Our passage in a few pictures (more to come)!
July 19, 2012
We are still working through our pictures and videos, but here are a few pictures of our passage to the Azores from the US. Enjoy!
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- We had 20+ knots or more for most of the trip, with several episodes of 30-40 knots. In the windiest conditions we had/biggest seas, the boat did fantastic on genoa alone, surfing easily up to 10-11 knots.
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- Preparing for landfall and putting the US flag up.
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- Justin is crewing for Nicky, our NKE autopilot here.
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- A hammock full of Trader Joe’s goodies!
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- At the dock in Horta – we didn’t fall down when we stepped ashore.
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- Working on rigging the jacklines that run along both sides of the boat. We attach our tethers to the jacklines or to padeyes that we have in the cockpit,
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- At last, we see land in the glassy sea!
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- Our liferaft – we keep it wedged between our table and the settee.
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- What’s wrong with this picture? I’m not really driving – I gave Nicky the honors for this trip.
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- We kept busy finding small projects to do, like zip-tying all of our shackles…a lesson learned after the main halyard shackle released and came crashing down early in the trip.
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- Getting our quarantine (Q) flag and the Portuguese courtesy flag hoisted in preparation for landfall.
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- Our watch schedule was 3 hours from 6pm to 6am, and 6 hours during the day. The offwatch person got to snuggle with some sails.
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- Justin is setting up a second and third reefline with some Spectra while we motor out of the Chesapeake.
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- We saw many incredible sunsets.
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- Our v-berth became spinnaker storage, and then wet clothes storage.
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- Shearwater is fast, but she’s a bit wet when the weather gets bumpy and windy. The dodger was fantastic.
Very cool…….enjoyed thee photos!!! Have fun visiting the Azores.
Love,
Mom
Thanks, Mom!
Hi Guys, My name is Bill Hurley and I work with John Holdcraft. John has talked of your voyage and I decided to read your blog. Very interesting. Never sailed but boated and fished the Upper Chesapeake, C and D Canal, Delaware River and Bay. And yes I know the Green Head flies well. Grandfather had a cabin on the Delaware Bay when I was a kid. Look forward to reading more posts.
Bill-
Thanks so much for the comment and stopping by! The flies were incredible, and we were quite miserable for the several days that it took to kill them off, one by one. What we could not believe is how they found us, miles from shore – it must have been a gold mine for them to have stumbled across us like they did! Our trip ended up being full of challenges and rewards, and we’re so glad to have taken the opportunity to have done it. Cheers!