Sailing Heldeleine

One week ago today we departed Horta. The trip computer says that we have travelled 883 miles and averaged 5.8 knots. We have SAILED all those miles with the exception of the Drone fiasco and the Spinnaker Failure 2.0 which just occurred 1 hour ago.
As was tradition aboard sailing vessels of old we have been using this Sunday for mending and washing. Clothes were drying on the lifelines and the majestic spinnaker loomed over us as we relaxed reading and sailing the rhumbline to Newport. Things were obviously going too smoothly and peaceably. I was observing Mattia and Andres at the bow when we all heard a very loud BANG! at the top of the mast and down came the spinnaker like a billowing tent into the sea, quickly dragging along and under the boat. After making sure that everyone was OK we were able to steer the boat away from the sail and the crew heaved the large wet mess aboard. We then made sure that there were no lines or debris in the water before we started the engine (the boat was rocking badly in the waves) to calm things down. Sails were set and we sat in the cockpit and assessed what the hell went wrong. Something similar had occurred on the 2015 crossing with the spinnaker ending up in the water. The cause of that incident was a chafed halyard line at the top of the mast from the rubbing back and forth motion over the sheave in the mast. We had learned our lesson and on this trip had been adjusting the halyard line a few inches to change the stress location on the line. Today’s failure ended up being caused by a broken block at the top of the mast (the line we were flying the spinnaker from was an external line attached to an external block). As the adrenaline eases Laurie casually mentions that she is bleeding! She must’ve stepped on some deck hardware with her bare feet and sliced open a bit of the bottom of her foot. Ouch, it looked nasty. She was so chill about the whole thing we assumed that she was in shock. Yippee! Time for the medical kit. This kit was put together by Dr. Steven Dane (we did the Newport-Bermuda double-handed together) for the 2015 crossing. He was thorough. Short of brain surgery we should be good. The necessary ointments, gauze and tape were applied (she refused to allow me to make a cool looking CAST for her foot. So much for a team player….) and she will live to fight another day. Tough lady indeed, is my sister! So, no spinnaker on starboard tack (wind from the right side of the boat) until another block is attached to the top of the mast 65 feet in the air. That will not happen on this ocean passage. We still have port tack and hopefully SW winds will be in our future. That’s it for now. Over and out.

We have travelled 651 miles since leaving Horta. Not all of these miles have been towards our destination and we have at least 1500 miles to go. Things aboard are rather pleasant at this time. The sun is bright and the sea is an amazing blue. We are sailing under spinnaker alone making a sedate 6 knots with a slight rolling motion. Most of the crew is asleep and those awake are in a drowsy state. We had a rare ship sighting this morning. A 1,000 foot bulk carrier crossed our bow at about 2 miles. We saw the ship on the A.I.S. at 25 miles and so were very much aware of its presence. But that was this morning and we are now back to empty horizons in all directions. Dinner last night was the Mahi Mahi caught by Team Matdan. It was prepared to perfection by Mattia in an stew of vegetables on a bed of couscous. Tonight will be the remnants of last night’s meal in a Ragu of rice. We are obviously in no fear of scurvy or starvation anytime soon. Westward Ho!!!

After heading SW since we left on Sunday, we have finally made the turn to the west. I am hoping that we are sufficiently below the high pressure to our north to give us a nice ride to the west. Currently we are in 15-20kts from the NE in 6-8 foot rolling seas. Harry, our autohelm, is bothered by the confused wave patterns and we are hand steering our 4 hour day watches (Andres did a 5 hours stint this morning!). The sky is beyond beautiful with a Wedgewood Blue and porcelain white clouds. There have been losses to both fishing teams overnight. Team MATDAN suffered the total loss of all handline fishing tackle. “Somehow” it untied itself from the aft pulpit and spooled itself into the sea. We are not implying that there was foul play involved. We would be the last people to cast aspersions on our competitors and except the fact that we must go to our backup rod and reel to retain the crown. Meanwhile Team Laurete somehow managed to wrap there line around the rudder in the middle of the night (confirmed by GoPro waterproof camera). Just as the captain was becoming excited with thoughts of wetsuits, Cold Atlantic water and giant sharks , the line miraculously sprung free and all was well in the world. Total miles since Horta is 536 with 130 in the last 24 hours.
Please keep the comments and notes to us on board coming. Any specific question you would like answered please go to Live Map on the website and send us a note. Bye for now!

TEAM MATDAN scores another stunning VICTORY!
This time it’s a 15lb Mahi Mahi!!
Reports from the scene say that Team Laurete needed to be restrained from leaping overboard in their embarrassing failure to secure even another tiny, minuscule fish….Laurie, Team Laurete co-Loser, is quoted as saying “it ain’t over until the fat lady sings”. Observers on the scene are confused because the chances of a fat lady starting a vocal recital in the mid-Atlantic are slim indeed. Team MATDAN was heard chanting “Two fish in Two day, two fish in two days” in a modest undertone so as not to upset those who can’t seem to catch any real adult sized fish. This is your objective reporter, Hornblower, over and out.

Team MatDan is officially first on the Fish Leaderboard with a solid effort this morning of a small but dynamic Skipjack Bonito. The opposition was on watch at the time and their cries of “Fish On!!!” were met with EXTREME SKEPTICISM by the sleeping off watch. (Remember that Kevin, the evil genius of Rubber Chicken fame, visited us in the Azores and we are sure that his bag was bursting with little “surprises”!). But No, it was a real fish. It is now disassembled and loaded into the freezer for dinner tomorrow. I am the first one to admit that I am not a lover of fish but catching it from the stern of your boat while crossing the Atlantic is pretty cool. We will except this ENORMOUS VICTORY QUIETLY AND WITH DIGNITY. ‘Nuf said…
The crew is adapting well to this Always moving environment. Meals were light the first day but today began with pancakes and some of Mattie’s flavored rice might be on the menu for lunch. Captain’s orders require us all to drink a 1 1/2 liter bottle of water each day. The bottles are marked for each crew and checked by ‘smother’ Laurie. Noon to noon mileage was a respectable 148 The Sun is out and the wind is a steady 10-13 knots. What’s not to love! Send along a note if you wish. Regards, Hornblower.