Author: Paul and Claire

And the rough night turned to a rougher day. How can waves that size develop on the back of 20kn wind? It was getting big in the afternoon and we were already facing being unable to make Brest simply because we were unable, and unwilling, to climb the wave faces. But at around 6pm the wind dropped to 10kn, the waves mellowed, the tide turned and life has been OK since then. The wind bounced back to 20kn, backed to WNW, and now we are on easy street fro a run to Brest with about 140nm to go. Fingers crossed

Nobody wanted to leave La Coruna and we had to force ourselves to let go the lines; what an amazing city in August. And I can vouch for the medical facilities and staff as well. Up until about 40nm offshore everyone wanted to U-turn but there is a point far enough from the shoreline that breaks the tie. We held onto our Caribbean experience and put a reef in the main as we left the marina. Within 500 yards the wind dropped from 15 knots to not much. As everyone else raced around under full sail we found it hard

DTG 30nm or about 6 hrs having crossed the 30 mile wide and very busy shipping separation zones off Finisterre. ETA about 0630 so in keeping with almost all our arrivals it’s a night time thing! Making 7.5 to 8.5kn for the last 24 hours but wind gradually easingfrom F5 to 3/4 as we head along the north shore. Visibility became poor as soon as the sun started to set and is due to remain that way. We have now crossed our 2013 track completing our circle of the north Atlantic; whether of any significance we have no idea and

We set the sails at 5am last night in the magic 11-12kn wind range provided we headed onto a reach. The wind was due to veer so we took the gamble. Initially we were making 6kn toward Cork, then gradually Falmouth, Brest and finally with the wind stable from the NW, La Coruna. By 9am the wind had died again and we were making 1.5kn! We were very close to choosing the drift about and wait option but as the rig wasn’t banging too much we just tightened our course to windward and left things as they were. Wind filled

So this was supposed to be a short 1,200nm run in the prevailing southwesterlies straight to Brest. Started that way making 8-9kn but then 36 hours later and puff the wind had blown itself out. Then the exhaust hose starts to rule out motoring as a pinhole leak deteriorates. So today was spent tapping away at the 328nm distance to La Coruna at 2.8 to 3.5kn in a 7-9kn wind. That was when the going was good. Then nightfall came and the wind dropped again to about 4kn. We had to take down all sail and the choice was to

This was only supposed to be a small stretch with just 1,200nm to do at most even if we headed to Falmouth. But now, after motoring at 5kn for almost two days and seeing the curved horizon all round us for 36 hours the ocean seems endless. The engine hammers on and we would all like to have the wind put it out of it’s misery. But the dead zone is getting quieter still as the wind sits on our tail peaking at 3.5kn. Coastal cruising is one thing but the endless pounding of the rig and gear in the

Started motoring this morning and now the grib files show a 600 mile wide corridor with no significant wind for the next six days…and we are firmly in the middle of the windless band all the way to Brest. Do we want to motor 900 miles? A check in the engine room suggests that the flexible hose from the engine exhaust to the silencer box has developed a pin hole leak so best to avoid motoring altogether. The hose has become brittle with age. A long review of the weather patterns are followed by the decision to divert to northern

A big thank you to all who emailed us at sea. It eased the journey and on the ocean is the equivalent of TV, Internet, dinner with friends, and Cinema all rolled into one. A tremendous thanks to our amazing shore team who never missed a beat and emailed every day. It was so appreciated. We will be publishing photos from the voyage over the next few days.

The boat that overtook us on our last night was a 1984 Moody looks like a 425 and boy did those guys get some performance from it! We later started closing on them but we were reaching 10kn speeds and closing the island too fast in the dark so we reefed to main only and 6-7kn. Gradually Faial emerged from the dawn and we ran down the south coast. The sea roughed up as closed the channel between Faial and Pico. With the island backlit by the rising sun the channel itself was a little obscure. We arrived opposite the