AZ(AB) 91 - Sunday was our 9th night at sea

Sunday was our 9th night at sea, and we hadn't heard from any other boats for quite some time, the log says" I wonder how many other boats are out here with us, Trevor must have gone West and Villager has Radio problems from her knockdown. The Azores High seems to be well established at 1023, just 1 millibar and 447 miles to go to Ponta Delgada ." That night I had the most unforgettable experience of my life, whilst on watch at 0200, I felt a strange presence, and on the horizon, I saw what looked like 2 torpedoes, coming in a straight line for the boat, leaving a phosphorescent trail, they were of course dolphins, who played around the hull leaving the most intricate silvern patterns, showing off they may have been, but the vision of these magnificent creatures frolicking like playful children around the hull is still vivid in my mind's eye!

Nights and days seemed to merge together and watches became routine, with John and me sharing the steering, cooking and navigating. Our speed had dropped to 3 knots, but at least we were making steady  progress in the right direction, the sea temperature had risen to 16 degrees Celsius and the sun was shinning all day, enabling us to verify our position with some sun sights, life could be worse!. "Do you hear an engine I asked John, as we lay sun-bathing on deck?" We scanned the horizon with binoculars; in the distance was a military plane circling with only three of its four engines running. The radio was crackling into life and throughout the day it became clear from the conversation that we were slap bang in the middle of a NATO convoy exercise. From the variety of accents trying to synchronize maneuvers it could have been a day long episode of "Allo Allo" with undertones of Dads Army. In my youth electronic navigation consisted of a Seafix RDF set, and I have never lost my faith in this simple but reassuring method of navigation. I now also have a Lokata 7 with its digital frequency read-out but it is still essentially the same kit, the reason I found it useful is because the Azores have very powerful radio beacons, some with a range in excess of 300 miles. That afternoon we picked up the reassuring Morse call sign from the island  Santa Maria on 323 kHz, almost on the nose, at least land was ahead and we hadn't missed the Islands - next stop South America !