Position @ 1200 UTC
37⁰ 44.12 N 25⁰ 39.40 W
Ponta Delgada Marina
Sao Miguel
I went to bed following my shift at midnight happy knowing we were charging along at 6 knots + and that we were all set up to jybe as the wind veered through 180 degrees; handed over to Jimbo and away. I was awaken by worrying noises around 0230hrs so shot up to see Chris had already arrived in the cockpit, I didn’t need to be there as the problem had been covered. What had happened was the wind had veered but Jimbo hadn’t jybed and baclked the sail. The winds change so quickly around here you have to be on your toes.
I was back at 0600hrs and all was well but poor Chris didn’t get his 6 hrs break between the watches so me turning up early was a god send. Anyway still 6 knots, overcast sky and high seas but space to let out the Jib a little more to increase the speed. As we sailed along the Island we had a few fishing boats to sail between and dolphins enjoyng their breakfast.
We arrived at the fuel dock where the marina offices are and where we cleared in just in time as they closed at 1200 hrs Time was also getting criticall as Jimbo hadf a flight to catch.
We then sailed around to the new marina where we were all berthed together and we all relaxed in our own ways. Chris decided to catch up with sleep, Paddy decided to go to town, I on the other hand had to connect up the power cable, unfortunatly there was no power. I contacted the marina office and they sent an electrician, only to be told it was my problem, not theirs! Help! Fair Encounter answered my VHF call, John came over and the fault turned out to be a disconnected wire in the plug in the ambilical cord, Thank you John (Fair Encounter) for your valued assistance.
Dinner tonight was a Chili cooked in the oven for several hours to tenderise the beef. Half way through we checked the cooking and tasted the gravy, wow! how much chili did we put in, so had to add tomatoes. Lyall and Rob (th ARC controllers) joined us for dinner as did David from another boat, Paddy’s friend. Great evening, we all had a great evening; went through several bottles of wine, excellent food and coffee and Malt Whisky to round off the evening. Vince, our new member of crew then arrived so we set about anoher bottle of wine!
Tomorrow we have a day tour of the island which includes swimming in volcanic pool and a local lunch cooked under ground, looking forward to it.