A change of plan

I now know that it is not only the English that have a pre-occupation with the weather as it has been the primary subject under discussion among the whole ARC fleet, irrespective of nationality.

We have been told that the Horta departure is delayed by 24 hours because of another gale and the rally will now miss out Terceira and head straight for Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel. This is not only because the itinerary has events which cannot be moved but also because the storm has damaged some of the pontoons in Angra do Heroismo and they cannot now accommodate the whole fleet. Unfortunately this decision means that our ways will now part.

As we are heading back to the UK, our destination lies to the north and attractive though the other islands might be, we see little merit in tracking south to head back north so we will still go to Terceira, look for a window in the weather and depart from there. We understand that the marina in Angra do Heroismo has finger pontoons and, assuming they have room, this will mean that we can take on water before our 1300 mile passage back to Portsmouth.

The Rally VHF broadcast this morning gave an update on the arrival of ‘Blue Mist’, an American yacht which has been struggling at the back of the fleet. They are still 200 miles from the Azores and having been pretty ‘beaten up’ in the storm, they will no doubt be mightily relieved to finally arrive on Sunday.

Yesterday was another day of rain but it did mean we could give Hejira ‘an internal’ and she looks well for the much needed spring clean.

We will leave Ollie on board while we take an organised coach tour of Faial and he will be sharing a taxi to the airport with Jo from Slipper 1 and Helen, the journalist from Yachting World. The tour ends up at the prize-giving function in the lighthouse visitor centre on the other end of the island so Peter who flies in this evening, will need to take a taxi straight there.

Ollie writes:-

Since we’ve been in Horta, at some point every afternoon I’ve turned to Barry and said; “I think I’m gonna go easy tonight, you know…not drink too much.” And it seems I’ve managed to go easy exactly zero times. I have to tell you, I could really get used to this. Last night was supposed to be just a finger buffet down the local yacht club and a few beers drunk from 25cl plastic cups.

But it ended up with the Skipper and I making a serious dent in the whisky once again. So it’s with a slightly sore head this morning that I attempt to write my little valedictory. Well I’ll make it short and un-schmaltzy. Sailing across the Atlantic has been a marvelous adventure – I feel impossibly lucky to have had the opportunity. And that means a huge addition to the debt of gratitude I owe the Skipper – it’s a debt that’s swollen to Greek-like proportions over the years. I’d jump at the chance to do something similar in the future with this crew, and would counsel everyone to do the same if they have the opportunity. Though not if there’s the possibility of having to defend yourself against pirates, because I’ve learnt that Barry’s terrific company and a great sailor, but armed with a pistol he’s a danger to everything except what he’s aiming at.

(Note from Nick – check out Ollies video of the crossing at the video tab on the home page)