Time Bandit - Waiting for the Fat Lady

38 29N 29 28W, 20:00, 28th May


As they say, "It's Not Over Till The fat lady Sings" however, we're within 50 miles of Horta, almost in sight of land and certainly well within helicopter rescue range........ so we're feeling quite relaxed!!

We had been beginning to think the the "Azores High" was actually the "Azores Hi" and was merely how the locals greeted each other. However, while it once again dawned cold and grey, about lunchtime it cleared up and we've had a good downwind day in the sun and 15 - 20 knots. Crossed fingers this carries all the way to the finish.

We're in whale watching territory and also prime game fishing waters so maybe, after hundreds of miles of trawling we'll maybe catch something.

Many of the other boats have been hauling them in daily but as usual, we have our grand total - ZIP.

We pulled up the gennaker today but as we don't have a dedicated tack attachment we fly it from the crown of the anchor attached to the bow roller. No sooner had we got the kite flying than the roller started to bend alarmigly so after 20 minutes preparing it for hoist and 15 seconds flying we spent another 20 minutes putting it away.

That was pretty much all the excitement today and we've spent much of it snoozing catching up on lost hours as last night was quite noisy, wet and miserable.

We've been chasing knots for the last 2 days to try and get us in before dark but right now, our ETA is about midnight. If it's too dark to find the quay we'll have to anchor which might be a good thing as Anne has her eyes set on the fancy hotel at the top of the town.

As usual, we have a list of repairs to get into as soon as we get cleared through customs tomorrow and then we can begin to truly relax and enjoy being ashore and the ARC social circuit.

So, that's pretty much it for today. Last instalment tomorrow.


S&A