Challenging the North Atlantic – Day 7: Facing fierce headwind
Position update 09.58 CEST: 61.85394 N, 13.39734 W – Due south of Iceland’s easternmost tip.
Position update 16.19 CEST: 61.45838 N, 12.60669 W – Tacking southeast in the face of a fierce headwind.
Position update 23.28 CEST: 61.15359 N, 12.0213 W – Continued tacking southeast.
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Expedition Report, 18.15:
“The bad weather has just started, with gale-force winds coming from the east. We’re presently tacking towards the Faroe Islands with all reefs set. It’s ok during the day, and not worse than we have experienced before, but the night is very dark. This is the darkest we have had it on the entire journey – it is as though we are sailing blindfolded. Fortunately, we are doing so in ice-free waters.
Strangely enough, we haven’t seen a single ship since we left Greenland a week ago. We did see a couple of vessels on the west side of Greenland, but since then. Thus we feel quite alone here in the North Atlantic.
The water temperature is between 12 and 13 degrees, and the air is the same. For us this is very warm, and we can sail without mittens and have to sleep on top of our sleeping bags. We haven’t had this warm weather since we left Norway in July!
We’re facing a couple of days with windy conditions from the east, which we just have to fight our way through, and then the weather should calm down and give us more favourable winds.
We are, as mentioned, close to the Faroe Islands. The painting behind Thorleif is from the westernmost point of the Faroes, and was painted by Børge’s mother, Ingrid Jangaard Ousland.”
Best regards from
“The Northern Passage”
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The painting behind Thorleif is an artist’s portrayal of the westernmost point of the the Faroe Islands, painted by Ingrid Jangaard Ousland.
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Marc’s comments on weather developments:
The depression to the West of Finisterre is gradually filling now and will disappear over the next 36–48hours. However, it will still trigger the strong headwinds today and tonight, easing tomorrow Sunday. Then, by the beginning of next week, a small-scale depression tracks from Northern Iceland via the Faroe Islands towards the Shetlands and the west coast of a country called Norway (I am not sure if you ever heard of it?).
This little pressure system should generate some weak southwesterly wind that would be favourable for the “Northern Passage” to continue towards their final destination.
First, however, we have to tackle this headwind today.
Take care and Godspeed!
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Today’s forecast:
Weather: Sunny spells and dry.
Wind: 060–080° at 15–20 knots, after 09.00/12.00 UTC becoming 070–090° at 20–25 knots. Between 18.00 and 21.00 UTC the wind veers to 100–120° at 20–25 knots.
(For a more comprehensive forecast, with explanations, please see Weather4Expeditions.com.)
