As we arrived Annie was with Ken who was here on Windsong (we first met in South Africa and then St Helena). They directed us to a couple of spaces that seemed uncomfortably small. We selected one but the stressed out berthing manager was quickly on the quayside yelling at us not to anchor there. We found another spot no far from the marina entrance but after anchoring swung too close to the marina outer wall. We had no choice but to anchor in the bay to the north of the marina and just outside the protection of the main harbour wall. After supper and a quick tidy-up Olly and I were both in bed and asleep.

The following morning we met Annie for breakfast at the hotel and then walked into the lovely town of Horta. It is picturesque, clean, quiet and has a well heeled air about it. Tourism, agriculture and yachting seem to be the main economic drivers. You don’t come here for resorts, there aren’t any, and it’s a bit like the Isles of Scilly - popular for lush green countryside, walking, whale watching, self catering and getting away from the hustle of urban life.

Back at the hotel we picked up a message from Ken to check our dinghy as it was getting choppy so Oliver and I went down to move it. I called in to the marina office to see how soon we might expect to get into the marina, or at least raft up on the inner wall. There were thirty boats ahead of us also waiting but with a big low pressure system coming though the following day Vega was going to take a pounding out in the bay. The much less stressed berthing deputy was extremely helpful and pointed out a couple of spots he thought we could fit into in the anchorage. He was right and after I retrieved Annie and the boat key from the hotel we made a recce in the dinghy and then had a wet ride out to Vega. We managed to re-anchor where suggested and, apart from swinging what we would normally consider too close to other yachts, seemed to be in a good location. That night we had a late supper and slept like proverbial logs.

Tuesday morning the low pressure system arrived with two consequences. Firstly Oliver’s flight to Lisbon was delayed and he missed his connection to Heathrow, eventually getting back to Cardiff via Bristol where Kate picked him up in the car at 1am. Secondly Annie and I would spend the day on the boat in case the anchor dragged or a change in wind direction brought us into contact with another boat. We tried to work out where our anchor must be in relation to those of the nearest boats and therefore how we would all swing but, given that we were swinging much more than the heavier steel boat behind, found this nigh on impossible to do! Our big fear was that our anchor chain had crossed over the anchor of the boat behind but after we settled on a position consistently to starboard of her felt more relaxed.

We have now tracked down a fourth wind transducer that is being held for us in case needed. We have two others, one mounted on the pushpit but which was showing only 10kts of wind during the storm when clearly it was a lot stronger. We also have the original. The plan is to wait until we have tied up alongside so that an electrician can test our two transducers and then fit one on the mast, assuming one or the other is working properly. If not we will need to buy the new one.

So, all we can do now is watch all the daily comings and goings of the other yachts in the hope that enough will leave to free up a berth for us fairly quickly. Apart from the wind instrument there is little else for us to do on the boat other than to fill up with fuel and water and re-provision. We had a highly entertaining farewell supper with Ken and Bart on Windsong at a local restaurant (probably the best grilled squid I have ever eaten) and bid them safe passage on their departure for Falmouth this morning. Annie and I plan to hire scooters for two days for a tour of this island and also Pico, taking the the scooters across on the ferry and then depart on or around Tuesday 13th.