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The time has come when I can't fall a sleep says Joe
22:22 p.m. EDT Oct 23, 2003
All is well on Imigrante, in this 20'th day of sailing from Barbados up to the Azores, it has been such a good trip. Calm seas and light winds, actually too light most of the time, but I take it as it comes.
As I traveled farther and farther North I started to realize that I would actually have to maneuver to get away from Flores Island. There are quite a few Ham Radio operators there, that I normally talk with (Jose Francisco CU8AH, and Alves CU8AK, and Sousa CU8AAF, and Frederic CU8AO) so I decided to stop there. I drifted outside of a small bay and called (Baia da RIBEIRA DA CRUZ). This is the bay where supply ships to the Island used to set anchor and unload their cargo onto the flat boats, then to be unloaded on the dock.
It was great to meet up with those four HAM operators. But by noon I was on my way again. I am heading toward Horta Faial, and prepare for the crossing of the Canal to Calheta, Sao Jorge, on Saturday.
The time has come when I am having a hard time to fall asleep. I am getting excited, closing in on the end of this great and fabulous single-hand circumnavigation, with Fiel the Cat.
Vessel Speed, 5 Knots
Wind Speed, 4,Knots, S
Swell Hight, 3 Ft
Cloud Cover, 30%
Air Temp, 62F/17C
24 Hour Run, 94NM
Distance to Calheta, Sao, Jorge 112 NM
Odometer, Total Distance Passed by Imigrante, 27,203 NM
All is well on Imigrante,
Joe and Fiel the Southern Oceans Crossing 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 Flores Island in the Azores courtesy of Eurosun.com
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