have some lovely easy winds and the sting ray is up.
The previous week has been a different story - navigating a series of
unstable weather systems with their associated drops in pressure and
spikes in wind and localised squalls. It has meant a busy time on board
the good ship Tintin. This is a stark contrast the crossing that Ben and
I did with Rob 6 years ago. Then, we put up our sails, the trade winds
filled them, and 3 weeks later we arrived in St Lucia. By contrast,
sailing the Atlantic from west to east is a trickier affair. Whilst
there is a stable high pressure zone to our south we need to take a more
northerly route to reach the Azores. This means sailing along a line
where the high pressure zone meets a series of lows that are spun off
North America and Canada.
So we have had busy days, grey skies and intermittent rain. Our progress
was also challenged when we noticed the stitching had given way on a
panel in the big Genoa (our primary furling headsail). It meant we could
no longer use it (without fear of it ripping some more), and so were
limited to used the storm jib as our headsail. Whilst this provided some
stability, it lacks the pulling power of the Genoa, and our pace in the
fleet and progress to Horta suffered as a result.
But that was last week. We have now sailed further north, and have a
period of stable but gentle weather where we can all take a breath,
sleep a bit more easily and relax. The crew is in good shape - fresh
bread and yoghurt is made (separately) every other day, we are fishing
(but so far no joy), and we have daily limericks to stir our
creativity. Other good news is that with the wind has changed from
southerly to northerly, whilst it is cooler it is less damp - so at last
the cabins are feeling better too.
Love to all.