Position39 18.55N 30 56.66W Just off Fores

Thursday 28^th May

It’s just amazing how quickly life can change in boating life. We arrived on Tuesday in beautiful balmy weather, tied up to the perfect spot on the wall settled into the cockpit for a couple of celebratory bottles of bubbles. This then led to a run ashore in the little village perched high above the harbour, starting with a couple of beers in the community sailing and football (yes really) club, proceeding via an excellent fish dinner washed down with wine and Porto Tinto, thence back to the club for a couple of whiskies and major league table tennis and hence back to the dock. By now, the swell has set in, and all the boats on the wall are leaping around, making access a gymnastic feat. It transpires in the morning that a nasty front is coming through with a forecast of forty five knots of wind, so the trip to Horta is rapidly put in abeyance. The wall is becoming decidedly uncomfortable as the weather sets in, so a move to anchor is decided. Just as the last lines are being let go, the engine packs up – requiring rapid resetting of lines though not without some heaving, cursing and minor grinding on the wall. It transpires that a small leak in the primary fuel filter has let in air, so half an hour in the engine room with a plug of wood and much bleeding of air is required before the engine runs up again and we’re off. The cap on the events is the extreme furriness felt by one and all following the night before. The front is supposed to last for a day or so, lull for a little and then set in again without enough time to reach Horta, so we settle in to enjoy Flores. This enjoyment consists initially of a much needed siesta, followed by another run ashore other than for the aged member who’s peaked a little early and retires to his pit to sleep for some twelve hours. Initially it’s very lumpy during the night, and there’s some excitement as a couple of the other boats manage to drag rather close to each other, but by this morning it’s all benign, and the computer forecast says the next front is delayed for a day or so – Horta here we come! We haven’t done justice to Flores, it looks charming, very low key, but a great place to chill out and walk whether based on a boat or land. While writing this, a large pod of Atlantic Spinners has eponymously spun across our bows, heading north and wheeling and leaping high through the swell – beautiful.

Landfall - at anchor in Flores