The Victoria Shadow Association

Simoon III of London

The voyage home - The Azores to the River Hamble

Chart and position plotting courtesy of Google Earth

E-mail received Sunday, 05 July 2009 13:13:00 UTC

Phew! I'm back now in England.

We spent a week in the Azores where Julian left us and David Livingstone joined us for the final leg to the UK. The week was spent doing maintenance and dodging the rain. To the west of us there was a depression with hurricane force winds so we were pleased to be tied up in Horta. Within three hours of David arriving he had stripped the wind generator, replaced the bearings and hub and put it back.. It was now so quiet it was if I had bought a new one. He had also unpacked in that time.

Anyway the final part of my trip back from BVI, after we left the Azores, was an extraordinary experience. About three days out we realised that there was a depression approaching, but we didn't appreciate just how powerful the low would be. 994 is a bit frightening, with Storm Force 10 and 6 metre seas! and sustained winds of 44+ knots with gust of up to 55 knots. We had 2 partial knock downs, lots of huge waves in the cockpit and were running out of control down the waves. The wind was blowing off the tops of the wave horizontally. At that point I decided to use the parachute anchor, which had been stowed at the bottom of the starboard locker for the last 10 years.

John went up to the bows to move the CQR anchor so that the lines could go through the bow roller. As he was doing this a wave washed over the bows and he was thrown over the bows but clung on, attached with his safety line. His lifejacket inflated with the power of the water so we have some difficulty in getting him back on board. In fact we ditched the CQR in order to fasten the sea anchor.

Whilst emptying the cockpit locker another wave came over filling the cockpit and the locker, where I was head first removing the parachute anchor and all its attachments.. At that moment my lifejacket inflated!

I must say it was worth the effort as once this anchor was streaming at 45 degrees from the bows, everything calmed down on board. We had no more water cascading over us and Simoon lay much more comfortably in the water. We hove to like this for about 18 hours. Next morning the weather had dropped down to a mere force 6, though we found out that the rope had chafed through and the parachute anchor had disappeared as had the new Jonbuoy on the stern which must have been set off before we deployed the sea anchor. The chocks had come out of the mast and the steering had been affected, but otherwise we had survived.

During the storm the computer was damaged so I could not send emails home. I saw on my AIS that there were 2 ships in the area, so called one up on the VHF and asked the operator to pass a message on, which he did. Next day I spoke to Mike on Altaire. He was running the OCC Atlantic crossing net on the SSB radio in Flores, in the Azores, and I asked him to send a brief email with my position to Janet. This worked well for several days until I was out of range, about 1200 miles, by which time I was in the English Channel nearing Falmouth and was able to call up the Coastguard. They requested that I should check in with them every six hours and agreed to phone Janet. Unfortunately they didn't do this, so for 24 hours there was no contact until our mobile phones began working just off Portland Bill.

Within a day of the storm we were in mild weather, so much so that we put up the parasail (a kind of spinnaker) during the day on 5 separate days and had a glorious sail in sunny, gentle seas. The final few days were an absolute joy. That's what sailing is all about. What a change in just a few days.

We arrived in the Hamble to quite a welcoming committee, tired and exhausted after the experience of a storm but otherwise well. We had no injuries, only a few knocks and bruises. I hope I never have to go through something like that again, but if I do I will be much better prepared.

We logged 1429 miles, from the Horta to the Hamble, which we completed in 12 days 5 hrs 20 mins at an average speed of 4.9 knots. If we took off the time we were hove to the average speed would have been 5.2 knots. Overall we logged 3913 miles in 33 days 12hrs 24 mins from Tortola to the Hamble. The best day's run was 154 miles.

Now we're back Simoon is out of the water in the Hamble and up for sale. We drive to Sweden in August to collect the new Hallberg Rassy 43 which we will be sailing back to England in a leisurely fashion during August and September.

Simon
Captain Birdseye (currently with a white beard)

E-mail received Monday, 06 July 2009 08:07:00 UTC

Day	Date	1200Z Latitude	1200Z Longitude	1200Z Distance logged	Days Run	Distance made good	1200Z Distance from start	1200Z Distance to destination	Total distance covered	Total distance to go
Sunday	03/05/09	18°26’.392N	064°33’.619W	0	0	0	0	2224.172	0	3591.744
Monday	04/05/09	18°26’.392N	064°33’.619W	0	0	0	0	2224.172	0	3591.744
Tuesday	05/05/09	18°26’.392N	064°33’.619W	0	0	0	0	2224.172	0	3591.744
Wednesday	06/05/09	18°26’.392N	064°33’.619W	0	0	0	0	2224.172	0	3591.744
Thursday	07/05/09	18°26’.392N	064°33’.619W	0	0	0	0	2224.172	0	3591.744
Friday	08/05/09	20°04’.395N	064°09’.310W	106	106	80.204	100.654	2143.968	106	3511.54
Saturday	09/05/09	22°01.100N	063°45’.620W	225	119	89.127	219.379	2054.841	225	3422.413
Sunday	10/05/09	24°14’.457N	063°01’.612W	365	140	110.646	358.447	1944.195	365	3311.767
Monday	11/05/09	26°22’.400N	062°18’.380W	499	134	102.666	492.116	1841.529	499	3209.101
Tuesday	12/05/09	28°09’.651N	061°30’.843W	617	118	90.976	606.848	1750.553	617	3118.125
Wednesday	13/05/09	29°15’.668N	060°04’.389W	718	101	98.217	694.191	1652.336	718	3019.908
Thursday	14/05/09	29°54’.532N	058°29’.297W	813	95	91.281	763.805	1561.055	813	2928.627
Friday	15/05/09	30°05’.679N	056°12’.467W	936	123	110.2	834.6	1450.9	936	2818.5
Saturday	16/05/09	30°24’.665N	054°08’.026W	1054	118	103.8	915.6	1347.0	1054	2714.6
Sunday	17/05/09	30°52’.250N	052°07’.757W	1167	113	104.3	1006.3	1242.8	1167	2610.3
Monday	18/05/09	31°51’.253N	050°08’.905W	1285	118	117.3	1120.4	1125.5	1285	2493.1
Tuesday	19/05/09	33°03’.858N	048°43’.301W	1390	105	96.5	1222.7	1029.0	1390	2396.6
Wednesday	20/05/09	34°29’.452N	047°39’.729W	1492	102	78.3	1319.3	950.7	1492	2318.3
Thursday	21/05/09	35°55’.027N	046°21’.948W	1602	110	90.2	1424.0	860.5	1602	2228.1
Friday	22/05/09	36°35’.553N	045°02’471W	1687	85	72.3	1498.8	788.3	1687	2155.9
Saturday	23/05/09	36°57’.890N	043°01’006W	1787	100	99.8	1587.7	688.5	1787	2056.0
Sunday	24/05/09	37°10’.403N	041°01’.273W	1884	97	96.1	1671.4	592.4	1884	1960.0
Monday	25/05/09	37°31’.855N	038°56’.353W	1986	102	101.6	1765.3	490.9	1986	1858.4
Tuesday	26/05/09	38°04’.034N	036°04’.288W	2126	140	139.2	1897.8	351.6	2126	1719.2
Wednesday	27/05/09	38°22’.973N	032°52’.076W	2280	154	152.1	2039.4	199.5	2280	1567.1
Thursday	28/05/09	38°25’.155N	029°43’.425W	2429	149	147.5	2174.0	52.0	2429	1419.6
Friday	29/05/09	38°32’.002N	028°37’.534W	2484	55	52.0	2224.2	0.0	2484	1367.6
Saturday	30/05/09	38°32’.002N	028°37’.534W	0	0	0.0	0.0	1367.6	2484	1367.6
Sunday	31/05/09	38°32’.002N	028°37’.534W	0	0	0.0	0.0	1367.6	2484	1367.6
Monday	01/06/09	38°32’.002N	028°37’.534W	0	0	0.0	0.0	1367.6	2484	1367.6
Tuesday	02/06/09	38°32’.002N	028°37’.534W	0	0	0.0	0.0	1367.6	2484	1367.6
Wednesday	03/06/09	38°32’.002N	028°37’.534W	0	0	0.0	0.0	1367.6	2484	1367.6
Thursday	04/06/09	38°41’.838N	028°28’.004W	13	13	12.1	12.3	1355.5	2497	1355.5
Friday	05/06/09	40°18’.580N	026°17’.910W	155	142	139.2	151.6	1216.3	2639	1216.3
Saturday	06/06/09	41°26'.496N	023°49’.196W	289	134	130.0	281.4	1086.3	2773	1086.3
Sunday	07/06/09	42°33’.597N	021°39’.967W	420	131	116.9	398.6	969.4	2904	969.4
Monday	08/06/09	42°27.663N	020°47’.991W	464	44	26.3	427.5	943.0	2948	943.0
Tuesday	09/06/09	43°21’.945N	018°49'.717W	571	107	101.5	525.7	841.5	3055	841.5
Wednesday	10/06/09	44°35’.199N	016°45’.892W	688	117	115.3	643.8	726.2	3172	726.2
Thursday	11/06/09	45°34’.04N	014°17’.475W	819	131	119.3	763.7	606.9	3303	606.9
Friday	12/06/09	46°34'.103N	012°11’.764W	921	102	105.9	868.9	501.1	3405	501.1
Saturday	13/06/09	47°40’.290N	009°44’.944W	1042	121	116.8	988.1	384.2	3526	384.2
Sunday	14/06/09	48°30’.644N	007°15’.954W	1157	115	113.8	1099.6	270.4	3641	270.4
Monday	15/06/09	49°37'.075N	004°37’.872W	1277	120	123.0	1221.4	147.4	3761	147.4
Tuesday	16/06/09	50°38’.838N	001°38’.576W	1409	132	129.8	1351.3	17.6	3893	17.6
Wednesday	17/06/09	50°51'.120N	001°18’.650W	1429	20	17.6	1367.6	0.0	3913	0.0

Statistics while under way
	1st leg	2nd leg	overall
Average speed	4.85	4.88	4.86
Days run	116.29	117.05	116.56
Maximun run	154	142	154
Minimum run	85	44	44
Maximum wind	38	48	48
Maximum gust	41	55	55

E-mail received Sunday, 07 June 2009 10:20:00 UTC

Position 10;00 UTC 7th May 2009

42º 34' 00" N
21º 55' 00" W

Days run 118
Total to date 406
Distance to Hamble 980
Distance made good 109

I might not be able to give a noon position today as we are in the middle of a very vigorous depression. We have a full gale with sustained wind of 35Kts+ and gust of up to 47 Kts one even reached 52. The seas are enormous 6m+.

Will write more when the wind moderates.

I have turned the computer on of a Gribb File.

All is well we are in good Heat.

Simon

E-mail received Saturday, 06 June 2009 12:23:00 UTC

Noon position UTC Saturday 6 May 2009

41º 25' 00" N
23º 49' 00" W

Days run 133.6
Total to date 288.6
Distance to Hamble 1089
Distance made good 130

We have again made good progress. The wind has been quite variable. For most of the day it was a steady 6 mainly from the NW but over night it went NE and headed us. The wind this morning has been light and we have had the motor on for a time. We have just put the engine back on. We are however expecting a good blown in the next few days.

A bit of an uneventful day. We saw dolphins from time to time and very briefly we had a glimpse of a whale not very close. The sun came out for a time we had a little rain and fairly strong winds for most of the time.

The battery on my Iridium has stopped working this morning so I will have to use the SSB to send and receive messages. I started to download when the computer went into Hibernation and but I think I got all the messages.

Apart form these minor problems all is well and we are in good form.

Simon John & David.

E-mail received Friday, 05 June 2009 12:01:00 UTC

Noon position UTC Friday 5th June 2009 day 2

40º 18' 00" N
26º 17' 00" W

Days run 142
Total to date 155
Distance to Hamble 1219
Distance made good 140

We have made excellent progress as you can see. The wind has been mainly NW 5, 15 to 20 knts it has recently in creased and is now Westerly 6, 24 to 25 knts.

We passed Graciosa last night at 18:00 UTC. and by the time I came on watch at 22;00 its light had disappeared.

Our excitement this morning was the Geneoa falling down into the sea. Whilst in Horta we had noticed some chafe on the halyard so we cut off the worn part and made a knot it to attach it to the furling gear. John had done the knot and our first thoughts were it had come undone. It turned out that part of the shackle attaching the halyard to the sail had failed and had nothing to do with John's knot which was still there. The sail had fallen down but left the halyard at the top of the mast. It was all hands on deck. We first of all retrieved the sail and lashed it on deck. Then had a cup of tea and some breakfast. We first of all thought that we might wait for a calm day before going up the mast. However looking at the forecast, we are expecting some fresh winds and would need the sail. As conditions were not to bad we decided to go up the mast now. David volunteered to go up. The boat was swinging a little but we have had it much worse. David was winched up the mast holding on tightly to stop him swinging out. He attached a rope to the halyard block and was winched down. The halyard was then pulled down to deck level to be inspected. David attached a new shackle to the halyard and we were able to get the sail back up. The whole episode lasted no more than 2 hours which we felt was very good going.

At the same time as this was going on there was a large pod of dolphins playing around the boat and had been of quite a while. The AIS also went off as we were about to go up the mast. There was a boat 8 miles away but fortunately would be of no trouble and would pass us safely.

Apart for that incident all is well. The moon is very nearly full so we had a very light sky almost daylight. The weather pattern is quite complicated but we are expecting another low to cause us some problem in the next few days. John and I have settled back into our routine and David is adjusting to the routine as well.

We had a sunny day for most of yesterday but it is now beginning to rain as we approach a new low.

Simon John & David.

E-mail received Thursday, 04 June 2009 12:45:00 UTC

Noon position UTC 4th June 2009 day 1 (2.3 hrs)

38º 41' 00" N
28º 28 00" W

Days run 13
Total to date 13
Distance to Hamble 1359
Distance made good 13

We left this morning at 09:40 with a bright blue sky there were a few puffy clouds mainly over the islands. I said I had wanted to leave by 10:00 which we did with ease.

We have had a busy few days doing various jobs on Simoon. Nothing very serious but just jobs that needed doing. We changed the fuel filters and made this job take several hours. We had great difficulty in getting the system to bleed. Final we achieved it and had a working engine again. David arrived safely on Tuesday afternoon to a very wet Horta. The weather over the time we were there was very wet with a intense low pressure system overhead. As soon as David unpacked he was keen to look at the wind generator. The hub had worn on the spindle and ground the back down several millimeters. He took the generator to pieces removed the old bearing and replaced them with new. We fitted a new blade and reassembled it. After putting the generatyor back on its pole we discovered we had a new machine. Very quiet you can hardly hear it turn. It seems to be producing a good deal of power, we we see how much to night when the solar panels stop working.

We are bouncing along with one reef in a a slightly reefed geneoa making 5 kts in the direction we want to go. The forecast is fair but a new depression is due to form N of us with gale force wind to the top of it in 3 days time. We hope to be at the bottom of it where the wind hopefully will not be a strong.

We are sailing past Ilha de Sao Jorges and can see Garciosa in the distance about 30 miles away. Having left Faial and Pico. This will be our last sight on land for many days, how many is in the lap of the gods and the weather.

Greetings from a happy rested and content crew. All is well on board and the sun is shining. Yesterday was the first day since we've been here that it didn't rain.

Simon John & David

page last updated 12/07/2009