Year 3 -23rd September 2026 - Sao Vicente, Cape Verde to Faial -Azores – Day 4

I had the 11.00pm to 2.00am watch and it was another good watch. The moon was out; there were stars and we were generally sailing in the right direction. I wrote the blog and had time to myself.

I went to bed at 2.00am and woke about 7.20am and shaved and had a shower. I took over at 8.00am from Paul and John. Paul made himself a cooked breakfast and John went to bed and Mark & Dave were still in bed.

It was a lovely sunny day again and we were still able to sail albeit a little off course going a bit West due to the wind angle. I checked the weather and we had a number of issues. Tropical Storm Fay had been downgraded and was moving away westward and unlikely to develop into anything further. We were to the East of it by hundreds of miles so this was fine. The African Easterly Wave (AEW) was due to hit the coast today and appears as if it will come North towards us by Friday and peter out. By this time we will be 3 days ahead and so it should not be a problem.

The real issue for us is a cyclone/series of lows which come from West to East and over the Azores on the 28 September bringing with it up to 45-50kt winds and seas up to 3.6 m South of the Azores. This was the very date we had hoped to approach the Azores. Mark and I discussed this and then we all chatted about it. We do not want to get into this system and so I thought we should aim to get to a waypoint some 230nm South of Faial by 12.0noon on the 27 September. We then continue slowly forward allowing the system to clear and we then aim to arrive in Faial on the 29th a day later or so.  We calculated that to achieve this we would need to only go at 5.5-6.0kts. We were sailing far faster than this.

The wind died a bit anyway and as we were about 15nm west off our ideal course we decided to tack about 11.00am but then we were going sideways to our course and sometimes almost going back on ourselves. The wind died a little further and so I decided to take down the sails and motor to get more Easting. This proved to be a good choice as the wind then went more North and meant we could not sail on either tack without being off course.

We motored on but then the wind came back within a few hours. We continued and decided to have lunch first. Our 24 hour 12.00noon run was 177nm and we now need to try and reduce our daily runs to about 150nm. Trying to go slow is an anathema for a sailor.

Lunch was houmous, tuna and sweetcorn, chicken bits (which Mark had prepared) and yes you guessed it- coleslaw!! This is the last of it hopefully for a while!!

After lunch we upped the sails and struggled with the main and genoa to slow Stormbird down to 6 kts. Even if we reefed the genoa this did not work. We therefore had to change to the staysail which was better. Unfortunately the front end (leech) was flapping a bit as the leech line needed tightening. Paul volunteered to try and help with this but he needed to go up the bosun’s chair a little to reach the leech line. He did what he could to tighten it but when we got out the sail again it had made no difference. We plan therefore when we have a no wind section to get the sail down to do this.

The afternoon wore on and some slept, were on watch, read or just viewed the beauty of the ocean. We tried to fish and at one point the ratchet went and we had a fish on. I went to grab the rod and I saw another large Marlin leap out of the water and the line went slack. It had snapped again. I made a loaf of bread during the afternoon which turned out well. We need to make one each day.

The day began to close and the sun to drop and the light to fade. It was an ok sunset but there are always clouds near the horizon which the sun hides behind before it drops into the ocean.

Dave cooked his hairy biker sausage dish which we had with rice which was good. We eat this in the light as it did not get dark until about 8.30pm.  

I decided to go into the engine room as the engine had been on and I had a hunch I should check. Everything seemed fine; however, I checked the oil on the generator and it seemed low and I had noticed a small drop in coolant in the reservoir. I took off the sides of the generator housing and saw some green coolant which may have leaked from the pump. We will have to watch this. I added more coolant and oil and started the generator and it seemed fine and I ran it for a bit. You have to keep on top of these things.

I then settled down for my 8.00pm to 11.00am watch and checked the weather again.

Central Subtropical Atlantic (Former Tropical Storm Fay):

Showers and thunderstorms have increased with the remnants of 

Fay located several hundred miles southwest of the Azores. While 

environmental conditions are only marginally conducive for 

development, this system could become a tropical depression again 

today or tonight if the current thunderstorm activity persists.  

The system is forecast to move westward during the next couple of 

days, and by the weekend upper-level winds should inhibit formation 

chances.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...high...70 percent.

* Formation chance through 7 days...high...70 percent.

Storm Fay is still an issue and could develop further and back into a tropical depression again. However, luckily it is some way West of us and will move more West so should not hopefully be an issue for us. However, the percentages for development have gone up.

In terms of the AEW-

Far Eastern Tropical Atlantic (AL90):

An area of low pressure located a couple of hundred miles southwest 

off the coast of western Africa is gradually becoming better 

defined, and the associated shower and thunderstorm activity has 

increased since yesterday.  This system could become a short-lived 

tropical depression on Thursday or Friday while it moves 

northwestward to northward.  However, strong upper-level winds 

should end the opportunity for development by the weekend.  

Interests in the Cabo Verde Islands should monitor the progress of 

this system as gusty winds, areas of heavy rain and flash flooding 

is possible there by Friday.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...50 percent.

* Formation chance through 7 days...medium...50 percent.

 The percentages for this developing have also gone up and it is going to move towards us and the course we are on according to the models. However, we should be hundreds of miles further North when it peters out but we will have to watch this and check it does not come further toward us.

 There was no change to the system hitting the Azores on the 28th and our delay plan we need to implement and achieve. In fact it seemed to have strengthened so there seems no chance at present of it petering out or going through earlier.

We should be able to sail slowly during the night although the wind may die about 03.00am -4.00am. We shall see. It is Operation hold Stormbird Back for a few days now to avoid this nasty cyclone/storm. Easier said than done.

 The picture of the day is Paul in the bosun’s chair trying to tighten up the leech line of the Staysail.

 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