38:32.01N 28:37.42W

Before leaving Bermuda, we had to refuel and check out with the authorities in St. George’s.  Queueing for fuel took an age but we were finally free to leave at 1530 and sail off in a lovely light breeze, perfect for the new crew.  However, by midnight the wind had dropped and we were motoring, conscious of our limited fuel capacity on a two week passage around the Azores High, notorious for days of no wind.  We needn’t have worried.  An hour later we were sailing again and didn’t need the motor from then on, until we were an hour out of Horta on the island of Faial, our destination.

The wind and swell gradually increased and before long I was feeling like I’d lost my sea legs and couldn’t face my laptop screen for long, while Toby fed the fish his lunch.  Fortunately, we were both fully fit again a day or so later as the swell subsided. 

We’d left Bermuda a couple of days after Ed on Telemachus and hoped that we would be able to pass within VHF range and ideally visual range, to give him some moral support as he was single-handed.  Chris Tibbs, our weather router, had given us a waypoint somewhere north of Ed’s position but after a few days we were close to Ed and decided to keep south for him.  As we neared, we could see from his updated positions on the “No Foreign Land” app, that he was drifting around in circles.  This was worrying but we knew that Telemachus couldn’t steer herself if there was no wind and we hoped that he had just dropped his sails to get some sleep.  Fortunately, that’s exactly what had happened and soon he was off in the right direction at speed again.  We set a course to intercept and surprised him with a VHF call.  As we drew within half a mile, Ed sent up his drone to capture some footage of us flying Deegs’ reacher.  The washing was taken off the life lines and the cockpit was tidied up in a hurry.  Great shots Ed!

We dropped the reacher and motored around Ed for a while, exchanging food and drink parcels and having a good catch-up chat.  Ed was also able to use our internet connection to have a proper chat with Sara and to download all his emails.  It was lovely to have the opportunity to do that and it was all very easy in nice weather in daylight. 

After more than a week living in close proximity to each other, we on Infinity were getting to know each other extensively and for Jane and me at least, it was working out very well.  Toby’s enthusiasm and Will’s very cheerful approach to everything were making the passage a lot of fun.  Will, who was determined that neither he nor his cabin would smell of wet dog, perfected an aromatic blend of branded perfumes, somewhat similar to what hits your nostrils as you walk past the perfume stands at Heathrow Airport.  This, and his various other purchases from the airport earned him the nickname “Mr. Duty Free”.  While I sported my practical and cheap but “not very cool Dad” clothing and accessories, Will maintained his style.  Even Will though eventually gave in to adopt the Grandad look with chums on his shades after vanity cost him his new Pradas, cruelly snatched by the sea.

Catering was easier on this leg, with only one request for pescatarian and Jane managed to slip some meat into the other three meals from time to time.  However, everyone has their preferences and it’s interesting to see what “supplements” they choose.  Will stocked up with processed cheese slices and Cadbury’s cream eggs as treats.  Toby meanwhile couldn’t resist the bargain offer on ginger biscuits at M&S in Bermuda and bought a trolley-load.  Jane realised we were going to run out of night watch snack bars and baked some oat cakes, flavouring them with choc chips, peanut butter, ginger or Nutella.  Yummie!  Our gut biomes continued to thrive with more kefir, sourdough and kimchi, although the kefir colony suffered a surprise attack when Will mistook them for cottage cheese!

Jane did most of the catering in whatever conditions were thrown at her.  Amazing.  Toby chipped in with a fish lasagne and apple crumble one evening and Will raided the larder to set up a sumptuous feast for a buffet lunch.  I couldn’t find any alphabet spaghetti so I had nothing to offer.  Just as well I have other skills!

Will had built up a warm relationship with Infinity and coaxed her along, frequently singing “come on lovely boat”.  She responded well and we made good speed throughout, whatever wind speed and direction we had to deal with.  The only breakage occurred when the wind gusted to 10.8kts, just over the limit we thought we should apply to the reacher, and it split at the head.  No big deal as we didn’t need it after that and the sailmaker in Horta fixed it.

Only two things frustrated us, whales and fish.  We hadn’t seen any whales and we hadn’t landed any fish.  Plenty of dolphins came to play with us and we once hooked (but failed to land) a small swordfish.  But with time running out, and despite Will calling “come on fishes” and “come on whales” we reached Horta without either.  There was more wildlife out there, including plenty of Portuguese man o’ war, smaller jelly fish (only seen with a torch at night) and a few tuna taunting us by jumping out of the water beside our fishing lines.  More shearwater and other birds started to appear as we approached the Azores.  Wonderful to watch them gliding between the waves with very little effort.

In the latter stages of the passage we enjoyed some champagne sailing and considered ourselves fortunate to have had winds that were neither too strong nor too light for any significant amount of time.  The swell subsided and Jane was back out with Barrie and Amanda’s sextant to prove that she really could pinpoint our position within a few miles if necessary.

We arrived in Horta just before dawn and dropped anchor in the harbour.  Will’s girlfriend Vicki had arrived and came out to the sea wall to welcome us in as we broke open the now traditional “Rhum Vieux” and watched the sun rise.

Looking forward to exploring the Azores now.

Giles