To go or not to:GO!

No weather window to climb through. No news from Herb. The wind is still against us. So we decide to sail.
At 13:00 “Sedna” and “Babette” slip their ropes at Pta. Delgada. We tandem sail along São Miguel’s south coast. Heading west. Which gives us a nice tail wind, except we are planning to go northeast to Ireland.
Rounding the island we point ourselves towards the Emerald Isle. And get the wind firmly on the nose. A WNW tack heads us away from our goal. We try a ENE tack. Hmmmm.

In Toronto, his amateur radio cranked up by 8pm, "Dear Herb" is sending sound advice to sailors all over the Atlantic. It’s 10pm before “Sedna” gets directed, “Babette” following. The message is clear: sail North. That is, motor north, right into the wind, short, nasty waves and the current. With our trust in Herb to deliver fair winds further North we burn our precious diesel, achieving a few bumpy knots “over the ground”.

“Babette” and “Sedna”, side by side, battering onwards through the full-moonlit night.