Bermuda to Azores | Day 4

Day 4 was a spicy day. Day 5 is shaping up to be that way, too, and it is just getting started.

The winds built to a steady 25 kts, with gusts in the 30s. Seas are hard to estimate, but we think they were somewhere between 6 and 8, maybe a few larger.

We reefed the mainsail once. Then twice. Then we reefed the headsail heavily.

Bigger waves were really shoving the boat around, and our autopilot was overpowered multiple times. But all three of us worked together to steady the boat.

It was a night of no sleep for any of us.

It has been one of those days when everything is hard to do. But the winds should begin to die down as the day goes on, and with them the swell as well.

We do have one issue to address. Our mainsail is jammed. We can’t get her to go up or down. Currently, maybe 6 feet of her is up. That isn’t currently a problem, as we are able to sail downwind under our headsail alone and maintain decent speed. But we do need to get that issue resolved; it just won't be today with the heavier seas.

Nevertheless, all is well.

Day Four Stats
Nautical Miles Sailed In The Last 24 Hours 145

Average Boat Speed 6.0 kts

Max Boat Speed 11.8 kts (surfing down a big swell)

GPS Coordinates 36 17.272N 55 36.862W

Miles to go 13xx something… I am currently too tired to check.

Crew mate Monica trying to get some rest

Another sailing picture, because there isn’t much else to take pictures of…

Me trying to get some work done yesterday morning before the winds piped up.