Single-handed to the Azores & my series drogue deployment!

This is my account of my first single-handed offshore passage from the Canary Islands to the Azores.

Once lockdown had ended in July 2020 I got on the first flight to Gran Canaria to see what state the boat was in after 7 months left unattended.

A few days of prep and she was ready to sail! I set off with the intention to sail first to Madeira and rest there for a couple of days whilst some bad weather blew through, and then carry on to the Azores. However, since I couldn't quite point high enough to get to Madeira, I decided to carry on directly to the Azores.

The bad weather turned into a sustained 45kts and abnormally high breaking waves for the wind strength, caused by large swell from northern Spain and an acceleration effect from Madeira. I ripped the main sail whilst reefing and it meant I couldn't heave-to. Then a broken down engine meant I couldn't make safe progress to windward. If I ran of before the wind and waves then I'd loose a lot of ground South West into the Atlantic and with no main or engine I'd potentially not make it up to the Azores at all. I decided to use the Jordan Series Drogue.

This is an account of my passage.

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