Distance covered in the past 24 hours 151 NM, distance to Horta, Azores 1585 NM.
We continue to meander in seemingly random directions in our attempts to avoid the bad weather to our North East. The picture taken from the ‘Windy’ forecasting app shows the strong winds in yellow and red to the east of Bermuda, and that is what we are trying to avoid. Unfortunately the wind direction yesterday was such that we ended up sailing too far north, forcing us to tack so that we are now heading south with the engine on to keep us in safe, calm waters. The force of the sea cannot be underestimated. We are in a WhatsApp group of around eighty yachts all sailing west to east this season and we have had a number of reports of torn sails, sheared halyards, damaged rigging and one boat close to Horta has reported being dismasted today. Fortunately the boats near them have been offering help and support so no-one feels alone. We plan to err on the side of caution, making full use of Kai’s meteorology expertise.
At midnight we passed the 1000 nautical mile mark. We had a sweepstake amongst the three of us as to when we would reach that milestone – Peter won comfortably and his award this evening will be a precious can of beer. Cheers Peter!
After a week of stored food we are getting restless for some change, and this morning Peter cooked us eggy bread which made for a welcoming breakfast.