Hannah und Anna feierten den Meilenstein von unter 1000 Meilen bis zu den Azoren mit Coke und Nutella. Eine würdige Mischung. Hier der Bericht dazu:Oh yes! Finally we are within 1000 miles of the marina in Horta. At 1153 UTC this morning we celebrated the milestone with our last can of Coke on board and a big spoonful of Nutella each. We can now taste the beer and steaks that we have been dreaming about in Horta for the last 9 days.
Having battled through the first major low pressure system on Monday and dealt with the subsequent calm on Tuesday, yesterday once again delivered another nasty low pressure - but this time coming at us from behind. So our first day of downwind sailing on 40 Degrees was spent in pretty lively condition gusting to 38 knots.
The morning turned into some kind of boot camp style session for us both as we went through sail changes and reefs. We began surfing at some decent speeds, although without having the correct downwind sails onboard, we were constrained to the Solent. Even so, but she pulled us along at 12.13.14.15 and then 16.3 knots.
Unfortunately the wave pattern was confused and choppy so the poor boat decided that she would object to the situation and attempt to wipe out. Upon failing to succeed, she then hurled herself down a wave and tried the crash gybe option - again without success. With grey clouds looming and the pilot struggling, we eventually decided to take some time out and wrestle the beast of a Solent down. With just one person on the foredeck this is no easy task, but we got it sorted and then set the boat up to be fast enough but a little more under control. We did keep reminding ourselves that in six months time at race start, we would be laughing at this cautious behaviour!
So the second nasty weather system has rolled over us and we are now reaching a little to the North before hooking into the new breeze and turning for the Azores. Current weather files suggest that we should be in on Monday early afternoon but of course we all know that predicting an arrival time is always a bit sketchy. We have enough food and just enough water and fuel to get us there so let’s hope we don't get becalmed or we will have to prematurely get started on our arrival beers!
Hannah & Anna
