Azores to Portugal: Day 7

The winds have shifted once again and are now blowing out of the South East. We set our sails for a beam reach and make our way North East. Maddie feels that we are making miles towards our destination and I am pleased that we are making miles along our planned track.

We have been sailing for a week now and our route is very simple. There are two waypoints and a destination. In the past week, we have been sailing towards our first waypoint and are still so far from it. The ocean feels like it could extend for an eternity without ever showing us land again. Sailing on endlessly over this visible disk of water with no other signs of human life on the horizon. 

It’s a big ocean out here!

Azores to Portugal: Day 4

We are heading North for two reasons. First, we need to travel higher than the Azores High which extends next to us to our East so that we can sail with good winds (following winds) all the way to Portugal. The second reason we are sailing North is the winds will not allow anything else.

The winds have been blowing out of the East for the past week and show no signs of letting up. While we have ultimate freedom and can point our bow in any direction and reach any land we desire, the wind holds us captive and set in reality. We can point our bow any direction we would like, but the wind will only propel us in a few directions. The only direction that suits us at the moment is the Northern option.

The winds are starting to shift and move from the East to the North East, which is forcing us to choose to sail North West or South East. 

We need the Northern component of the NW course, so we are technically backtracking while still working towards our destination. 

I am able to view a NW course while we are trying to sail to an Eastern destination as progress while Maddie just feels us getting farther and farther from our destination.

Azores to Portugal: Maddie’s Day 3

Day 3

Being on the boat is odd. I don’t know whether to feel ultimate freedom or total entrapment. We can go wherever we please and we are constantly moving through the water, skimming along so that the whole world seems more accessible than ever, but at the same time, our whole world has been reduced to this tiny space where everything is squished and jostling about. We’re free to go wherever we please, but we’re at the complete mercy of the wind and waves. One is bliss, one is torture. Yesterday was more on the blissful side of things, but today has been a challenge. I have barely moved from the quarter birth because waves keep crashing into the cockpit and it’s freezing outside. I want to get up and cook, but everything takes an extra bit of effort. I have to remember to be thankful for this adventure, but sometimes I just feel stuck on this wobbly oval in the middle of an ocean that doesn’t want me here. 

Azores to Portugal: Day 3

Speed or comfort, never both for us. Our average speed for most of the day was 5.8 knots. This was thanks to a low pressure system that has moved in bringing a lot of wind and rain. 

While most of the leaks in our deck have been fixed during our refit in the Azores, some new ones seemed to have developed. I spent the day cleaning up after the small drips and taking care of Maddie with her debilitating sea sickness. 

All of this wind meant lots of speed to surf over the large waves and send everything inside flying as we would pound into the trough. 

It was a rough day but we did cover a lot of needed miles. We are now north enough to turn towards Porto as soon as the winds will allow it. 

Azores to Portugal: Day 2

Our mystery rudder issues were confirmed! When we left the harbor in Terciera, we had trouble turning to starboard. We thought it might be weird currents or something keeping the bow from turning to starboard. I thought it was epic weather helm since we were moving straight but had the helm hard over. 

Later, the issue manifested itself as “not turning to port” when we were on the other tack. In my mind, this meant weather helm again. 

I started wracking my brain to figure out how this could be, weather helm while only flying a staysail makes no sense!

I inspected the steering system and found that the quadrant key had slipped out and the quadrant was slipping around the rudder post. 

We made quick work here to get that key in there again and suddenly steering was restored. 

With good steering, we set the trysail and staysail in harmony and rocketed along the surface at 6-7 knots the rest of the day.