Captain Mike
Monday, November 15: Relaxed morning getting everything setup before leaving. Fuel, food, coffee, projects. Big winds from the North, pushed us quickly South.
Tuesday, November 16th – Thursday, November 18th: Still struggling with hydrogenerator. What a pain. Had to be careful about electricity consumption. Huge winds had us sailing storm headsail and triple reefed main. Made amazingly fast time to Madeira covering 800NM in 72 hours. So fast! Arrived in Quinta Do Lorde Marina on Madeira. Beers and Fish at the marina and a restaurant in town.
Friday, November 19th: Project day. More work with the hydrogenerator. Signs pointing to the unit being defective. Trying to figure out a crazy plan of flying a crew member back to Europe to buy a new one. Tachometer on engine is messed up. Bilge pump issues needed to be resolved. Ropes and stuff on mast organized better so they aren’t a rats nest. Saltwater foot pump having issues. And so on, and so on. Lucas and Scott arrived. Big dinner in Funchal to say goodbye to Steve and Troy and welcome Scott and Lucas.
Photos from Captain Mike
Beck
It’s been a long 72 hours sailing from Nazare to Madeira. 4-5 meter swells surfed us along. Sometimes they sneak up on you in the dark, treating you to a frigid Atlantic baptism. The unseen forces of the current and swell toss is about like a popcorn kernel in a hot pot.
Acceleration and deceleration arouse you from shallow sleep. Sometimes we sleep in our PFDs. Alas, the warm sun greets us in Madeira; the last stop before The Crossing.
Photos from Beck
See more crew photos below.
Where are we now?
Land Ho! After 15 days at sea, we have touched land in Puerto Rico. The second photo shows our start to our current position. But we aren’t home yet!
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Photos from Keith
Photos from Troy
