Over the Hump to Horta

The Burnetts are more than halfway there! We have less than 750 nm to go along the rhumb line to Horta, but it may be a little more than that if we maneuver a bit to minimize a front that will come through in the next few days. That means only 5-6 days to go, and the closest bit of land to us now is our destination. Pineapple farms and volcanic thermal baths, here we come!

We passed a 161-ft Dutch clipper ship, downwind sails hoisted, that is also Horta-bound a while ago. Mel queried the captain regarding the number of cannons aboard. Just one. Good. If you are going to pass a boat, make sure it has less than two cannons.

Rain showers are passing through at the moment, giving Marvin a bath. Mel thought the rain would miss them to the north, but of course the clouds just had to come and take a look at our boat.

Nothing clever to say this time. A dull blog post is a good blog post these days.

Boat stuff: Made 158 nm in 24 hours. Wind is 13-15 kts apparent at around 120 degrees and we are making about 7.5 kts. The current here switches around every hour or so. We have the main and jib up with one reef (look how conservative we are now!) and will likely double-reef and roll the jib in a bit before the front comes through. Greg rigged some sort of shackle to hold the clew of the reefed main to the boom to take some of the stress off our reefing line, and that is working well.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *