We have arrived in The Azores. We are currently on the island of Sao Miguel after initially arriving in Horta, Faial. We crossed the ARC Rally finish line in Horta at 1908 UTC on `Monday 3rd June. We were the 8th boat to arrive despite leaving 30 hours after everyone else! From Bermuda to Horta we had “sailed” 1981 nm at an average speed of 7.53 knots in 10 days 23 hrs. Since leaving Connecticut we have travelled 3,214 nm.

Needless to say given the fuel situation that we were managing we were delighted to cross the line. So we had a beer to celebrate at the famous Pete’s Bar and Cafe in Horta.

Lilli Mae is now on a pontoon in Marina Punta Delgada. We arrived here in the afternoon of 7th June after sailing the 155 nm from Horta around the island of Pico to Sao Miguel.

We will be here until the 14th when we set off on the final leg of the crossing to mainland Europe. We have a few things to fix and some restocking of our victuals. Mike and Rick are trying to fix the bow-thruster which decided to stop working before we got to Horta. We have agreed that we will live with our temporary mainsail “hand-drill” furler until we get to Lagos. This fix requires dismantling of the boom assembly. Despite this it feels as though we can relax for a day or two. Now we have said this something will happen!

Anyway that is it for now. We will keep you updated on how we are doing before we set off to Lagos, Portugal.

All the best, from the crew aboard Lilli Mae.