Sailing Bavaria 40 single-handed through a gale to arrival in Horta, Azores (final episode).

Closed Captions (CC):
Wow

two o'clock in the morning women falling

is pouring rain the waves of pressure

valve and I just put that

who's calling them up enough

it's the daylight

I tried and I tried and I I saw this for

a couple of hours they kept trying to

edge higher and higher but with the

motor alone the waves were too big and

we just slept stop all hit call heads

people court I was doing 42 knots

and with the mainsail up I could get

good speed for five knots but I had to

fall off

right into the eye

I tried tweaking over and over

there's a couple more degrees up into

the wind it just didn't work so I gave

it to the inevitable and I tacked

hoping to do it attacked fathers would

you pack across the wind in the sailboat

you do that for 90 degrees so I attacked

and I'm hitting 90 degrees the other

direction 90 degrees away from where I

want to be going so I'll do that for

an hour or so of an hour

then I'll turn back clear the island

safely

we'll play it player after that so so

big deal instead of our sailing existed

which always happens into a second

inning it's forward brain a way to come

on the top of the boat

I'll tell you away at least in my case

reading Azores my marvel

is an earned privilege not a given gift

that's the fun of it that's exciting

hopefully rest

[Music]

Oh 7:00 in the morning

second side

I lost my engine what is town common to

happen is that there's microorganisms

that grow in diesel fuel tanks and when

the weather is really rough that it gets

that gets stirred up and it goes into

the fuel filter blocks and fuel filters

and little motor just slowly like the

struggling and then finally just stopped

I checked all the obvious things there's

no leaks oil levels good the the sea

strainer had a surprise surprisingly

thick to the head recently cleaned to

put so I clean that up and the

interaction restarted and ran for about

40 seconds and then shut down you so the

first thing to do was I only had the

mainsail up it remains it alone I that's

like being

Oh - and I was drifting back toward that

Island tell us several miles away but a

big concern so the first thing to do is

they forget the engine yet sailing it

and as you can imagine there's a full

Gale outside it you know I don't know

what happened the anemometer that gives

me the airspeed indicator doesn't work

but you must be 35 knots on there and so

I had to get the mains already reached

twice yeah the general out and authority

because immediately I got control of the

boat immediately I turned away from the

island and just headed due west at New

York here I come

and as the problem was that there was a

little too much sail with the general

and kept rounding up very violently you

couldn't grow at all and the boat was at

35 40 degrees angle

he'll so anyway I took everything takes

twice as long as I I win always here's

everything did he go around the

mean time I decided to put 40 liters of

clean gas into the Geo tank as well so I

did that so I'm just now rest up a bit

here I'm going to try to change the

primary fuel filter and secondary

vehicle for at least a secondary filter

and the pitching evening to try to do

that way I can stick some little fuel so

no danger at all I'm headed toward

safety I can just ride the thing out and

we know when the weather gets nice turn

around and come back in and meet them

with Ana Coco right at the mouth of the

marina in a day or two but I'd like to

get this resolved today

Oh Evans final okay well I change the

primary second around the feel filter

those are just diapers I put down on

tour but the diesel is it spilled out I

don't know if I'm going to change I

might try to just start the engine again

it didn't look all that dirty frankly to

the filter when it did notice was some

water in there was a bit of water

cutting you know it's all shaken up I

mean it's just a hello strong going on

right outside here so we'll see what was

might take a little break here and then

try to start the engine

I just wanted to give an idea that the

strongest outside is raging pelting

downrange

we're crashing

the noise in another boat has declared a

mayday

so important I can only hear one half of

that conversation the other half

if someone Portuguese speaking English

not very well so I'm in no position to

help anyone

right now I think you're stabilized

I'm going to try to ease the sales just

a little bit more

the last and II have something break

dependence on my salespeople so try to

take a little bit of sales I'm well

clearly in that now so okay I'm at the

situation and

I think I'm going to hold off on

changing the other chill pill tour and

try to restart it again if you'll thank

you so shook up with it struck me

rolling as I'm sure if it's some water

to water contamination spends a long

time it's well shaking up now think I'll

just sit down

sounds like still Birds offline around

we're really rock and roll

take three min away say the wind speed

is about 30 35 knots right now

I've got the sales brief as much as I

can

we're advancing at about four knots in a

good safe direction up to the taxi down

to the southwest that's fine I'm very

comfortable you're not going to believe

it I'm going to snap it's really nothing

to do doctor take a nap

as I don't want to try to restart the

into the myth I think the best thing to

do is wait it out even if it's 24 or 48

hours

the only other thing I want to try to do

it oh that's going to wait from

scratching over this spring would only

do thing I want to try to do is serve as

much electricity the kids so I turned up

everything not essential and

your refrigerator

because I want to keep that electricity

for the

the autopilot really worked hard in

weather like this so I'm not sure that

my fuel cell will be able to keep up

with its needs

I'm turning everything off so I can say

so

subsequent

the electricity's with autopilot and for

the radio or when they eventually get

here for that can call them as a driver

now Sabrina they send out a Zodiac and

escort you to appear

I was only 33 miles away three three

miles away from my destination I was

going to be there in five hours there

you go

I got about an hour's rest one hour

which is sweet but if anything to wind

is picked up in the gale of course it's

really out there

the boat is beginning to getting very

well you can be pointed into the wisdom

the sails are taking such a beating

compositions are something my top

I try to repin the gentleman just a

little bit more party blooming at all

as you can see is pretty ugly

position so I'll wait till things calm

down a given talk internal music the I

just have a sliver of the general hour

and a big double reef in the mainsail

but completely the Sheep is completely

shaded out so that we are for reaching

very nicely just just we round out the

fall-off roundup collar on it and

heading into the waves at about a 40

degree angle I just think it's a perfect

isn't very comfortable

I only get certain something break so I

was looking as a plastic protective

device it goes around one of the shroud

lines and attacked plastic kind of cover

thing on it if its shape that some of

the sports brief Givenchy and that

plastic cover thing disappeared stop

there any longer so the sharp edge there

and gets where this to the general of

the city right on that and so the cheap

to the general is cut halfway through I

put a bunch of tape around and I went

forward

I very much fun in this weather but I

went forward put a bunch of tape on it

then also tape around the Genoa as well

and I move the fairlead so that the the

Genoa sheet now is touching in a

different place

I expect that generally she goes apart

sooner or later when it does since the

the Genoa is paroled three quarters of

the way in it although I'll just throw

all the way in and then take the other

sheet the other general sheet and just

bring it across to the other side and

then when things calm down I'll rear it

I'm not too worried about that

could this fit that I saw it's nice if

this is occurring now in the daytime

whereas it all started pitch-black

that wasn't very company so I think I'm

heading to the west-northwest at about

one and a half to two knots and the

closest dad dangerous land is 60 miles

away in that way is another island of

the Azores 260 miles away so I'm good

for another 40 hours

I'm just why this out just sit here like

this

and write it out for all that time is

when things calm down again turn back

around and heading for portrait so

that's the latest status update morale

is fine no problem

well no one said it better than horrify

cliff does anyone know where the love of

God goes on the waves

well it just go by very slowly like if

every time there's a little hint of oh

maybe it's calming down now maybe that's

it maybe that was from the passage and

wishful think I'm still in the midst of

it so let's hope that all good to get

any more severe than it is right now

it's just a wild ride so noisy but I

don't concern dangerous especially

everything's under control for reaching

to the waves everything is not at all

dangerous I don't want to get any

personal okay

well I'm quite pleased in myself the

wind just seems to keep growing stronger

and stronger the waves

taller taller so I I was just afraid I

was on campus so I went to the mast my I

have automatic the first and second week

I don't have an automatic surgery just

on in that was installed so I just went

to the mat for the mast sitting in of

course and I tied in a third reason and

then I came back to the Boone swinging

around

still tied on of course and I tied the

third reconstitute home as well so I'm

worried to reduce the sale volume

unfortunately just a bit too late I

think on the on that mainsail you can

see the trailing edge turning into the

mainsail rip how to know if that's a

fatal flaw or if that was just used to

farmer I'll find out really quickly here

it would be really nice if the wind

would die down

hello Fatima thinks here's an update

I've now been in the gale for a full 12

hours and is my beast showing something

I'm sure there's a sucker punch but

every slightest signs as maybe it you

can just a bit or the wind is probably

still well over 30

I have him just a feeling giving up and

it did that once or twice earlier only

to come back more ferocious than ever so

what I decided I was very tempted a few

hours ago was to just tack across the

way and I'm on a heading two seven

through West attack across the wind to

one eight zero and that was directly to

heart them I would take me directly to

Horton I decided not to do that because

I was a little nervous with the angle

that I'd be presenting to the waves kind

of a quartering from the rear and I'd

rather face them like them on the bow

but very comfortable the way the way we

are right now and secondly I was just

afraid I would get the Horta here in

between several islands narrow

maneuvering it's not that narrow but

they're nowhere I mean it's not those

wide open ocean and who knows what could

happen now if the engine that doesn't

start and I haven't even touched the

engine I just can't imagine the engine

if it's been irrelevant in these

conditions so I'm going to continue this

course of two seven zero ironically

because I put the third reef in the

sails are now the two sails are pretty

closely balanced I'm actually going

faster than I was before when the sails

were unbalanced I was browsing after the

wind and falling off rounding everything

all ago now that the sails are balanced

I'm doing three or four knots so I'm

actually pretty close to those remote

islands in the morning if I can do this

all along I looked at the at the book

counter the guide book on those ports

and they have no services whatsoever the

marinas are very small and difficult to

get into and out of and no I'll I'll

just turn it around if the storm lets up

I'll just turn around and do the 60

miles back and back towards it so that's

what my strategy is weighted out and

when the weather calms a bit

I changed the secondary fuel filter but

as I said I didn't find any black crud

that I thought would be jamming it I

thought there was definitely some water

in there but no crud so I'm not so sure

I'm going to change the primary fuel

filter that's mounted on the engine I'll

probably leave that in when things calm

down

just try to start the engine and see if

it works and if it was water I may

believe that mayfleet the line again and

then just try to start the engine and if

that doesn't work then I'll change that

filter as well I don't like to changing

it at sea because it is so messy me it

do so absolutely everywhere the cabin

smells a bit like diesel and

not not funded so but I did to do now

because I concern electricity as a model

pilot needs all electricity tonight so

what I'm trying to do is cook up the

last state I have in the last bit of

fresh meat cook that up and have that

for dinner and then just standby ready

to spring into action if anything

happens during the evening you know that

requires a some community detention so

hopefully nothing to report except in

the middle of the night a wind

completely died off and I reverse course

and headed back to Horton so that would

be the ideal situation well this is it

the final stretch after sitting around

for a whole day and 40-knot wind where I

was there's no way I was going to try to

enter without an engine this morning is

sorry to let up let's let up a little

bit it's more like 30 knots then 40 what

does I'm on my final leg into fussing

at that point there it is very still

very much

so what I intend to do is when I get a

bit closer I'm still about six miles

away six knots nautical miles away and

we get a bit closer I'll call them on

the radio and say I've lost my engine

and when I get somewhere close

I hope they can stand battle zodiac or

something to tie up on side of me and

told me in its compact it's not a big

deal this is hope they are set up for it

and it's just it's windy and the waves

are high and that makes all of this a

bit more complicated than moment so wish

me luck so I forgot this on camera they

just called the marina on the radio and

I thought oh I was seven miles out but

that I'd be unable to start my engine

and I requested if they had a vessel

available to come and meet me somewhere

close to the area to the marina for the

final lloyd escort in and I would give

him a call when I get to the three miles

away and they set up above it all we're

ready for that and give us a call when

you get closer Wow

that's what I like to hear thank you

very much for coming

and so this is it proof positive that

Isabelle has now visited the mecca of

sailors all around the world that is

fourth in the resource that's because

people cross here when I go into a

transatlantic and it's kept this

reputation everybody knows everyone's

been here and there's a very famous cafe

right over there called cafe spoke that

was run by a man named Peter who

everyone called Peter but his real name

was Jose but the place is famous for and

you can see on the ground here every one

every boat that comes through is

supposed to paint their little emblem or

logo or name of the crew for the

experience and I can understand these

kind of passages are quite dramatic and

I don't know I don't want to say

life-changing but you know there are

powerful moments in one's lifetime and

that was you know I shared some of it

with you I'll try to put this all

together in a nice film edit out the

parts that are just not not too

interesting and maybe you'll learn

something maybe I'll learn something and

I know I learned something like that

I hope you find it interesting anyway so

here we are in Horta is there so I'm

going to stay here for 15 days and then

move on to another famous port in the

Azores called punta delgada which is a

one-day trip

I forgot to say how did it all end up on

I came in I tried to change the filter

on my both filters oil and diesel fuel

filters on the engine and it would not

start and i noticed when i tried to

prime the prime it and that i could not

so I think that the line is blocked

somewhere and so they met me right at

the entrance of the harbor right over

there the little boats of the blood

offenders on it and they towed me in

these last three or four hundred yards

put that aside here so now the irony

irony one of my check-in you had to see

customs and immigration and Port

Authority and the Capitan are you and

then I had to go to the police station

because I actually can't leave until I

prove that I fixed the problem

so

good thing I've got a hurry to go

anywhere I'll find a mechanic to come in

that personalized I'm sure that's what I

was

you

you