49:22.907N 007:22.265W

SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Sat 14 Jul 2018 17:37
UTC 1707
We made 3902.1 nm.
We are on direct line to the point -- 49:54N 05:00W
-- which is about 15 miles South from Falmous... and we have 96nm to go to that
point...
We are motor sailing... No matter what
applications are saying, no matter what synoptics are telling you... THERE IS NO
WIND!
There is the Ocean, with looong and 'shallow'
swell... There are multiple reflections of the clouds... within
the water...
And on top of that we are gliding...
Generating our own 'close hull' wind, by our own motor, and 'consuming' it
ourselves...
The books / guide is read and re-read... everything
seems to be checked... Under control...
Tide times are checked, re-checked... the access to
see the tide graph -- is on iPhone, checked...
The million dollar question -- why my small
internal voice is not at ease?! The one, which I learned to listen ?
Why this time -- is it so tense? Iti is just another harbour... What the difference from Azores ? Also an Island, a bit bigger... ;-) Is it the felling that I've crossed the
Atlantci, indeed, is fanally getting to me?
Hopefully, I'll get the answers for above
tomorrow... We will see! ;-)
Meantime, I have a couple of outher puzzles in
front of me...
1. I do not understand why the boat is
moving.... There no wind... We are just under the ridge... which is
suggested by the .grib files, and by the weather itself -- sunny,
hot, a very few clouds, closer tho horizon...
With even more amount of rpm -- now I'm running
bear minimum -- we were doing 3.2- 3.4 kts.... And now -- we are doing about
5.4....
The reason it concerns me -- what if it is going to
slow down again? Delaying my arrival ? And adding to the fuel
consumption...
2. Fuel consumption... I do need
speed... I do not have too much extra fuel to play with... The electronic sensor
is giving me already the heart attack...
But I've double checked with the stick -- and
convinced myself that I should have enough.... If everything is going as now...
;-)
It would be nice to switch down the motor, and to
sail... But with the current situation -- it is out from the
table...
3. I do not understand, why I'm suddenly in a rush
to get to Falmouth... On Sunday, it would be 2 weeks as I've left the
Azores...
I wonder if anybody left the Azores at the
same time as me... and where are they now? What is the progress
? Is the reason I'm 'not so fast this time' -- just the weather
? Or mistakes in the tacticks ?
All above questions are somehow generating
too much adrinaline, and are making life not easier at all,
presently...
But... We are moving towards the destination.
Everything is under control...
Talk to you soon,
M.
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