Year 3 -13th September 2026 -St Helena- Cape Verde -Day 11

Julian and I were on at 8.00am and we were still sailing under the Blue Baron. The wind had been strong enough to sail overnight which was good. I looked at the forecasts and most suggested the wind would have died out by now or will do so by the end of the day. PWE suggested the wind would continue until the end of the day.

It was a rather grey wet morning and there were lots of clouds and they looked grey and somewhat menacing. Dave cooked scrambled eggs on toast which was a good start and Julian and I set about the daily checks.

However, by about 10.15am the wind suddenly died down to about 7-8 kts and veered by about 40 degrees to South Southwest. The Baron could not cope and it was starting to descend into the water. I made a decision we needed to get it down and asked Paul to get everyone up. This took a little time as some were in bed and Mark was even in the shower!. Julian and I had managed to snuff part of the sail but when everyone arrived we grabbed what we could and brought the sail on to the boat and sat on it. The problem was that only half was in the snuffer bag. It was now pouring with rain and everyone was soaked. The only way to sort the sail out was to raise it again and then snuff it properly. However, the conditions did not make this easy. We therefore decided to tie it down to the deck and we would return and do the job when the conditions were better.

As the wind had now changed to the Southwest we could now use the main and genoa. Once we had tied the Baron down and sorted all the lines out we took out the main (the outhaul worked well) and then the genoa and we were soon sailing well and fast some 7-8 kts on a close reach and directly where we wanted to go.

The rain eventually cleared and we all had to change clothes. Julian and I remained on watch until 12.00noon when Mark and Dave took over. The wind was 16-18 kts and this was not forecast (at most 12ks). We were not going to complain as this was good sailing wind and each mile prevented us having to use the engine.

The 24 hour 12.00noon run was 170 which was better and we were now reducing the miles to the waypoint off the most Southern island in Cape Verde.

Lunch was the usual coleslaw and cheese and meats with the loaf of bread I had made.

The afternoon continued with the good wind continuing and the rain holding off. The sun came out and it was warm and blowy. We dried our washing on the rails.

I read my book which is very good and I do not want to put it down. Others rested, read and chatted.

The day continued and the wind blew us along at 7-9 kts and the miles ticked by.

The forecast is for the wind to die overnight or tomorrow but we shall see. We have 383nm to go to the waypoint as I write this and it was about 550 last night.

Paul cooked white fish – we are not sure what type with a butternut type mix which was warm and filling.

Julian and I took over at 8.00pm for the first of our night shifts as we shall be on again at 5.00am. We are still making 7-8 kts and hope we will do so all night.  We all feel we are getting closer but know there are a few days to go yet.

 The picture of the day is showing the type of skies we are experiencing in this strange weather area.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I am now on the way to Cape Verde, Azores and back to the UK.  At present I am full and there will be a change of 3 crew in the Azores for the final passage back to the UK.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com