Jolly Jack Tars: Weather or Not

This will simply be a review of our weather experiences as we dashed headlong for 20 days into the wild blue yonder, bouncing east across The Pond for the Azores.

What else can we say?  There was lots of salty water, thankfully not too much in the boat and plenty of sky, floodlit at night with stars and a waxing moon.  Somehow our world became fringed by WJ3’s stanchions and embroiled in days of our lives dramatics as GS’s tried valiantly to get daily satellite connections for our weather reports.  Our daily highlight was a voice in the ether – Herb – our weather prophet, who gave us daily readings and directed progress over the HF radio.  Admiral Lord Nelson would have killed to get Herb’s services.

Storm at Sea_Is this the Bermuda Triangle?

Having left Great Kills finally, a day later that planned (the fuel dock owner was busy refuelling his hungry beast) we headed east.  Hail to Mary, Neptune & Garnesh!  After giving us a gentle bollicking for starting late, Herb sent us on a SE track to avoid a huge & nasty front coming down from Newfoundland.  Thus began our descent down to 37 degrees, somewhere in the vicinity of an amazing line of lightning storms (harbouring an entrance to the Bermuda Triangle perhaps?) and almost back to Cape May.  Been here before?

Our efforts to stay ahead of the front saw us languishing in calms – 4 in the first 8 days….until we could stand the rock/roll/twist/up/down/jiggle no more and the Cap’n motored north for an hour….into a squall of 35kts.  Still it was taking us in the right direction (east) so we tightened our tethers and clung to WJ3 as she frolicked with pilot whales and surfed the Gulf Stream, confident in stronger winds. 

We settled in for a couple of good days and a chance encounter with War Ship 64, who was kind enough to enquire after our health and well being.  After 10 days out for us, they probably thought they’d come across a ship of lost souls gibbering at the moon.  Their news was of a gale heading our way so we battened down and got out 3 days of hard tack in preparation.

Our Cap’n weathered out the gale (40+kt winds & rather large seas which lasted 24 hours thankfully), then managed some sleep after we settled into strong souwesterlies for another couple of days.  We made up some good miles then!  In the gale’s wake however (days 15-17), we experienced  more “variable winds” before a strong southerly had us bashing into it.  Rock, rattle & roll; back to hard rations. 

Pilot Whales in the Gulf Stream

The grey skies vanished on day 18 with the southerly and we resumed our pleasant (but slow) sailing conditions.  We finished with a flourish – becalmed again! – but made it to the south coast of Flores (Flowers) in the Azores having been under sail most of our 20 days at sea.

Despite warnings about entering strange harbours at night, we were keen to touch bottom and get a hook into a sandy bay.  We crawled into Porto Das Lajes and anchored behind an impressive breakwater, hoping that the morning would not find us floating amongst coastal freighters in our snug spot.  Had a wine or two that night, I can tell you!

(Those interested can follow our path on WJ3’s tracker – currently with a few holes in it.  Satellites can be so fickle!). 

From:	Great Kills Harbor, Staten Is	To:	Flores, Porto Das Lajes
Lat/Long:	40:32.5400N  74:07.9210W	Lat/Long:	39:22.7630N  31:10.0490W
Date/Time:	27/7/11: 0820	Date/Time:	15/8/11: 2320
Time Taken:	2735.4nm (481hrs)
Distance:	3627.9nm (628.5hrs) (this year)	Dist Total	8999.9nm (since 2008)
Weather:	Variable - 1 mighty gale, 2 driving squalls, 7 days becalm-ed and a War Ship in a Gulf Stream (ok, ok!)
Fastest Speed:	Sailed all except for an hour of motoring; 9kts or more in the gale