Azores to Ireland | Day 8

Another day down. We officially have zero night watches left in our Atlantic crossing. God willing, we will arrive in Bantry Bay late this evening.

The weather the last few days has been cool and shrouded in fog. Everything is gray—well, everything we can see, which is only the sky and the sea. Ha! I have not minded it, though.

The winds were light and decreasing yesterday, but we were still able to sail for most of the day. However, we knew we would eventually run out of wind and have to motor the rest of the way.

If two days ago (July 4th) was a glorious, pleasant day of sailing, yesterday was utilitarian. It was not relaxing nor enjoyable. The seas were like a washing machine, tossing us this way and that in a confused, muddled mess. I am not prone to seasickness, thankfully, but I definitely felt gross yesterday. We did not do much at all because of all the tossing about.

Sloppy, washing machine seas can occur for several reasons. For us yesterday, it was a combination of a few factors.

The ocean floor between the Azores and Ireland is over 13,000 feet deep. Several underwater mountains lie off the Irish coast, raising the ocean floor to depths as shallow as 1,300 feet. As waves and ocean swell move across these underwater mountains, the water is compressed, and the waves have to go somewhere, so they are pushed upward into larger waves.

Another factor is wind versus current. When the wind and current oppose each other, the wind pushes the waves up, making them steeper.

For us, yesterday meant crossing a 100-mile stretch where the ocean floor was rising while a small south-flowing current opposed the wind blowing northward. A double whammy. Twelve hours of sloppy sea conditions meant the boat rolled, pitched, and yawed, while the sails flogged and could collapse if the wind was not strong enough to keep them filled.

The wind eventually ran out after dinner. So we are motoring this final stretch. And thankfully, the seas are more settled, so it’s not quite as roly!

Today, as our friend Mia said, we are so close we can smell the Lucky Charms! 🍀

All is well!

Living untethered, but held fast.

Day Eight Stats:

Total Nautical Miles Sailed 142nm

Average Boat Speed 5.9kts

Max Boat Speed 8.2kts

GPS Coordinates 51 22.668N 11 46.391W

Miles to go: 87