Noon Report June 24 2007 Position 37-50.6 N 32-41.2 W as of 12:00 Mid-Atlantic time (GMT - 2 hrs) Sunday, June 24, 2007 Course 093 deg M Speed 7.1 kts @ 2000 RPM Distance to go: 196 NM to Horta, Faial, Azores (10% of the way) Distance made good past 24 hours: 171 NM (7.1 kts) Distance made good since Bermuda: 1626 NM (90% of the way) Total fuel consumed (275 engine hours) 1090 gals, average 4.0 GPH (incl. genset), fuel remaining 390 gal. (fuel used/remaining: 74%/26%) Conditions: Wind N 5 kts, swells N 2-3, clear, visibility excellent Barometer 1030.1 mb and rising Sea water temp 72 deg F, air temp 77 deg F. ETA Horta: PM Monday, June 25, 2007 Almost there! My good friend, circumnavigator Bruce Kessler likes to make the point that the best passage is a boring passage. What he means is that on a boring passage everything worked like it was supposed to, there were no heroics required, no broken parts to fix, no bad weather to endure, and no huge obstacles to overcome. Using those criteria, this leg definitely qualifies as an excellent passage. The Med Bound fleet has little to report today: the terrific weather continues, buoying everyone's spirits. The three yachts are moving along well, still in our loose inverted-V formation, in calm seas and light winds, and we're all looking forward to reaching the Azores. As we get closer, Bluewater-the "hold-back boat" has increased RPMs to 2000, taking our daily average above 7 knots for the first time on this leg. We're doing our best to arrive with just the right amount of fuel! Old friends Pam and Andy Wall, cruising in the Azores aboard their terrific Freya 39 Kandarik and leaving soon for the Med, are now on the island of Terciera. They e-mailed us yesterday recommending that we stop at the westernmost of the islands, Flores. To quote Pam, "We stopped there last summer for two days, and could hardly pull ourselves away a month later. We really loved it. . . It is absolutely gorgeous!" As much as we wish we could do that, we have a bone in our teeth for Horta where the ever-efficient Marco Quadros is ready with slip reservations, spare parts, and his ready smile. We hope we'll be able to stop at one or more of the "downwind" Azores enroute to Gibraltar. Yesterday afternoon while I was napping the fishing line went off. George and Judy slowed the boat, and I was up in a flash. We brought in a 31-inch mahi-mahi, which we promptly filleted, and Judy made a simple marianade. The weather is so calm we lit the grill and enjoyed our catch of the day, about four hours from water to dinner plate. It does not get much better! We still have a about three meals of frozen mahi-mahi left from our April catch in the Bahamas, and enough for one more meal now frozen from yesterday's catch. The line is back out today. Based on his NAR experience, Scott Flanders e-mailed us from Argentina, the best fishing on this leg is the few miles to Horta. "Don't pull your lines in until you are somewhat near the breakwater or at least out of the current in the pass between Faial and Pico," he said. Scott is the real deal when it comes to fishing, a serious angler with the equipment, knowledge and experience to keep Egret's freezer topped off with the good stuff. We appreciate and will follow his advice. With my record, I am not one to be giving advice on fishing but there is one morsel I can offer with confidence: if you are interested in catching fish for your table from your cruising yacht, by all means get a copy of The Cruiser's Handbook of Fishing by Scott and Wendy Bannerot and read it cover to cover. Cruising World calls this "the definitive book" on fishing for cruisers, and I agree 100%. It's a hands-on guide and it teaches the fledgling fisher that landing fish for food is much more than a matter of luck. My "luck" has improved since I began reading and paying attention to what the Bennerots have to say. It's $18.95 well spent! Our AIS experiment continues, though at a slow pace with just a little more data to add to the mix: Moana Kuewa picked up the MV Augusta today 1230 at 24.7 miles and Bluewater picked up the same ship at 1325 at 20.9 miles. At this writing, Salty Dawg has not yet picked up the ship; they may not since it has a CPA of 14 miles. We move our clocks ahead one hour at 1700 today, bringing us to Azores time (GMT minus one hour). When there's nothing but water all around, a time zone change is always a good reminder that one is making progress. Here we are on what promises to be our last full day on this passage, channel fever definitely taking hold. Chris and Lowie have been chatting on the radio about where to stop in the Azores, tours in Spain, and more. Suddenly we're all land-focused rather than sea-focused! How long will we be in the Azores? Hard to say, but we're thinking of staying in Horta for about a week, then moving on. We'll discuss what's next with the other Med Bound boats when we're in Horta. --Milt, Judy, George and Schipperke Katy -- Milt Baker Bluewater Nordhavn 47 #32 http://www.bluewaternav.com A compilation of reports from Med Bound 2007 may be viewed at <http://www.nordhavn.com>. Click on Med Bound 2007.