June 24th 1600 GMT

38 32N 028 37W

We arrived in Horta marina at 1030 local time after 18 days at sea, sailing a total of 2346 nm from Tortola, pretty well what we had estimated. Yesterday after sending our position report we encountered a pod of Sei whales – well actually I nearly ran over one about 10m long as it swam across our bow about a boat length away. They then circled around us for about 30 minutes with common dolphins jumping over and all around them. The presence of a lone male killer whale with its characteristic tall black fin may have had something to do with their very close proximity to our boat. We had to do some active steering to avoid them as they constantly came up almost alongside – a great sight which delighted all the crew. As we progressed we saw more whales both Sei and Fin but none came as close again. After that it was a matter of sailing or motor sailing as the wind allowed until about 1800 when the wind came on to the nose and we motored the last 60 miles into Horta under mostly leaden skies. After checking in we were allocated a spot rafted up to the harbour wall outside two other boats and we’ve just finished washing down the boat and generally cleaning up. Time for a shower and a beer.