Gary O’Grady

Got to the Harbour Entrance a bit late and consequently had wind over tide which is never good here. With a few kids on board I decided to turn back and have an evening a Chichester Yacht Club. Cowes can wait for a nicer day. On return through the lock there was an almighty thump as the boat ahead to the right of me accidentally put his reverse on fully, smashing in to the bow of the boat behind lifting her almost vertically and smashing her in to the closed lock gate. Crew fell in to the screams of the lock keeper to turn off engines. With people in the water and a wayward propeller it could have been a lot worse. No one was hurt but a lot of plastic will need repairing. Katy got a bit of a smack but she’s a Westerly so the Jeaneaux came off a lot worse. Hardly a scratch so not worthy of the insurance bother.

With Horta full I headed off to Punta Delgado where I’ll leave Cara for a while. The sail across was absolutely fabulous and a real bonus sail. I had to moto occasionally as I was on a strict time schedule to cover 150 miles in just over 24 hours. There is no anchoring area within 40 miles. It was tiring keeping a visual watch all night and with local boats and fishermen not using AIS it was vital. Right now I’m having a good clear out at the marina and the amount of rubbish coming off her is unfathomable. No idea where it’s coming from. Heading back to Blighty the quick way on Saturday- British Airways and I can reacquaint myself with Katy.

This was my longest solo trip to date and in general was quite easy and straight forward. The west to east route is always considered more challenging but on this occasion it was better than the outward leg. I remained on starboard tack for the entire crossing. The first 4 days were tough as I was close hauled against the trade-winds and current but once I got to latitude 30 it started easing off a bit. Nothing broke on board and I received no injuries so in that respect was a perfect crossing. I got bored quite a lot, that was the only negative. I’m used to spending my time fixing things on these passages. PredictWind gave a 26 day passage in a best case scenario and to beat it by 8 days was pretty good. I think the main reasons for this was I was receiving daily weather routing from Stokey Woodall and the boat sailed way faster than I expected. Therefore the polar was wrong. On one particular day I hit 164 NM for the 24 hour period which is higher than hull speed. I guess I got some favourable currents giving a bit of free mileage. She happily cracked off 140-150 miles daily without trying. A bit depressing to get to Horta and find it completely full. I anchored for one night in the harbour and then set off for Ponta Delgado.

Finally a win for the last race. The wind was perfect for us all the way round. With just 11 seconds separating first to third it was very tight racing but being on the right side of it is pretty sweet. Now the preparation for sailing home begins as soon as I’ve drunk my body weight in beer.

Bit of a longer race today and yet another 4th.

Absolutely perfect conditions. Wind force 4 and all day sun but only perfect for our light weight competitors. With such heavy boat we need force 5 to really get her moving. We finished in good order but only 4th.

A wet and windy day in Antigua. Wind from 10-30 knots from the east and plenty of showers but we got second today and 4th yesterday so just getting in to the groove.

A fair bit of weed on this trip which was quite apt as we could smell it being a smoked about a mile off! The engine cut out 4 times and needed new filters on each occasion. After having the entire fuel system cleaned in st. Lucia it was extremely annoying. I’ll race in Antigua for the next week before heading back to the UK solo

Log to follow! Still have a hangover.

The ARC departure gets ever closer. This trip was timed to arrive just after the ARC+ fleet departed for Cape Verde. After making over 7 knots consistently after departure we had to slow her down or have to circle aimlessly outside Las Palmas port for some hours. The anchorages were full to bursting and getting in to the marina before ARC+ departure would most likely have resulted in a rotten berth. Luckily the wind reduced quite a bit so we just drifted through the night. The moon was bright giving very good visibility. The TSS between Gran Canaria and Fuertaventura was particularly busy. When passed it a couple of years there wasn’t a vessel to be seen. Once at the port the marina called us straight in and sorted a perfect berth quickly and efficiently. The staff here I’ve found to be very helpful. So Sunday week (24th) at 13:00 we’ll make our way to St. Lucia but being, I think, the slowest vessel of the whole fleet we’ll be last home.