All cleared in with the authorities. Ron Seiler is on the boat after a long flight from Detroit via Lisbon. We did laundry and talked to a number of fellow cruisers. Checked out the famous Peter’s Bar here this evening.  And found the mass schedule for to-morrow. Below are  a few pictures of the passage, as posted earlier, I plan do a slide show album for the trip from Beaufort N.C. to Holland and will have better resolution photos than this media allows me. The Portuguese Man of War is such an unique creature. I never got tired of searching the surface for their bright colors. There wil be more in the slide show. It’s Sunday morning, in the mean time.

You might recall my short sense of revenge on June 30, leaving Bermuda with the 41 footer, who I managed to pass, after what appeared to be a bit snide comment at the fuel dock. But in the end with his enormous spinaker hoisted did a horizon job on me. I figured they’d be long gone from the Azores by now. Guess what? And this will give Herb Hilgenberg also a sense of satisfaction. They arrived here yesterday in the late afternoon… I asked him if he had listened to Herb. No, they had used Chris Parker instead and gotten stuck in a couple windless areas at a higher latitudes….

Portuguese Man of War on the way to Portuguese Azores

Horta

Booby who just checked out the plastic squid lure trailing "Fleetwood"

Sailing Fast!

Sunrise into Horta

I docked at the Customs dock at 6.45 local time (same as UTC). I am impressed. Horta is a beautiful spot. After I made last evening’s post and was motoring, the wind came up again and I had a very nice sail all the way in. Did not sleep much because of the excitement and anticipation. I said good bye, for the time being, to Herb. He was of imeasurable help on this passage. All in all one of the best passages, and most exciting sailing, so far. 1800 miles in 18 days, if it had not been for those two slow days the average would have been even higher. The couple of days over 120 and the one of 131 miles and not sailing the rhumb line. I had been somewhat apprehensive because the North Atlantic is so much more fickle and unpredictable than all the other seas I have sailed so far.

I see that there are quite a few comments on my posts. PLEASE, NOTE: I cannot read your comments on the high seas, only when I have internet access. So, best you write me to my SailMail address when you have a comment for me.

The ocean came alive the closer I got to land. There were Manta Rays flapping their wings out of the water, white bellies dark tops,  in the distance. The dolphins were chasing the same prey. They came closer to the boat and then they all took off in a wide long line and they jumped/breached all the way out of the surface. Too far away for photos. The sun just came up when I approached the islands and I have some fine photos to show you. I will do a small sampling, later to-day, of this passage’s shots and then later I will do a slide album of the trip from Beaufort to Holland. The picture size on this blog is limited. Ron Seiler will be arriving at Horta in an hour. This will be a brand new experience for me. Since I left in 2005, I have not had any one sail with me, except Lynne for the ten days last November on the ICW.

A te logo! Everyone have a great weekend!