Today I turned 70 and we are still over 400 miles from Horta. Progress today has been glacial, with very little wind. All is not lost as the wind is supposed to pick up by tomorrow.
The good news is that with light wind comes calm seas, all the better for baking a birthday cake.
With my “special day” I had to think that this beautiful sunset was just for me.

Or the large pod dolphins that stopped to say Hi! and the Humpback Whale waving his fin in the distance, wishing me a special day.
Given the fact that there is NOBODY nearby, who else could they be here for?

The stars were out in force, a nearly full moon, and this beautiful sunrise.

And Portuguese Man-O-War passing us by every few minutes. This photo is a bit clearer than the one I posted the other day. What a remarkable creature. Hard to believe that they are so deadly.

Here I am, yet another year older and firmly in the category where special medical considerations are directed to people like me, the “frail and elderly.” Ok, I cannot deny (mostly) that I am elderly but I do not accept the label of “frail” quite yet.
During my last Medicare checkup, the clinician asked me if I had fallen recently. That is a tough one. Was she talking about getting off the toilet or from the top of the mast when I was fixing a wind instrument? Negative on both, BTW.
She also asked me if I had been threatened recently by my partner. Hmm… Had to think about that one. Only when I first brought up the idea of sailing across the Atlantic.
I have always been a big fan of bran cereal so I can say with confidence that, according to “age appropriate” dietary recommendations, my preference of cereal has finally caught up with my age.
And then there is the whole you are “only as old as you feel” thing. Not sure how I fit that… Today, when my alarm went off at 02:45 to go on watch, I did not feel great and moved a bit slowly, well only until I suddenly realized how badly I had to “go.” and then I moved barely quick enough. Whew!
Ok, ok, my bladder is getting a bit frail but the rest of me feels ok, well mostly. Besides, what better place for a guy with a bladder that has shrunk to the size of a dry garbanzo bean, than on a boat where the head is only steps away. Very practical, if you ask me.
Give me a minute… I’ll be right back…
Ok, better. Just had to pee…
Where was I?
Oh yeah, today is my 70th birthday and here I am at sea, coming up on the end of the longest ocean run ever.
I will admit that I would prefer to be with Brenda, the same thing I said on Mother’s Day, and our 48th wedding anniversary recently. Perhaps others but I can’t recall right now. We will have to catch up and celebrate all those missed events when she arrives in Horta.
Now it seems that I am deep into the age group when folks like me are referred to as “the elderly” I find the whole thing quite unsettling and it was not all that long ago, when I was in the “upper middle age” category, that I would have loudly scoffed at anyone at 70 decided to sail across the Atlantic.
Perhaps in honor of my advanced age and coming frailty, the wind overnight lightened considerably so now I am not as confident that we will arrive during daylight on the 11th. That is Ok as I do not like the idea of arriving in a strange port with poor visibility.
So, slowly, we continue to sail along, 450 miles from our destination. Now the only real question, aside from how old I will be once we get there, is how long it will be until better wind conditions catch up with us and we can get moving again.
Besides, what better way for an old guy to get around than on a machine that only goes 5 miles per hour?
It was nice to talk to Brenda today via Starlink but for some reason it took a lot longer to boot up and, for about 20 minutes, I feared the worse. Perhaps it is getting old. Hmm…
Next stop, with as good visibility as possible and before I get any older, Horta.
Editor: As part of the first ever Salty Dawg Rally to the Azores, you can see where Pandora and the other boats are located in real time at the Salty Dawg Azores Rally Map.
If you want to see where Pandora is alone, check out “where in the world is Pandora” at the top of the page or click on this link.
And, as always, you can register to receive a notice when I post, Which I do regularly, at the top of this page.