Letters from Roosevelt Middle School

Calm seas and pleasant winds has allowed me to read the letters from the students at Roosevelt. For those who don`t know SV Maravilha`s journey is being followed by the students at Roosevelt Middle School, for a real-life learning experience in the fields of navigation, marine life, weather and climate etc. At the end of the journey to the Azores I will return to Roosevelt with photographs, stories and more experiences to share. I want to say thank you to the students for writing to us while we are out to sea, it is so nice to have some contact from those on land while out here. To answer some of the students questions, we have seen mako sharks and an enormous whale, more info to come upon our arrival!
Thatʻs all for now... fair winds...vcp

Day 9 05/28/14 1616 hours local time

Only 527 miles to go. At present we have been enjoying near perfect sailing conditions….SW winds at 18 -22 knots. The sun is out and the water is that beautiful deep cobalt blue. Sailing fast down the rhumb line on a broad reach. These conditions are predicted to be with us until mid Friday as we approach the Azores high where winds will lighten significantly as we approach Horta. In all likelyhood we will do some significant motoring during the final day. Yesterday and today we've some fantastic dolphin acrobatic displays. The ride in our bow wake and then dart away and leap into the air twisting as they return to the sea. Late yesterday afternoon a very large sperm whale surfaced within 150 feet of starboard quarter…spouted twice and dove with the flick of the tail….almost as though she just wanted to say hello…quite a site.

We've taken adavntage of the nice weather to dry the boat out as well as our gear. It's also significantly warmer at night so we no longer have suit up in full gear….another welcome change. Remarkably there quite a bit of traffic out here, much if which is not visible, but shows up on the AIS tracker. That system has turned out to be very valuable from a safety perspective.

Dinner tonight is Beef Chili with white rice and black beans…fresh pineapple for desert.

That's all for now…Fairwinds…vcp

Greetings from Maravilha. Our present position is 38.5 north by 47.7 west. We have sailed 1100 miles and presently 880 miles from Horta. We are moving along nicely at 8 knots on a course of 100 degrees which will bring right into Horta. We had a great first three days sailing out of Buzzards Bay in a nice North West breeze. We headed a bit south to position ourselves on the right side of a developing Low Pressure system. Turns out that system moved north faster then anticipated and we sailed into a windless hole. As a result we motored for 36 hours through the gulf stream, which was made bumpy and confused by the passing low. Not particularly comfortable or productive in terms of forward progress. The next few days saw some exhilarating sailing in winds speeds as high 34 knots and sustained 28 - 32 from the southwest. Seas built up over this period making things interesting. Add to this heavy rain and lightening activity and you get the picture. We're glad that's over…at least for now. Presently the sailing is near perfect…wind from the southwest at 17 knots and Maravilha moving along at 8+ knots, occasionally catching a wave and surfing to the 12's…nice. A little sun would top it off. We haven't seen much sun since the first few days.

The crew is in good spirits….now that we're past the half mark and aimed at Horta…much of the conversation is centered around our arrival.  Still lots of sailing to do between now and then….but the prospect of the arrival is starting to build some excitement. Meals have been great. Tonight is Herb Encrusted Cod Fillets with butternut squash and peas. Last few days we skipped off the planned menu due to weather condtions…so were looking forward to  a nice meal. That's all for now….Fair winds…vcp

One Day to Go!

Spending the day reviewing check lists...stocking the boat with our perishable food items...packing our bags...etc. Maravilha is ready go as are we. The weather forcast is favorable, now we just eagerly wait to cast off the dock lines tomorrow.

Ready to Go

On May 19, 2014, Victor Pinheiro along with crew members: Dr George Nelson, Ted Gaidelis, and Ryan Hughes will embark on the first leg of a four leg voyage circumnavigating the North Atlantic Ocean aboard the forty-three foot sailboat "Maravilha". We will leave New Bedford and sail east to the Island of Faial in the Azores. Approximately two weeks and two thousand miles later we will make landfall on this volcanic archipelago two thirds of the way across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

From there, in September we will sail South to the Canary Islands. In November we sail west to  St Lucia (Caribbean) and then home in May of 2015.