Flores to Horta

Hi everyone,

We had a great 130nm passage from Lajes in Flores to Horta in Faial.  Mostly sunny skies with nearby rain showers on departure and around midnight.  We had 10-15 knots of WSW all day and until 0200 at night.  Then the wind died after a brief shower so we motored the rest of the way.

Under full sail

Here are the usual plots...

Track

Arrival

Graphs

Two other boats left Flores within an hour or two of us.  One was a largish catamaran and the other a Boreal 49 monohull.  We beat them both to Horta.  Zen Again loves a 10-15 knot reach!  This was a rare occasion when we carried full sail.  Great 26 hour passage.

Farewell Flores

Along the way we noticed the AIS range was unusually long.  We could see boats in Horta harbour from over 60nm away...

60nm+ AIS range

With possible overnight rain showers forecast we reefed the main for the night.  Zen Again was still doing 6+ knots under full yankee and single-reefed main.  But after midnight and a brief shower the wind died and the motor got a run.

First reef for the night

Early morning approach to Faial

Approaching Horta

Preparing to anchor

It was great to make landfall in Horta again.  Our previous visit was in 2016 on our way to the UK.  We loved it so much we decided to do our current North Atlantic circuit.

Zen Again in Horta with Pico in background

We're joining an OCC cruise in company here which will tour the Macaronesian Islands (Azores, Madeira & Canaries - who knew?).  This will keep us busy for the next two months.

Within an hour of arriving we were cleared-in for 90 days in the Schengen Zone  Neither St Pierre nor Flores are in Schengen.  We may fly to the UK for a few weeks after the OCC cruise to extend our Schengen departure into December for our next Atlantic crossing.

The Harbour Master noted that this is the first year he's had visitors anchored in the harbour in late-August.  Normally they've departed eastward.  A marina spot would cost us E20/night and it's half that at anchor.  We may treat ourselves to a couple of nights in the marina to join the other OCC boats.

Trust all's well where you are!