Ireland Bound

It has been three days since we left the Azores, bound for Ireland. If you read the blog regularly you know that I was well and truly sick of passage. Then I learned that this passage was only eight to ten days long, which is short. Also, I learned that we would be sailing on a broad or a beam reach, an excellent change from the close reaching we have been doing of late. With this reassurance in my head, I was happy, even excited to start. As soon as we were out of the Azore Islands, we were broad reaching, a fast and smooth point of sail. We left at ten in the morning and when I came on watch at three, relief rushed through me because Sila was going seven knots.

The third day we had gale force winds (34-40 knots) for most of the daylight hours. We were going seven to eight knots with three reefs in the main and the staysail instead of the genoa. By the end of the day, the waves picked up and were steep, occasionally breaking. We had to be extra careful and attentive on watch so the sea did not throw us off course. Over night, every thing calmed down and this morning we are going six knots, wing and wing. as of noon today (UTC), our position is 41°56'N 20°04'W. If all goes well, we will be in Ireland by the 15th or 16th. - JackRabbit