BLUEMOMENT

Fairwinds' Position Report 12.00 UTC 21st June 2007

37deg 52.0'N
026deg 12.8'W

Distance from Ponta Delgada 29nm
Distance to Horta (approx) 120nm

Left Ponta Delgada at six this morning and motored for a couple of hours,
then managed to get the main up and motor-sailed for a couple more hours. We
actually sailed for about an hour between 10.30 and 11.30 but the wind went
light and headed us again so we put the motor back on to make up time. The
plan is to be in Horta before dark tomorrow (Friday) so we need to keep up a
reasonable average. We are currently motor sailing in 10 knots apparent
about 20 degrees off the port bow.

The wind is set to increase to 15 knots and go round to 230 round about noon
tomorrow, which will make the last few miles a bit of a struggle no doubt -
our course up to ten miles from Horta is 287T, then 315T for the last ten
miles.

The autohelm (TP10) has packed up, so motoring means hand steering which is
a pain. I have had it apart and the problem appears to be that the shaft
from the motor which turns the toothed wheel and belt is no longer engaging.
Perhaps MAYS (Mid Atlantic Yacht Services) in Horta can fix it.

Plan B if the wind gets too strong and on the nose is to divert to Terceira,
but we really want to get to Horta, so the next report will hopefully be
from there tomorrow evening, where we should have WiFI on the boat.

Fairwinds Out

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we are star dust

Any news today?

Not yet although he wasn't intending to send a noon position since they hope to arrive at some point this afternoon or evening.

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we are star dust

Hi Silkie, cheers will keep my ears and eyes open!

Steve B

Well, here we are nearer to Newfoundland than Ireland at the yachting crossroads of the Atlantic. Checked in at 14.00 after a 32 hour trip for 155nm, and were on the pontoon by 15.00. We did a lot of high speed motor sailing in light winds at 5.5 - 6 knots with all plain sail and the navik steering then had a peaceful night's sailing at 3.5 - 4 knots before putting the hammer down again in the morning to get here before the smeg arrived.


Had to raft up to check in and there was a minor drama getting ashore - I took Kathy's hand and pulled her up to the quayside but her wedding ring on her other hand caught on a bulldog clip on a piece of rigging on the boat we were climbing off of. A skinned knee and a cut finger, but the guy in the marina office produced some iodine and Kathy as usual is not complaining. I, on the other hand, grazed my own knee on the same hideous boat . . . . total trauma.

Now slightly the worse for wear due to lack of beer - we have had to drink gin.

More later . . . have to get a shower and investigate the Cafe Sport envelope.

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- Nick

. . . . . . . . .

Great news.

Report back soon willya? I am with child to know the contents of the mysterious packet.

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we are star dust

Just had a call from Shard in Ardinamir who sends his best wishes.

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we are star dust

Like most of you we assumed it would be a simple question of an envelope behind the bar with some drinking vouchers enclosed.

In fact, we were taken into a back room and had to produce three different types of identity. We were then taken back into the cafe and ushered through the door that says it leads to the Scrimshaw Museum.

Instead an express elevator hustled us into the volcanic bowels of the island. We were asked for the code word again by a heavily armed Portuguese security guard as we exited the lift.

'Mojomo' we whispered. He nodded his head for us to follow and set off at a brisk pace down a long lead-lined corridoor. Stopping at a massive steel wheel set into the lead cladding he spun it briskly, muttered something into a concealed microphone then pressed his eyeball to a device of some sort that hung from the ceiling like a piece of electronic ivy.

A massive door slid back to reveal a vault lined from floor to ceiling with what we know from movies we have watched to be safe deposit boxes. The guard pulled an electronic swipe card from somewhere inside his shirt and handed it to me. Luckily there was a number on it. I located the box and waved the card in its general direction.

Click. The drawer slid open to reveal three items:

- A diamond - or something like one - the size of a hen's egg
- An April 2004 copy of Yachting Monthly with a spearmint wrigleys wrapper marking pages 89-90
- And a small hexagonal piece of some kind of heavy black metal, coated in something glutinous.

We beat a hasty and puzzled retreat to Fairwinds to examine these items. We are now cowering in the forepeak having heavily reinforced the heads door. There are a lot of helicopters outside and someone appears to be shouting threateningly in Portuguese through a megaphone. The only word we can recognise is 'Mojomo'

We are worried.

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- Nick

. . . . . . . . .

Hah! You don't fool me so easily. Pages 89 and 90 are opposite sides of the same sheet.

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we are star dust

. . . they're not

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- Nick

. . . . . . . . .

they are.

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we are star dust

Glad you had a reasonable trip - congrats again! Commiserations to Kathy over her injuries,but time you grew up!!! Dying to hear if the diamond is real and why musn't I read Plain Sailing???

You are very welcome to read my blog Mum although it fizzled out in the latter half of last season. The "please don't read" bit was an (over-)reaction to a prat on another forum who couldn't imagine why anyone would want to write one, unless an egomaniac, far less read one, even if bored to distraction.

Now if you could get that daft boy of yours to stop editing my posts...

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we are star dust

What makes you think I can get that daft boy to do anything??

It wis jist a long shot.

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we are star dust