Day 15 - 377 miles to go

June 18, 2008 Wednesday 1am - mid watch - 26d 01' North 38d 01' West
Our weather guru, Herb, who is routing some 40 odd sailboats out here, says that there is a gale over the Azores right now. Therefore, we have elected to take some avoiding tactics: 1) go slower - that one isn't working all that well - we took down the jib, but with just the main are still averaging 7K - favorable current and plenty of wind and 2) stay South until the weekend - we are running along the 36th latitude and not going North at all. This is disappointing because the Azores are only 377 miles away and we could be there in 2+ days. But our anticipated anchorage at Flores would not be comfortable in the winds they are getting. The weather should moderate during the weekend, but who wanted to wait around that much? So for today, we are staying South and slow waiting to see how the gale develops. Tomorrow we will make some further decisions.
Today was our 500 mile banquet. We wore ties for the occasion and had a chicken Andi cooked up in the pressure cooker with mushrooms, brandy, and all manners of yummy things. However, the boat was rolling so badly that we had to eat out of bowls. Not too elegant... We are all sick of rolling, but the sea gives us what it does.
We just passed another sailboat! Merritt was on watch and didn't wake me for it, but when I came on watch their lights were still visible. They are heading further North so their lights are fading. They won't respond to hails on the VHF radio. So they are the mystery ship. I suppose we are to them, too.
Otherwise, we are well (and ready to be in the Azores).