Bermuda to Azores | Day 1

Image courtesy of our “kids” and "ChatGpt

Day 1 to the Azores is in the books. It was an uneventful day — light wind and remnants of a sea swell from the tropical depression that blew through on Friday (or was it Thursday?).

We pulled anchor and departed St. George's Harbor in Bermuda around 8 am yesterday morning, knowing we'd be motoring from the start. Motoring isn't ideal. We carry about 120 gallons of diesel, which gives us roughly 5–7 days of fuel. This trip could take anywhere from 12 to 14 days, so we can't rely solely on fuel. Besides, we are a sailboat. Remedy likes to sail (and so do we)!

Some friends of ours follow a practice of reserving one-third of their fuel for the first half of the trip, one-third for the second half, and keeping the final third in reserve. They're time-tested sailors with many thousands of miles under their keel, and it strikes us as a wise approach.

We are being very mindful of our fuel consumption on this trip, so it was a joy to finally shut the engine off during my watch around 5 am this morning. We are now enjoying a glorious sail at 6–7 knots, with the sun just beginning to rise on the horizon.

The only excitement so far was when my ears caught the familiar flutter of a flying fish stranded on deck. I peeked out of the cockpit and spotted him flopping around near the running backstay. He was too far forward for me to return him to the sea without going out on deck — something we don't do at night or when no one else is around. I thought, " Sorry, buddy, your fate is sealed.” But he was undeterred. A few more convulsive flutters and he flipped himself back overboard. Disaster averted.

All is well.

Day One Stats
Nautical Miles Sailed In The Last 24 Hours 150

Average Boat Speed 6.3 kts

Max Boat Speed 7.8 kts

GPS Coordinates 33 57.278N 62 20.886W

Miles to go 1660 (line of sight, not 100% accurate)

Sunset last night

Sunrise this morning