During our sojourn in Horta from June 23-27, with TJ's and Bill's assistance Emily created art work to add to the hundreds of others painted on the walls and cement docks in the Horta harbor which commemorate each vessel's trans-Atlantic passage to the Azores.. 

Unfortunately as the last coat of paint was drying, a diesel truck added to the mystique of her efforts.  We look forward to returning in the future to discover how long-lasting her efforts will be!

View more samples of Horta Harbor Art!

Lesson #1:  Go with the Flow and Ride with the Tide.

On the run from Horta, Faial The Azores to Cork, Ireland, we encountered a mid-Atlantic gale which Herb Hilgenberg suggested that we bypass.  We diverted to Ponta Delgada on the island of Sao Miguel for five days.  This delay allowed us to reconsider our options as we had discovered faulty workmanship on our hydraulic windlass which needed repair in addition to our disabled forward stanchions. 

Anticipating a shorter stay in Ireland, Scotland, and England, we agreed that we enjoyed the Azorean islands enough to stop, wander through the several of the remaining islands, and then continue on to northern Spain at the end of July.  

Bill Bateman and TJ Barringer departed via air for Dublin early on Tuesday, July 1st, and Chris, Jackie, and Emily spent the rest of the day outfitting SHIBUMI for a crew of three instead of six. 

Lesson #2:  Work alongside hired workers

Since our departure from Wilmington, Chris had noticed a significant hydraulic fluid leak from the anchor windlass. After loosing five gallons of hydraulic fluid from Cape Lookout to Horta, he resolved to find the leak, repair it, and use our second sojourn in Horta to attack the problem.

Unfortunately when he attempted to remove the windlass from the deck, Chris discovered that the windlass had been glued down with the same glue used to bond the deck to the ship's topside.  Being unwilling to risk lifting a portion of the deck with the windlass, he borrowed a Roto-Zip tool from Jack Tyler on Whoosh and carved a five inch by five inch hole on the side of the windlass.  There he discovered a flared hydraulic fitting that had not been tightened properly. Unable to use a wrench to access the flared fitting, Chris used a hammer and screwdriver to pound it tight. 

In addition to repairing the windlass, Chris changed the oil to both the generator and engine while Emily and Jackie scrubbed the salt from SHIBUMI's topsides.  Scrubbing the decks required a visit to the local hardware store to secure a hose fitting for the European water system on the docks.  Slowly but surely we are acclimatizing to our new environment.

New Pages: