We arrived at Bermuda with no wind and accustomed to merely floating along the surface of the ocean. Making ripples in the water was fast and a wake was just a figment of our imagination!
We arrived in Bermuda on July 4th, 2018 and celebrated independence day by sleeping at anchor without the need to keep watch. Continuous sleep was so longed for at that point!
We waited in Bermuda for the winds to change (Easterly winds had come over the area and we waited until they switched to Westerly again). When we left, we had strong westerly winds carrying us on a broad reach and on starboard tack the whole time!
We sailed fast and straight for days, never jibing, and never adjusting the sails. Everything was set and we were able to sail directly towards the Azores. Usually, when you leave the Azores, you rocket North until you reach 40-45N and then turn East. In our case, we simply sailed easterly straight out of the gate!
The winds were constant, steady, and wonderful. This first week was what we thought all cruising would be like: averaging 100 nautical miles per day, sailing in one direction, hardly doing any work to get the miles. We really thought we were doing something wrong and that was why we kept falling short of the 100 mile mark. Turns out, the winds are rarely in your favor and that is when most cruisers turn on their diesels to make up the missing miles and keep the pace.
With our electric motor, we don’t have that luxury, and we are forced to slowly float through the water as we wait for better winds. We used to just go and sail to the winds we had instead of waiting for better winds to come, but what a difference the right winds can make!
We originally were not going to pull into Bermuda, we were going to sail right on past it and head straight for the Azores. The only reason we stopped there was to jettison our crew member. It worked out really well because if we had continued on directly, we would have been beating into some strong winds for the next week, only to then have these beautiful sailing conditions show up. Instead, we dropped off a grouchy crew member and had a great time exploring this beautiful island!
When we finally got back out into the ocean, the winds were perfect and we logged some incredible miles under our keel!
