Passage From Hell: Horta to Cardiff

Not all sunsets and rainbows out there in the North Atlantic. Our 13-day passage from Horta in the Azores to Cardiff in the UK was a very challenging one with nasty blows every three days. We were nearly knocked down (where the top of the mast hits the water) and had to heave-to (stop sailing) several times. We had some difficult seas to contend with as well. There were some bright spots and we had some laughs, but overall, it was not a fun passage.

We were greeted in Cardiff by my beautiful daughter and her boyfriend, who took some great photos of us coming in. Cardiff Bay has 30-ft tides (9m+) and there is a very narrow channel going in, which has only three feet (1m) of water at low tide (Dyola draws six feet, 1.9m) so it was a nail-biter getting in, but we did it!