Sailing Round the World on Sal Darago: Terceira, Azores to Holyhead Harbour, Wales

The Azores High

We were in the marina office at Angra do Heroismo before 0900 on Wednesday 28^th June. Customs and Immigration were already there. We paid our marina bill and were stamped out of Europe by Immigration. We expected easterly winds (we wanted westerlies) but we did not expect 16-24 knots blowing in the outer harbour as we stowed our fenders and lines. I started taking Stugeron.

We decided to head east along the south coast with the wind behind us, go round the west end of Terceira and set a course northwards. The winds were fluky at first. When we were off the west end we found ourselves in an acceleration zone with variable winds up to 45 knots. We hoped this would be short lived. S/V Vagabond, whom we’d spoken to on our way from Bermuda to the Azores appeared on our AIS (Automatic Identification System). Jeremy called them on the VHF radio to warn them of the conditions. They were on their way to Angra do Heroismo.

The spiral driving cable fits inside a tube

The forecast easterly wind blew from the ENE, so we were sailing close hauled with two reefs in the main and a tiny genoa. The wind gusted from 16-34 knots, the sea was rough and boisterous and the sky was grey and cloudy. The barometer climbed from 1026mb to 1041mb in 24 hours. We had forgotten to close a cock in the heads and consequently we had quite a lot of water in the bilges when Jeremy checked.

The stern end of Neco's steering arm

Gradually, the wind eased to 17-20 knots but remained stubbornly ENE. The grey clouds cleared and the sun shone. The barometer continued to rise steadily. At long last on Friday 30^th June the wind shifted to the E and calmed down so much that we were motorsailing by 1000hrs. Having reached 1045mb the barometer started to fall slowly and the wind shifted to NNW.

We were still motorsailing the next day in calm weather. Then our autopilot, Neco, that steers Sal Darago when she is under engine, broke. It was my watch. I hand steered and called Jeremy up to the cockpit. He investigated and found that Neco’s steering arm had a broken spiral driving cable. With great difficulty, working under the stern berth, Jeremy removed the steering arm. He accidentally dropped the stern hatch cover on my hand, cutting the knuckle of my little finger. Neco could not be fixed at sea. A new spiral driving cable was needed.

Wind and waves lashed Sal Darago

Fortunately, we still had the Hydrovane, our wind vane steering device. When the winds were light and we were motorsailing, we helped Heidi to keep on course. When we were sailing, Heidi steered by herself. This process continued all the way to Holyhead. Better weather followed for a few days, but the barometer continued to fall steadily.

On Thursday 6^th July we were back to strong winds gusting to gale force from the SSW, big seas and breaking waves. However, it eased overnight and in the morning we made 2 loaves of bread. In the evening the barometer dipped to 999mb. We began to pick up the weather forecast from Valencia Coastguard Radio. We were about 50nm from the SW coast of Ireland when we heard the first gale warning. We had 2 reefs in the mainsail, close hauled with Heidi steering. Waves broke over Sal Darago and we sheltered in the saloon, mopping up as water came in through the main hatch and heads vent. It was a scary night.

Several sail slides broke in the gale

Winds of gale force 8 reached severe gale force 9. One wave almost took off our starboard side dodger. Jeremy went into the cockpit, rescued the dodger and tied it back on. The barometer bottomed at 993mb on the morning of Saturday 8^th July. Two hours later the wind dropped from gusts of 43knots to 16knots. The barometer rose 13mb in two hours and the sun shone. The difference was stunning. By the afternoon we were motoring in light winds. Jeremy found the second reefing cringle and block had parted on the mainsail. We had also lost a man over board light from one of the stern horseshoe buoys.

Many letters need to be sewed back on

At 0600 on Sunday 9^th July we took the inshore passage between the Tasker Rock and Carnsore Point. We were in the Irish Sea. Hurray! A pleasant, sunny, day sail followed all the way to Holyhead Harbour. We motored in at midnight and tied to a yellow buoy. The next day we learned that we were not on a Holyhead Sailing Club mooring. We moved in wind and rain across the harbour and secured ourselves to a visitors’ buoy. Jeremy began to make enquiries to find out if anyone could fix Neco. Holyhead Marine suggested we try the marina and soon we were talking to Ed, who thought he might be able to help.

Lunch at the Waterside Bistro, Holyhead

Ed and his team rose to the challenge, sourced a new spiral driving cable, made adjustments so that it would fit the steering arm, took everything apart and put it together again. We were impressed and delighted. As I write this, Jeremy is tackling the challenging job of fixing Neco’s steering arm back in place.

Jeremy with Holyhead Harbour behind

We have been impressed by the hospitality shown to us by Holyhead Sailing Club and Holyhead Marina. The hot showers in the club were most welcome and the laundry facilities in the marina were good. Our mooring fee of £27 per night included the use of the SC launch, driven by either Chris or Nick. They came out to the mooring in all weathers to take us ashore and we appreciated it.