Arived at Flores, Azores

CATRYN
David Rice
Sat 6 Jun 2015 16:59
We anchored in the bay at Lajes, a Port of Entry into the Azores, last night about 1900Z. This was the end of our 1500 mile sail from Newfoundland. We cracked open a bottle of wine, lit the BBQ on the aft deck and celebrated our 8 day passage. It hasn’t been an easy trip but it was satisfying and very good fun. The sting in the tail was a 32 knot headwind as we approached Flores. But CATRYN is tough little yacht and we muscled our way forward at about 3 knots. Of course the Azores were not our original destination when we set out from Lewisporte  but due to rather bad weather further North in the Atlantic, we set our course to the SE and here we are in shorts and T shirts enjoying the warm sunshine, vino verde and grilled sardines! This unplanned diversion has also opened up more possibilities as it’s such a beautiful cruising area. Most yachts just dash through the Azores on their way to Europe from the Caribbean, spending just a few days in Horta to rest and refuel; such a waste! Well we’re planning to leave CATRYN here until mid-August, enjoying these fabulous Atlantic islands. Aberdyfi will then be our final destination, unless we get distracted again further along the way! Madeira ..... Canary Islands ..... Caribbean ?? Mmm, maybe!
 
Our immediate plan now is to head further East for Horta on Monday, where Pete has to leave unfortunately, along with Danny O’Donnell (no more!). As always he’s been an excellent crew member and I’m sure he’ll blog again before he steps on the plane.
 
Dai



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