A taste of the crossing

Of course, when I said I'd be posting pictures of the crossing tomorrow, I meant in a couple of days! Yesterday, our number one priority was to move from the Angra anchorage, which was extremely uncomfortable, into the marina. The marina was full, but Helena applied the full force of her persuasiveness (scary!) to the harbormaster, and somehow a slip materialized. We are now docked in the marina, and life is good.

As I was going through the photos I took during the crossing, I realized again how difficult it is to capture the experience of sailing in photos or even video. I'm afraid my photographic skills just aren't up to the job, but there is one video that I hope captures at least a taste of the experience. Here it is:

A taste of big-ish waves

And then a few select pictures, mainly those that I just like...

The first day at sea, looking optimistic!

Me, on watch, in what looks like gloomy weather.

Helena prepping Wanda, our Aries wind vane, for action

Our first sunset at sea

As we approached the Azores, I picked the 'A' (for associate member) off 

our Ocean Cruising Club burgee. To become a full member of the OCC,

you must complete a 1000nm non-stop passage. Our qualifying passage

was 2242nm. Yay! (It's funny how happy this milestone made us!)

Just because I like pictures of Helena

At sea, bunks are extremely important!

It's not always rough and stormy out there. 

Of course, it's difficult to sail in this kind of weather, but we

tried to enjoy these moments of calm.

Our first site of land in nearly a month! 

The island of Flores from a distance of nearly 25 miles.

Helena, happy we have made it across.

Just because I like this picture. Our small

mizzen staysail, which is easy to set, great in light

winds, and makes a nice contribution to our

speed in low wind conditions.