After twenty days we arrived in Horta, Azores, having sailed 2558 sm. We were a little bit faster than we had expected. There are a lot of of blue water sailors here on anchorage who visit the Azores in May or June (before the Caribbean hurricane season) on their way to Europe. Now we have to wait for our PCR test. The video of our journey is available here.

Our weather routing leaded us to the most westerly group of the Azores islands. To our disappointment, the marina in Flora was not accessible and anchorage not allowed because of ongoing repairs. In 2019, a severe storm had destroyed the harbour, including the incredible strong breakwater (Kaimauer).

Our sailing route from Antigua to the Azores was determined by wind and followed the classical approach. First, we sailed N (North) or NNE (North North East) close haul (dicht am Wind) against the E or NE trade wind. Then, for two days, we used the engine to cross the calm Horse Latitudes. Therafter we nicely connected to the westerly winds that there prevail and sailed East, reaching (vor dem Wind), to the Azores. Two days later, the same strategy would have lead us into a storm. Thanks to our friend Ivan, who informed us with weather routing, for the last 2000 miles we had a safe and fast trip so far.

Skipper, Rudergänger oder der Smut – je nach Situation – fordern alle zum Erscheinen an Deck auf. Rufen Skipper oder Rudergänger, so ist dies meist mit Arbeit (z.B. Manöver) verbunden. Bittet der Smut, so wird verpflegt. Zumindest für zwei an Bord die weniger „anstrengende” Zusammenkunft. Obwohl, es wartet der Abwasch auf einen der beiden… (Gastbeitrag Markus). Bild: Ein Squall (Unwetter) im Radar erfordert All Hands on Deck.