So after 20 days and nights at sea, Team Cassini have safely made it to the Azores. There have been a few final challenges to ensure we reach our interim destination - the Port of Horta. We are now 2/3rds the way across the Atlantic, with southern Spain (next to Gibraltar) our ultimate destination. 

This will be our first step onto land since leaving Antigua; our land legs might be a bit wobbly - especially after some celebratory drinks.

Most notably, since our last blog, we had a no wind day (less the after effects from the bean chilli), where we bobbed around for a few hours on the flat seas. Otherwise we might have arrived and be supping some well deserved ‘Dark and Stormies’ (Rum and Ginger beer) ashore already. Instead I am writing this whilst at anchor just off Horta marina, waiting to refuel, check into customs etc. Having had a sweep stake on our arrival time before we left, Simon was the closest, having selected AM of the 19th. We put down our anchor at 2230 hours and celebrated with a Dark and Stormy on board.

The Azores archipelago which consists of nine relatively small islands, are a popular port of call for over a thousand yachts sailing Eastwards across the North Atlantic every year. Part of Portugal, they are 750 nautical miles West of mainland Portugal, at a triple junction of the Mid-Atlantic ridge. The ridge is still active; mainly in the form of earthquake tremors. The volcanoes are all thought to be dormant; albeit the largest one on the island of Pico is still monitored.

The last remnants of our fresh food (less some garlic thanks to some French influenced stores provisioning) have all been consumed. Our thoughts now turn to ‘proper food’ which can be eaten with a knife and fork, the famous Portuguese custard tarts, and of course some local cheese and Portuguese wine.

In lieu of fresh ingredients, for the first time since leaving Antigua, Nigel willingly took control of his Watch’s turn to cook dinner, teaching his protege (Romain) how to safely open some non-descript cans claiming to contain meat of dubious origins, baked beans and smash. Only after a bit of encouragement by Romain, and in response to cries of ‘sacrebleu, putain, zut alors’ did Nigel concede to heating up the so called cans of meat - allegedly corned beef or otherwise known as that ‘weird British beef’ by Pauline and Romain and using milk powder in the mash potato instead of just water.

As we approached the outer edge of The Azores I (Liz) had my birthday.  I awoke to start my night shift to see they had kindly put up a birthday banner overnight. Birthday celebrations also called for a beer before dinner, some Oreos (which Nigel had managed to keep safely hidden from Simon) and some more homemade Brittany cake courtesy of Pauline. This will truly be a birthday to remember; sharing it on the open seas after sailing 2000+ miles, with people who were but strangers a month ago, who now feel more like close friends and family. As we were approaching the edge of The Azores we also briefly picked up some cellular coverage as we sailed between the outer islands for the first time in 20 days; this felt somewhat fortuitous for me to be able to reconnect to those back home who had sent their birthday wishes.

Our final sail into Horta was in fair and steady winds - averaging 6 knots throughout the day. We briefly tried to fly the cruising chute, however the wind angles were just too fine so back to the headsail it was and full sail ahead.

All of our skills, less our ability to catch fish (and of course, Nigel’s cooking) have progressed somewhat over the last 3 weeks.  So much for ‘there are plenty of fish in the sea’…despite seeing ‘00s of dolphins and lots of whales, our fish count still sits at 2…. plus the one that got away!

As we approached Horta it felt slightly odd to see so many other boats also closing in on the same target. As we crossed the open oceans we saw some cargo ships and a few other sailing vessels (mainly in the far distance or on the radar), however it is clear that we have been far from alone. Many others have been making the same Eastwards crossing to the North or South of us.

Miles from Antigua - line of sight - 2180 nm

Miles actually sailed - 2383 nm

Days/nights since left Antigua - 20

Number of (intended - when the wind died to 0 knots we went around in circles a couple of times) tacks/gibes - 4

Average miles per 24 hours - 120 nm

Most miles for a 3 hour watch - 26

Least miles for a 3 hour watch - 2

Number of showers - 3

Number of swims - 1

Tins of corned beef hash consumed- 4

Tins of Spam consumed - zero (we did not get that desperate)

Number of bread loaves baked - 5

Number of beers consumed per person - 2 (to celebrate half way and my birthday)

Number of whales seen - around 50 (maybe more)

Number of dolphins seen - ‘000s

Number of fish caught - 2 (whoever said there were plenty of fish in the sea was lying)

Crew arguments - 0