Grown Ups Gap Year
Now the girls have finished University it is our turn for a gap year! #grownupsgapyear
| Vessel Name: | Mirage |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Moody 38CC - 1993 |
| Hailing Port: | Poole, Dorset, UK |
| Crew: | Sally and Paul |
| Extra: | After the girls had finished university we decided it is our turn for a gap year. |
04 August 2020
Falmouth to Studland
We spent two nights on a mooring buoy in Falmouth but wished we could have stayed longer and had a slow passage home to Poole. However we are getting Mirage lifted out of the water as soon as practicable and we do this near to where we live. To get to the boat yard we have to go up the local river that [...]
02 August 2020
Azores to Falmouth - the arrival
With the final 400 NM we were typically doing 140 NM a day or better until the last night on the way to Lizard Point and the entry to Falmouth. The wind was around 20 knots for most of the time but the wave grew bigger during the first 200NM and became steeper once we had crossed the continental shelf. These [...]
29 July 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
Azores to Falmouth Update 2
Day 4 brought the strong winds we had been expecting but we had kept ourselves further south than the shortest route to help keep out the strongest. The day was a mix of drizzle and sunshine but still warm enough to keep the shorts on & we carried on sailing at a good pace crossing the 800NM to go [...]
25 July 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
Azores to Falmouth Update
We left just after 10am on Wed 23rd to sail the 1156NM to Falmouth. The weather did its best to give us a good send off but the wind was missing! We were waved goodbye by the boats from Praia do Vitoria and help with our lines by some friends we had met there. With the lack of wind we needed to motor [...]
22 July 2020
Terceira
We did an overnight sail to Terceira Island (Ilha Terceira) from Sao Jorge to ensure we arrived in the daylight. Our destination was the marina at Praia da Vitória. This is known to be the cheapest in the Azores but is also a good departure place from the Azores to the UK. The sail took us initially [...]
15 July 2020
São Jorge
We left Horta for São Jorge at 08:30 to sail the 22NM. We knew it was going to be a slow sail as the wind was light and we also only had the genoa which when on its own isn't the ideal sail for an upwind sail. With her clean bottom however Mirage didn't disgrace herself and we managed the sail in just [...]
On to Sao Jacinto
With today's sail we had a complete mixture of effects from the early morning land breeze, the afternoon sea breeze and variable nothingness in between!
We did see yet more dolphins on the sail, only a small group, of one larger dolphins and a couple of much smaller one which may have been a family group.
The coast we sailed today was the start of the 'silver beach', a 50 mile long beach with our anchorage around a third of the way down its length.
The approach into Sao Jacinto needed to be timed so our arrival was just before high tide when the water was slack. We arrived, more planning than luck, around am hour before high tide and had the last of the incoming tide to help us up to the anchorage. Get the tide wrong and we could have faced a 8 knot tide against us as the harbour entrance feeds and empties a series of large seawater tidal lagoons, Even with our good arrival timing we still had 4 knots of tidal assist.
The anchorage is behind a large protective wall creating a well protected anchorage. Photos show the tide flow during our approach through the disturbance on the water surface.
We have been treated to yet another sundown and dusk and can you spot the paraglider in the dusk lighthouse photo?
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Journey to Cabo Finisterre and the visit
11 Photos
Created 9 September 2019
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The final loading and setting up for the start of the true Adventure
2 Photos
Created 10 August 2019
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