Early on Wednesday, June 12th, (after a long sleep) we cleared into customs and immigration. As we were preparing to leave, another boat came in behind us. Watch the line handler tie up their lines – pretty amazing. I need to practice!!! We moved to the “visitor’s dock” at Port Lagos between Attitude (in front) and Ohana (behind) and got to work on our post-passage boat…
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Our final leg across the pond (aka the Atlantic) commenced at noon on Friday, June 14th. Although we sailed out of Ponta Delgada, we eventually had to turn on the engine and use the “metal sail” to get us out from the “lee of the island”. The first few days were magic – also known as “champagne sailing”… According to 1 nautical website, this means ”a…
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We left Horta on Friday, 6/7 for a day sail over to Terceira and docked at Angra do Heroismo – one of the 3 capitals of the Azores. A walking tour took us around the city to see the gardens, the farmer’s market, gardens, and the sidewalks that are all laid out in different, intricate patterns. We also stopped at a shop where linen handiwork is…
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We arrived in Horta, on Faial Island in the Azores on Sunday morning (6/2) around 4:00 am local time (10:00 pm MT). It was a long, and often “spicy” 10 ½ days, but we finally stopped moving! After a short sleep, we had to clear customs and were desperate to walk on land! The weather was cool and rainy but that didn’t stop us - so…
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Day 11 (Sat., 6/1) - Last day at sea (Hopefully) https://youtu.be/4FxPra_5RBw We started off with little wind so we had to motor for awhile, but eventually we turned it off and enjoyed “champagne sailing”! – Winds 10 – 14 knots, from behind, in smooth seas and Moxie was gliding along… Magic!!! We are still adding to our lead... Race Tracker shows us ~ 96 NMs…
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Day 10 – 5/31 – We got out of the high seas/gale area last night and conditions on board were noticeably better a few hours later. Although probably nothing for other sailors, in more than 40,000 NMs of sailing, the past 4 days were the toughest conditions I’ve ever experienced! Jeff and Rachael will probably never sail with us again. We were sailing along nicely, people…
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Day 9 – Th (5/30) Pretty rough conditions - winds in the high twenties and gusts in the thirties – until late in the evening. This means large waves - maybe 14ft for the big ones. It’s pretty awesome to look up from the troughs as these huge mountains of water approach and then slip under us. Sometimes they break underneath the hull and make a…
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Still plugging away out here in the roller-coaster called Moxie. Pretty big waves today, around 10ft+ which makes for a lot of motion. We’re slipping, sliding, and lurching around the cabin and have to “time” our movements with the motion of the boat… We have a 25 nm lead at the moment, but we are sailing a more southerly course than our nearest rival White Night, which…
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DAY 7 (Tuesday, 5/28) – As of 9:00 am were in the LEAD. It’s very chilly, and uncomfortable, but we are in the lead…We’ve reduced sail quite a bit (3 reefs in the main and a reefed jib) and still making good progress. Th next few days will be rough. We’re headed into a low-pressure system and expect to have 30-35kt gusts. We almost certainly will…
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Day 6 Mon (5/27) - Not much to report – conditions still pretty much the same as Day 4 - winds strong and from the north. The map shows the weather forecast (from Sunday). The wind barbs (the things that look like an “F”) indicate the direction and strength which is reflected in the colors. We are currently in the “orange” area which means winds from…
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