LAND FALL!!

At 11:45 PST Sophia and crew entered the snug harbor at Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, making the crossing 22 days on the nose.

Looks really Nice!

500 miles from St. Lucia!

Sophia is within 500 miles from St Lucia!!
We heard from Mom (Joan) last night and they were having a "you can count them on one hand" party. For those of use that have not been at sea for 18 days that means they can count the hundreds of miles on one hand now - it can feel so close!

The bad news was the Main Sail ripped near the top several days ago, forcing the crew to take it down. Without a main they have been slowed to about 4 knots per hour, but consistently logging about 100 miles per 24 hours. Luckily the wind has shifted more from ENE to the NNE allowing them to sail a more direct coarse to the west and St Lucia. The forecast appears to be for 10-15 knots of wind for the 3 days with building to 15-20  around the 15th. With this forecast we estimate Sophia and crew will make landfall this weekend!

Sophia's Crew Carries On Despite Wind Vane Failure

As the spot track indicates Sophia is now sailing 260 degrees (WSW) which is not toward the Cape Verdes. The crew assessed the breakage of the wind vane (the mechanical self steering equipment see photo below) ,the 3 day very rough beat back to the Cape Verdes and have decided to carry on for St Lucia.

They are hand steering, two people on shift for six hours. Just talked with Chris, they are not getting too tired and Sophia is still making 8 knots. The 12-15 ft Northwesterly swells from the North Atlantic storm that were expected to arrive today and make the sea state worse have not materialized. The weather forecast looks like they will be in more of the same (25+ kts and 9-12 seas from the ENE) for the next 2-3 days.

Click Here to check weather in the Atlantic where Sophia is currently sailing

Monitor Wind Vane Failure: The failure of Sophia's wind vane occurred at the weld that holds the water vane to the hinge (bottom of photo). The crew were able to recover the water vane because it was secured by the line used to raise it when not in use. Sophia and her crew still have 2000 miles to go to St Lucia and fixing this failure at sea will be very difficult. Any ideas out there?

Sophia Turns Back to Cape Verde

We (the land based crew) just received word from the Sophianauts via the satellite phone that they are heading to the Cape Verde Islands. The windvane self-steering has received damaged and is inoperable. Sophia is presently about 350 miles N/NW of the Cape Verdes, so will alter course to land there and repair the windvane. The winds are currently around 25 knots with 9-12 foot seas, so it will be a tiring 3+ days steering by hand to get to the Cape Verdes. Certainly a good decision, rather than continuing on 2000 miles without an operable windvane.

Despite this breakage, the crew is in good spirits with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s.

Sophia Leaves The Canaries

As of 4:30 am PST Sophia disembarked on her longest crossing to date from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia. The weather report was for 10-15 knots from the Northeast. The crew - Joan, Jeff, Phil, and Chris. Track them on Spot.

Madeira to the Canaries

Sophia has set out again on her way to the Canaries, this time with Phil as skipper and Jeffrey and Christine as crew. The Three Amigos! They headed out on Friday (12/16) and arrived in Las Palmas on Sunday (12/18). It was a quick crossing -- just under 48 hours -- and according to Christine the first 30 hours were quite rough.

Joan joined the other Sophianauts on Tuesday in the Canaries, and now they are the Four Musketeers! They are preparing to head out for St. Lucia in the Caribbean in a couple days. You can watch their progress -- nearly 3000 miles of ocean to cross -- on the "Follow our breadcrumb trail" link on the left.

Crosshaven to Madeira

We have been late to post our last adventures but here is the update from August 2011:

Joan in her dress best waves to the send off crowd in Crosshaven, Ireland

This ended up being a false start. We were forced to return to the dock after the engine stopped running only 100 feet off the dock. Filters were clogged with water! Sh*#T. After polishing the

fuel with the help from Roger at Salve Marina we pushed off from the dock a few days later. Under a full moon and darkening skys we left Cork Channel. By midn

ight we were reaching at 8 plus knots with a double reef and staysail flying. The deck was constantly wet and all the leaks we did not find at the dock were now showing themeless.

Phil and Joan looking forward to the warm breezes of Madeira

After 24 hours of breezy fast sailing the wind eased. By the second morning we were experiencing the Bay of Biscay at its calmest. We struggled for the next 5 days to keep the boat moving under sail. We had 10 days before our flights out of Madeira and we were not getting much closer. A low pressure that was forecasted to move north of us stalled, change directions and passed to our south delivering rain, lightning and shifting winds for 3 days. Just as we were getting worried about making it in time the wind came in giving us a couple of fast days sailing straight at the mark.

Rachel on "watch"

In the cockpit without rain gear! Finally (just 24 hours out from Madeira). We thought this was going to be a warm sunny sail.

The runway in Madeira.

Sophia will spend the next few months on the hard under the tarmac. Yes those pillars are tall enough for a boat to go under with the mast stepped.

We arrived in Funchal, Madeira with two days to spare greeted by clear hot weather and a beautiful city full of flowers. We wished we did not need to leave so quickly.

We toasted our arrival with a bottle of Madeira of course.

We turned a few heads as we pulled skis and back country gear off the boat and starting packing on the sea wall.

After being on the boat for 10 days we need to get the heart pumping so we went for a walk to the top of the tourist tram that runs out of Funchal, were we found these guys...

They drink at this bar...

Gamble on the steps of the church...

Then push tourists down the hill in these wicker baskets.

This is a must do while in Madeira!!