoever to make use of the weather window that presents itself and leave the route via Iceland for what it is. Moreover, there are still too many icebergs around Newfoundland, about 82. We just put Iceland on our wish list for the future 😉.
We sail a total of 1,510 nm in 9 days and 9 hours (that is 6.7 knots on average) with 149 sailing hours and 76 engine hours. We are exactly in between two gale depressions and that stays the whole crossing with only a tail of a system to the north of us that gives a strong wind in the middle of a night and some nasty tail the last day to Horta with strong wind and high waves around a high pressure area. Top to notice that investing in making good weather analyses pays off in practice 😉.
We really do this crossing as a family because at night, for the first time, all four of us take a three-hour watch. That feels very special and valuable and makes the crossing more fun for the girls with their own responsibility. Eline starts between 21.00 and 0.00 hours with Toine on standby sleeping on the couch in the cabin. Marinthe between 0.00 and 3.00 am with Mira standby on the couch in the cabin. Toine between 3.00 and 6.00 and Mira between 6.00 and usually 10.00 until everyone is out of bed again. This way we get a lot more sleep in the nights and that is an unprecedented luxury 👍. The girls take the guards very seriously and learn per night, including the extensive but also tad complex navigation with radar and surveillance zones, AIS beacons from boats and thermal camera.
Often there is fog and there is no point in waiting outside. We all bring the guards inside by behind the chart table with the large navigation screen and the iPad, with regular checks outside. The large navigation screen has Toine nicely divided into three parts: the chart with boat position and AIS alarm at 2 nm, the radar screen with radar alarm and a screen with all kinds of information like wind speed, water temperature etc. Next to that the iPad with the wind information, engine information or thermal camera of our other navigation screen. We soon notice that we 'see' a lot more inside than outside. Whoever keeps watch can use the mattress in the small corridor next to the chart table for hare's sleeps of 15-18 min. It also gives everyone a moment alone when the rest of the boat is asleep. At 0.00 o'clock it is always a pleasant family meeting because then everyone changes places. Soon we all feel good at this fixed rhythm and this crossing is really enjoyable, especially for the girls.
Besides that the girls are waiting, we also do more together during the day than during previous trips. Every afternoon we watch a movie together and the rest of the time we sit outside with regular nice conversations. Cosy as a family together on the deserted ocean, far away from everything and everyone. We encounter very few ships that can usually only be seen from a great distance via AIS.
We fully enjoy the way the SeaQuest sails; it is a perfect boat for this kind of trips. Both in terms of sailing behaviour in all kinds of weather as well as all the equipment on board. Nice that all the investments and many hours of work of Toine really pay off in practice 👍.
Crossing from day to day...
Day 1
We leave the anchor bay at 7:00 a.m. on the engine. At 9.30 am the engine can be switched off and we set the sails in clover mode. At 11 o'clock both sails go full to port and we sail the rest of the day half wind with 4 bft, nice in the sun with a blue sky. We sit outside a lot. What a good start!
At night the wind picks up to 5 bft and in the early morning it is just 6 bft. Good sailing with reef 2, but the boat moves a lot and therefore we don't get much sleep. Well, we will catch up the next few nights.
Length of meal: 167 nm
Sea temperature: 2-4 degrees
Day 2
The whole day we sail half wind 4 bft in the sun. In the afternoon we see two large whales at some distance. We see them squirting, their big bodies swimming and hiding with their tails up. What a beautiful sight. Also the whole night we can continue sailing with half wind 4 bft.
Length of meal: 176 nm
Sea temperature: 4 degrees
Day 3
We sail with half wind 4 bft until the beginning of the evening. The last few hours even with the genaker. This is another sunny day, we sit outside a lot and hang out the fishing line. Unfortunately without result. We set the clock forward one hour and with this we bridge the first hour of the total three hours (time difference between Canada and Azores). At 7 pm the engine is switched on and so we quietly tuck in the fog all night long on a fairly flat sea. The only excitement is that this night we sail south of the iceberg-area (which lies about 50 nm north of us). That is why we keep an extra eye on the radar.
Length of meal: 146 nm
Sea temperature: 4-5 degrees
Day 4
The whole day we sail on the engine in the middle of the high pressure area. Then you think of sunshine, but that translates here into fog 😅. In the afternoon a tanker passes by at 1 nm distance on its way to Boston, but we don't see it, we only hear its foghorn. We regularly see little dolphins jumping around the boat. At the end of the day we sail down the bank of Newfoundland (is only 50 m deep) and enter the deep ocean (2-3 km deep). This results in a restless sea even though there is no wind. The night is calm again with little wind on the engine in the fog.
Length of meal: 147 nm
Sea temperature: 5 degrees (and even 1.7 degree)
Day 5
At 6 a.m. the fog disappears and today the sea temperature rises step by step to 17 degrees. So we have clearly arrived in the Gulf Stream area. At half past 10 the engine can be switched off and we set the sails full. Soon we bring the sails back to reef 1 in both sails, and then to reef 2 in both sails. In the afternoon we return to reef 3 in big with the cutter. We are looking for the right course because we have to sail fairly high and that is not comfortable in bft 5, so we temporarily sail a little further north.
We all look up the survival stand and do little else but lie down and eat and drink a little.
In the beginning of the evening it gets really heavy with bft 6-7 and big waves because there is 2 knots of current against the wind. We bring the sail back to reef 4 in large and cutter reefed and then we still go 7-8 knots. The wind is yawing around us. Toine is sitting outside wearing a sailing suit and is looking for the best course in relation to the waves that are coming at us yawing and breaking. Luckily the SeaQuest is doing really great, what a top boat! In the night the waves get a little less because the current is going along and it is a bit better to do but until the morning we keep bft 6-7.
Yes, as Marinthe says, this kind of weather is also part of an Atlantic crossing. It is very good to experience again how the boat and we as crew do it in these kind of circumstances. This gives me a lot of confidence and strangely enough it is precisely because of this that I get rid of my anxiety about what bad weather can still come 😉. We are halfway there! But we don't really think about that because of the heavy weather.
Length of meal: 174 nm
Sea temperature: 2-17 degrees
Day 6
The wind subsides again and from 10 o'clock we sail again with half wind 4 bft and also 1-2 knots of current. That is top sailing! Only 500 nm to go to Flores. As the sea temperature rises, so does the ambient temperature. The heating is off and we exchange the jogging pants and socks for shorts and t-shirt. The sun is trying to break through but that doesn't work out very well and the whole day we keep missing. In the evening we eat delicious stew with bacon, sausage and fried Brussels sprouts through it. That fits with the atmosphere.
Length of meal: 172 nm
Sea temperature: 17 degrees
Day 7
Until 20.30 hours we can sail all day half wind bft 4 on a calm sea. The fog is suddenly gone and the sun breaks through and so it will be a lovely relaxing day with lots of sunshine with regularly jumping dolphins around us. Again we try to fish ... without success. But it doesn't help either that the sales plastic is still around the hook 😉. Today the clock goes up another hour. In the evening we start the engine because there is not enough wind but we keep the sails on all night so it feels a bit like sailing and the engine uses less.
Length of meal: 158 nm
Sea temperature: 17 degrees
Day 8
At 7.00 am the little wind comes from behind and we continue alone on the engine on a flat sea. Again we are in a high pressure area, it is nice and warm and we sit outside a lot. In the afternoon we even put up the bimini (sun tent), that's how warm it is. Also we are all burned by this warm sunny day.
Length of meal: 154 nm
Sea temperature: 20-22 degrees
Day 9
The wind picks up a bit and we can sail again. This time half wind over starboard. Suddenly we have to get used to it because we have been overboard the whole trip. In front of our boat a sharp triangular fin of a large animal appears. We steer immediately and go around it. This can only be a fin of an Orca is our analysis.
And then suddenly in the afternoon ... land in sight! We see Flores with its high mountains at 35 nm distance. Will this be the last day? Can we lie in the small marina of Flores tonight? We call the marina ... there is plenty of room because most of the boats have already left because of the strong wind that will be blowing in the coming days and will cause a nasty swell in the harbour. Well, what is wisdom? We decide to at least go and have a look. We pass it anyway and it's only an hour's drive to Horta.
When we enter the bay, the feeling is already not good. There is already quite a swell and the real strong wind has yet to come. We take a look in the small harbour with ienimini jetties and immediately turn around. This is not a good place for our boat in these weather conditions!
So just like 8 years ago we set course towards Horta with an extra 125 nm to go. We still think it will be a relaxed trip with half wind 4-5 bft. Not so ... until 3.00 a.m. (Marinthe is waiting for the end), but after that the wind is getting stronger and stronger (6-7 bft) with a lot of rain outside that brings the extra wind. Also the waves get higher and higher and hit the boat and every now and then a wave breaks in the cockpit. This is very similar to the experience halfway this trip. Again the SeaQuest is doing great, and so is the crew, only with very little sleep. Well, we are almost there anyway.
Cruising distance: 166 nm
Sea temperature: 20-22 degrees
Day 10
The strong wind, high waves and rainstorms stay until we reach the south-western point of Faial (island on which the town of Horta is situated) at the beginning of the afternoon. Soon we sail in the lee of the south side of the island with a calm wind and a nice sun. All sails go out so they can dry. The last part around the corner is against the wind and waves with sails away on the engine. And a little later we sail between the piers through the protected bay of Horta! We are there!
Unfortunately the harbour is completely full and we have to anchor in the inner bay. After three attempts (with a bit too little chain) we are well and nicely protected behind the outer quay. Toine and the girls prepare the dinghy in a record pace so we can go in the direction. What sheaky it feels to be on the shore again with sea legs after 12 days 😉. Quickly we check in and then on to the steak! With the tip of the harbourmaster we arrive at the stone grill restaurant where we also had dinner with the Barbarossa and Valentine 8 years ago. Delicious food! It's just a pity that I had to bake it myself,' says Marinthe 😉.
Distance: 50 nm and 16.00 hours arrival in Horta
Sea temperature: 20-22 degrees
After our first good night at anchor we are now at a nice spot in the marina. Very nice, especially now that the wind is getting a bit stronger today. We are going to enjoy the Azores for the next few days!