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I had expected to play hide and seek with the Hurricanes
18:04 p.m. EDT Oct 21, 2003
All is well, in this day of working and sailing. I'm running almost straight North now, but the wind should turn more from the South soon taking me to the Central Grope in the Azores. Should I keep on this course, and the weather holds up I will stop over in Flores. I will not leave Imigrante, just stay in the boat and drift.
I'll then talk to some of my Ham radio friends. I'll pass close to the island just to see them. We have spoken all the way around the world, especially CU8AH Jose Francisco: Making land fall in East Timor a couple of years ago, the lights on land were out. I had the choice to spend the night outside or try to maneuver in.
We decided to go in the dark. Jose Francisco waited and stood by on the ham radio for a couple of hours waiting for me to come back on the air, and say that all was well. These Ham radio friends are a big part of my circle navigation. They have accompanied me for so many thousands of miles, as if they were here sailing right beside me.
Today, I pumped 30 gallons of diesel fuel from one of the Fuel tanks into Jerry Jugs. I topped of the tank that I am running out of, so I still have a full tank of 100 US gallons and about 10 Jerry Jugs. There is no fuel or food shortage on Imigrante! I had expected to play hide and seek across the Atlantic with the hurricanes, but I was lucky enough to be able to run as the winds permitted.
Vessel Speed, 5 Knots
Wind Speed, 5, Knots from E
Swell, 3 Ft
Cloud Cover, 60%
Air Temp, 62F/17C
24 Hour Run, 108 NM,
Distance to Calheta, Soa Jorge, in the Azores 313 NM,
Odometer, Total Distance Passed by Imigrante 26.959 NM
All is well on Imigrante
Joe and Fiel the World Sailing Cat
Joe Fontes was born in the Atlantic ocean. Now he is returning home on his 34-foot sail boat, the Imigrante. The 52-year-old resident of Hilmar was born in the Azores, a group of islands that lies over 1,000 miles west of Portugal.
He immigrated to USA with his family when he was 10. As he landed on the American shores, he earned his living as a tuna boat fisherman off the coast of San Diego. Fontes has never given up the sea, nor his dream of one day sailing into port in the Azores. Joe Fontes took off from Half Moon Bay in June of 2000 and headed west for the Hawaiian Islands.
He has since sailed to Papua New Guinea, Torres Straits, the Timor Sea, the Indian Ocean, South Africa around the Cape of Good Hope, into the Atlantic Ocean and then cut west across the Atlantic to Brazil, a detour needed to avoid a dead area of wind and sea in the Atlantic near Africa. Northeast to Cape Verde he has now turned north for a 1,700-mile run up to the Azores and home.
Image of Fiel the the World Sailing Cat courtesy of CoastalBrothers.com
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