Hello All,
I just wanted to write a quick note to say that I am home safely in Southampton. I have been back since 28th August. After a quick dash home to Norfolk for the Bank Holiday weekend I am now back in Southampton.
Elmarleen came straight out of the water for work and to asses the rudder damage. It appears that the rudder and wind vane must have taken a big hit during the race but the repairs in Fairhaven held out for the return. The rudder will be staying as it is for the foreseeable future.
Its looking like the next adventure might not be so far away. I'll be sure to post the detail on here and the new blog site address.
Thanks for all your support over the last 3 months
Will
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Comments [1]
It was nice to follow your adventure.
Fair winds,
Dick
26/08/09, ELMARLEEN
We are alive!
Last nights gale turned out to be as expected. The wind increased as the pressure dropped and by sunset we had a good force 6-7 with three reefs in the main and the heavy weather jib up. By midnight we were in the middle of F8 gale and we down to just heavy weather jib running with the sea. We recorded a boat speed of 10 knots and gust up to 37 knots. The navik windvane stood by the tiller the whole way through and once the boat was set up steered faultlessly giving very little reason to leave the comformt of the cabin. The sea state was very rough but being a very dark night we only really could tell this morning. It was amazing to see so many fishing boat out there trawling there nets in those conditions.
Have a celebratory Fray Bentos pie for lunch and spent much of the day trying to catch up on the sleep we didn't get last night. Falmouth coast guard were fantastic and even called us to confirm our position when we gave them the wrong co-ordinates. Its great to know they were following us and plotting out positions on there computer - they still are and said they will bemore than happy to all the way home.
Conditions now are perfect and it is nice to finally loose the Atlantic swell. We are sailing in a F4-5 beam reaching and doing 7 knots. Elmarleens seems to just get faster. We are starting to experience some of the tiday effects of the channel and during the day experienced both positive and negative effect.
We expect to make arrive in Southapton Friday midday. We are currently 75 miles from the Lizzard.
Good night
Will, Adrian and Elmarleen
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Ramon
Well done Will.
25/08/09, ELMARLEEN
Hello Bill
All day we have been waiting here for our introduction to the remnants of Hurricane Bill. The met office have issued a gale warning for Fitzroy and Sole and guess where we are. Its due to hit later tonight, about midnight and it a Force 8. Its not the wind speed that worries me, Elmarleen and I had 47 knots on the OSTAR. What I am concerned about it the sea state. We are due to hit the continental shelf at about the same time it is supposed to arrive. The depths of the Atlantic Ocean go from 4000 meter to a tiny 100 in a matter of a few miles and the sea state could be horrendous. The shipping forecasts reads -
Northwest Fitzroy Sole: Southerly veering westerly 5 to 7, increasing gale 8 for a time. Rough or very rough. Rain or showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
I have spent most of the day preparing for the worst and as they say hoping for the best. We have the Storm jib ready to go, we have the trysail on its track and also ready to go, drogue ready too! The liferaft lanyard has been secured and a grab bag packed including the epirb, sat phone and hand held VHF. We have had a big lunch so we don't have to cook tonight, got our foul weather gear out and ready and have had a good tidy up around the boat making sure everything is secure. I have also spoken to Falmouth coast guard on the sat phone and I am giving them 6 hourly position reports. They are away of the situation - 33ft sailing boat, with two crew, heading into a F8 and some Very Rough seas. I will continue to call them and give them 6 hourly position reports until we are happy with our situation again.
Currently the day has actually been very nice. Adrian and I have both enjoyed a wash in the cockpit, first since Horta. The wind at the moment is about 20 knots and we are making good progress. The pressure is dropping slowly but really not by much or to fast. So we are trying to get as much sleep as possible and rest in preparation for a very long night. It's not supposed to last long and due to the grib files we should be back to a reasonable 25knots by 7am. As I said I am not worried about the wind, I have the storm sails, I have done it before, I am just concerned about the seas state. What does Very Rough look like on area of water that steps from 4000meters to 100 in just a few miles.
Not sure I will be able to blog again tonight as I will probably but all the computer stuff in a dry bag and stow it away somewhere. I will update you with the results of tonight, tomorrow afternoon. Have fun and think of us soaking wet and miserable as you are curled up and warm in your nice double beds.
Will, Adrian and Elmarleen
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John
23/08/09, ELMARLEEN
Its four in the morning but I cant sleep. The Atlantic is teasing me once again. We went to sleep with a steady breeze which in tern has built and built along with the sea state to a force 6. So I reefed and the boat settled down. Now, an hour later the wind has all but gone but the sea state has remained, leaving us with very little power to drive us along but the sea is throwing us around like and rolling us from toe rail to toe rail. If I try and sleep I just get angry so I have decided to just take it easy, eat some chocolate digestives and write this e-mail.
Its still difficult and very annoying to just sit here and type. There is nowhere to sit or wedge yourself in that you are not thrown out of. So I sit her legs and feet up against the hull and my back up against a fore and aft bulkhead separating the engine from the berth behind the chart table. Its very uncomfortable and from experience I get about 20 minute sin this position till I start to get pins and needles in my left foot. The weight transfers from my feet to my back with every roll and occasionally you drop off a wave and your stomach is left behind like sitting on a rollercoaster. There is just no way you can sleep through this.
It been relentless and on and off like this, mostly on, for the whole trip. It worries me slightly as I think it is down the pinched in arse of a Sigma and perhaps a modern yacht might not behave like this. Well that is a bit concerning as mt plans to do an Atlantic circuit making the most of the trade's are going to bring a lot more of this weather. Would twin headsails make it better? I am still using the main with a poled out genoa. I guess there has got to be a tendency to luff up.
There we go, there was a typically example of why you can't sleep in these conditions. I am all crouched up as I described above, knees around my ears and laptop on my lap. Bit like a spring compressed and squeezed into a narrow gap, but still, still with that roll the boat fell so far over that my whole body fell down onto my feet and way from bulkhead, then as the boat rolls the other way and I was slammed back first into bulkhead. It isn't just annoying, it bloody well hurts.
Okay, so in the time I have written this e-mail the wind that had dropped is back up to gusting 35 knots true. In the time I have put the foul weather gear on and got Adrian up to put the 3rd reef in the wind is back to 17 knots true. We are now underpowered and rolling like buggery...again. Oh look the wind is now down to 15knots but the waves are still about 8-10 ft high. What adds another dimension to the whole problem is that we are steering under windvane, we have been every since leaving Horta, and depending how hard the wind blows depends greatly on which way the boat points. The balance of the boat is critical and it is amazing how 5 knots increase or decrease in the wind strength can change the balance of the boat enough to adjust the heading by 15-20 degrees. Its normally the main that causes the imbalance and with the more breeze the higher the tendency for the boat to round up.
Anyway, enough boring stuff for tonight. Both Adrian and I are now up on standby to put a reef in that looks like its not going to be needed. The wind strength is back to 19knots true and it looks like the stars are once again visible through the clouds. The squall has passed and we are back to rolling like crazy..oh what fun. Time for another digestive. While on the subject of biscuits - Who on earth called them a Digestive! Interesting thing to call a biscuit don't you think. Are they very good for your digestive system - where they originally for medicinal purposes! Digestives - to much time rolling around, alone at sea, I think it might be making me slightly mad.
Will, Adrian and Elmarleen
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20/08/09, ELMARLEEN
So its the end of day two and we have picked up some good breeze after motoring for 9 hours last night. We must have been averaging 6-7 knots with the genoa poled out and the windvane weaving us through the waves. Both Adrian and I are feeling a lot better today. We have both been nibbling food and snacks all day but finally had a proper meal tonight. Little else to report apart from we appear to have broken one of the horns off our goose neck reefing position. I guess it must have folded down and been caught between the mast and boom when we eased the main sail. Anyway I have an idea for a repair for that one on standby as the other remaining horn isn't far off falling off too as it relies on the one that is missing to hold it in place.
So that's about it for today. Tomorrow we hope to reach the quarter way point and also the less than a 1000 miles to go point. I have learnt from the Bermuda Azores trip that it is important to have these intermediate mile stones.
The temperature is definitely dropping and the weather becoming more variable as we head North East. This evening the air temperature is 22 degrees and I guess it will continue to drop over night. The sea temperature is still continuing to decrease to.
So that's it good night and we'll write more tomorrow.
Will, Adrian and Elmarleen
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19/08/09, ELMARLEEN
Flying squid.
This morning I got up to put a early morning reef in the sail and sitting, well perhaps not sitting, more drying up, was a squid lying on coach roof under the vang. It quite common to get the odd dead flying fish in the cockpit or caught on the toe ail but its my first squid. I've been watching him dry out as the day has progressed but I kind of spoilt the effect when I stood on him only a few moments ago, he now has no head - well a kind of squashed head with a big eye poking out.
Yesterday was a bit of a shock going back to sea. There was a good breeze but the seas were very confused and both Adrian and I weren't feeling to good. It was dead down wind sailing with a big swell not quite in the same direction which meant the odd wave sent you pitching and rolling all over he place. In the end it got the better of Adrian and he was sick. I'm feeling better and finally this afternoon had something to eat but Adrian is still struggling no matter which seasickness pills he takes.
The wind today has come forward and I am unable to lay the desired course. I was hoping to steer NE on a heading of about 45' to get north and into better winds and current but the best I can manage is about 65'. The wind is due to drop of completely tonight so if we end up motoring for a few hours I will try and pull some of that north back.
Apart from the squid a very quite day. The sun has been out after all the rain over night but both Adrian and I have spent much of the day down below sleeping. We have seen one ship but that's all. The sun is just starting to set now and I'll tern the nav lights on.
Progress is on track although our SOG is down at the moment and we are obviously still only heading 65'
Will, Adrian and Elmarleen
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18/08/09, ELMARLEEN
So after a four day pit stop in Horta I'm off again. Having been back at sea for a few hours now it has all come flooding back and it hardly seems like I have stopped. There are two differences however. 1) I have crew in the shape and size of Adrian Walker. 2) I have some decent food - Adrian brought a suitcase full of Look What We Found boil in the bag meals from Waitrose and what a difference that will make to this trip.
The Azores - If I am honest I am a little disappointed with Horta. Don't get me wrong the Azores looks amazing and I would definitely like to come back and spend a few weeks cruising around here. In the end I never got to look around the island as I didn't have my driving license. It's just there was not half as much on offer in Horta as I thought there might be. Pete's Café Sport was not as lively as I expected and quite frankly I thought most of the food on offer everywhere was pretty awful - that's except for last nights dinner where we ate at this place where you cooked your own food on volcanic rock at your table - But again I think it was the novelty rather than the quality of steak. The one thing that was a real surprise after Bermuda and America was the price of everything. One night in a marina in Newport was a little under 150 dollars - Horta I stayed in a marina with free electricity and water for FOUR NIGHTS for a grand total of 38 euros. Let me just say that again - America 150 dollars a night - Horta 10 euros. The food and provisioning was also far cheaper. Oh and with your shower they gave you a towel and bar of soap - lets compare that to the UK were for £1.50 you get a luke warm shower and only six minute to wash.
Anyway - we're off now and our plan is to sail direct to Southampton. Its 1350miles so we are hoping that we might make it back to enjoy most of the bank holiday weekend and the last few days of August. Let hope I bring some of the sun with me from Bermuda and the Azores - from what I have heard England need it.
Will, Adrian and Elmarleen - SOG 7 Knots
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13/08/09, ELMARLEEN
60 miles to Horta.
I am sailing along doing about 5 knots so I should arrive in Horta over night. I can tell I am getting close as there seem to be more birds and a much bigger size than I have seen the whole trip. Last night I could see the flashes of the lighthouses on Flores. Its seem so crazy, having seen nothing but sea for two weeks to suddenly sea a flash that must be a light house on a island in the middle of know where. Anyway, it means my navigation must be pretty close. If I hadn't seen anything I would have been worried I might have sailed through some magnetic anomaly and be heading south or even worse west.
So I am sitting out the last day waiting for a volcano to arrive on the horizon. Its over 2350 meter high so I guess it wont be long.
This will probably be my last blog until I leave the Azores next Tuesday or Wednesday. I never seem to find the time when I am ashore. I cant wait to have a shower, some decent food, a cold drink and wash all those sweaty clothes from early on in the journey. The sea temp has dropped to 27 degree and the air temp is 28 so things are cooler and a lot more pleasant.
Will
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13/08/09, ELMARLEEN
60 miles to Horta.
I am sailing along doing about 5 knots so I should arrive in Horta over night. I can tell I am getting close as there seem to be more birds and a much bigger size than I have seen the whole trip. Last night I could see the flashes of the lighthouses on Flores. Its seem so crazy, having seen nothing but sea for two weeks to suddenly sea a flash that must be a light house on a island in the middle of know where. Anyway, it means my navigation must be pretty close. If I hadn't seen anything I would have been worried I might have sailed through some magnetic anomaly and be heading south or even worse west.
So I am sitting out the last day waiting for a volcano to arrive on the horizon. Its over 2350 meter high so I guess it wont be long.
This will probably be my last blog until I leave the Azores next Tuesday or Wednesday. I never seem to find the time when I am ashore. I cant wait to have a shower, some decent food, a cold drink and wash all those sweaty clothes from early on in the journey. The sea temp has dropped to 27 degree and the air temp is 28 so things are cooler and a lot more pleasant.
Will
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11/08/09, ELMARLEEN
Wow, what an amazing night. I have finally found a tinned America meal that is edible, no its more than that, it was actually quite nice. Campbells Chilli. Not only has the food been good the wind is perfect strength and the wind vane is holding a reasonable course. Then to top it off the sky is clear and the stars are really bright. Its clear nights like this that makes sailing oceans worth the boredom. You could sit in the cockpit all night just looking up and letting your mind struggle to come to terms with the shear scale of the universe. Here I am a tiny little boat in the middle of an ocean look at the sky, the unknown, an area so big you can not give it a scale. I think I am going to have to learn how to use a sextant and navigate by sun and stars. Only 300 or so miles to Horta and even less if I was to divert to Flores. The air temperature has definitely stated to drop off in the evening over the last few days, to such an extent I now need to wear a t shirt. Last night I even pulled a fleece blanket over me. With the conditions so good it seems pointless stopping, I should just carry on for Southampton.
Good night
Will
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