After a lot of wandering over the Atlantic Ocean, we finally arrived in the Azores! Back in Europe after leaving Europe from La Gomera on the Canary Islands last November. Entering Horta is a real experience. What an enormous amount of sailing boats are moored here, with many different nationalities. First we check in at the reception-dock and then we are assigned a place. A fine spot, although close to other boats, but all sailboats around us and beautiful paintings on the quay wall ... just really Horta!!!!.
Yes ... we're here!!!! We did a great job.

Luckily the second week was a lot better than the first. Especially the last four days towards Flores we were very lucky with good wind (continuous force 5) from the right direction (half and only the last day high), little rain and regular sunshine. So for four days we were able to make an enormous progress of over 7 knots per hour on average per day. The last day from Flores to Horta was unfortunately motorbikes because the course was just too high to sail and we didn't feel like another 'wander around'. The other three Dutch boats are a few hundred miles behind us and we expect them to arrive in the course of Sunday. We will be waiting for them on the quay of Horta!
The shortest way from America to Horta is 1980 miles, if you sail the so-called great circle route. This is a straight line across the globe from beginning to end. From the beginning we had already decided to stay below 40N and deviate from the great circle route, which would make the route about 2020 miles. Due to 'various wanderings' another 266 miles has been added ... 236 miles because, on Herb's advice, we sailed twice much further south (first time under 38N, second time under 35N) to avoid depression. And another 30 miles extra because we sailed via Flores (where we didn't want to stay) to Hora. We sailed a total of 2286 miles, in 15 days and 4 hours. That's 6.5 miles per hour on average if we leave out 18 hours. With bedsores we went 6.3 miles per hour on average. Not bad!
Out of a total of 15 days and 4 hours we motored 98 hours (that's exactly 4 days). Twice we had to motor to get south in time below a certain latitude. In addition, two days with too little wind and the last day to Horta almost against the wind. All in all we used just over half of our diesel tank. The supply of food was also good, actually mainly bought by feeling. Every day we were able to eat with meat, vegetables, rice, pasta or potatoes. Every morning delicious homemade baguette and in the afternoon often a cup of soup. Unfortunately no fish of our own caught this time. Water is not an issue because of the water maker. And ... enough gas! That was exciting in the USA; our European gas system is unknown there. But thanks to the help of Dan and Kathy in Annapolis we were able to fill our rusted Camping Gaz tanks there and now we arrive in the Azores with about 10 days of gas left. Exactly right!
This crossing has always been the one I (Mira) have seen the most against. Because we sail from New York to the Azores and are therefore fairly 'high' on north latitude and have much more chance of bad weather than all the other trips so far. And now in hindsight ... is it not so bad or is it disappointing? Actually it is not that bad! We were able to limit the amount of bad weather reasonably well with the help of Herb. As a result we ended up quite south (under 35N). According to Herb the number of depressions this year is so low on northern latitudes exceptional. Normally' you should be able to sail below 38N without stormy winds. The moments that we had to turn so far south (while the wind wasn't yet strong) didn't always feel good. Further away from your goal ... is that really necessary? A couple of times we were in doubt what to do. But in the end we followed Herb's advice and that worked out very well. We only had two really bad moments ... the 2nd night with lots of wind and thunder and the storm night/morning (18 hours long) with lying down. The rest generally perfect sailing weather with nice speeds and only now and then a bit less comfort on board. And also those bad moments we actually got through very well, always with control over ourselves and the boat and without damage. Especially from those bad moments we learned a lot ... how does the Brandaan sail in heavy weather and how do we handle that? Very valuable and in hindsight we wouldn't have wanted to miss those difficult parts of the crossing!
Well, back to the day-to-day report of the last week...

Day 8
The afternoon after the storm, the sea gradually becomes calmer. We sail calmly with just the genoa up before the wind and catch our breath. At the end of the afternoon, the wind disappears almost completely ... how is it possible that there is so much difference in just a few hours? ... and we switch on the engine. In the evening we receive many compassionate words from the Barbarossa, Valentine and Herring Gull. We are quite tired from the little sleep and go to bed nice and early. The boat is very quiet, there is no ship traffic, and so we have a fantastic long night. Herb advised us to head even further south for the next two days (below 35N) to avoid as much as possible a new depression that was coming. So before sleeping, we set our course back to southeast (toward the Gambia if you zoom the chart out far). When we wake up feeling rested we both have the feeling that we should not go so far south. We take a good look at the weather files and decide to head east. From the traffic jams, this course seems fine to maintain speed towards the goal and also to avoid the worst of the mess created by the new depression. Because of the changes in course (on the map our 'track' is already becoming quite a bit twisted) we no longer know when we are exactly at the halfway point, but last night we think we passed that halfway point. In the Netherlands the elections have taken place ... we are slowly receiving the results via mail and SSB ... but it is actually very far from us. Day distance 135 miles.

Day 9
It's going to be a lovely sunny day on motorbikes on a flat sea. We have earned that after all that strong wind. All the seat cushions and sailcloths can dry and for the first time all four of us spend the day just sitting or walking (and not lying down anymore). We eat delicious homemade baguettes with cheese. The girls are doing a lot of ministecken. We sit outside in the sun with a book. The fishing line is hanging out for the first time. Not that we catch anything, but still it feels good. We all take a shower and I spend a long time taking the girls' hair out of the tangle (from the many lying around). To top it all off we get two visits from a large group of dolphins. The first time they stay around the boat for a really long time, playing and jumping out of the water. A beautiful sight! Yes, so can ocean sailing ... we almost forgot.
At the end of the afternoon Herb advises us urgently to sail south. If we don't do that we'll get strong winds (25-30 knots) tomorrow evening and then we can't do anything but go further north to the stronger part of the depression with 35+ wind. How treacherous are only those gribfiles ... what Herb tells us we couldn't tell ourselves. Well, what to do now? Targeted as both of us are, it takes some effort to make a longer detour. But yes, heavy weather is not what we are looking for anymore, especially not after this lovely quiet and pleasant day. So the decision is quickly made and again we head south, now heading south-south-east. In the evening we hear about the SSB that the Herring Gull has been in the same dilemma and has made the same decision ... funny. In the middle of the night the wind picks up again, the engine goes out and we sail again ... high on the wind on a calm sea to 35N/48W. Daytime distance 144 miles.

Day 10
Even after another good night's sleep, the decision to sail south still feels good. It will be a wonderful day of sailing in the sun. As high on the wind as possible to get as south as possible. The wind is light, there is not much swell and apart from the fact that we feel we are going completely the wrong way and the total trip will be about 100 miles longer again, it is just enjoyable and that is worth it. The girls finished the first ministeck-work ... a big sailing ship that gets a nice spot somewhere on the Brandaan. In the afternoon we can tell Herb that we have arrived under 35N and he is very happy with that; "wow, you did a good job ...!". From now on east again, not too much north yet, wind will be maximum 25-30 knots. In the evening during dinner Marinthe suddenly sees a very big fish swimming next to our boat ... it turns out to be three big sperm whales (with those flat heads). Once in a while they come out of the water and spray water up ... what a beautiful sight! Of course the battery of the video-camera is empty and it takes a while before we can film them and then we are a bit further away.
All night long the weather is fine ... the wind picks up to 25 and occasionally to 30, but that's all. We are very satisfied with that. In the morning, after the light comes on, the sun comes up all day again and then the world looks so much friendlier, even though it's strong winds. Conclusion: turning around has led to avoiding the storm and for good wind to sail in the direction of the Azores. Good decision! For breakfast Mira bakes delicious pancakes despite the slope. Critical moment here is the timing of throwing the batter in the pan; you have to plan this reasonably otherwise the batter will be on the cabinets. Daytime distance 142 miles.

Day 11
All day long it's hard sailing ... force 6, half wind, and we're going fast ... more than 7 knots. The depression above us is further north than expected. That makes us decide to start 'course Horta' at noon ... we are now sailing in a straight line east-northeast with 800 miles to go. Staying on or below 35N would be too high sailing and seems not necessary because of the migrating depression. The boat hangs at an angle all day long, so we have mainly taken the mooring position again. At the end of the afternoon the wind goes down to wind force 4-5. Herb supports our decision to sail to Horta from now on, but indicates that this will give us 25-30 knots next night. We don't mind that ... but that doesn't seem to happen at all, because we sail the whole night a bit higher than half with no more than 20 knots of wind. According to the weather forecast this weather will continue for the next four days. Absolutely perfect! Depending on the speed we are going to make we will arrive on Thursday the 17th or Friday the 18th of June. So still 4 or 5 days/nights to go! Nicely in time for the soccer game of the Netherlands against Japan. Day distance 161 miles.

Day 12
It keeps blowing around 20 knots (wind force 5) with an occasional precipitation and we are still sailing half wind or sometimes a bit higher. For the Brandaan this is absolutely fine, because with this wind and course we can reach top speeds. The sails are fully set and continuously we are above 7 and often also above 8 knots. The fishing line is hanging out ... but to no avail ... maybe we just go too fast for those fish!? The boat is relatively quiet and we do school again for the first time. In the afternoon we bake a tasty apple pie ... mmmm ... that's delicious. We hear that the Barbarossa has another crack in the mainsail. This time above reef 3 ... not a nice place, it sucks. We hope they can repair it with hand and foot work so they can still use the mainsail. From Herb nothing new and because of the high speed we ended up on the other three boats ... they had much less wind. It looks more and more like we will arrive on Thursday June 17th. For the night we put reef 1 in the genuea and reef 2 in the mainsail. That's a good thing because the wind picks up to 25 knots or more. Daytime distance 176 miles, our fastest 24 hours of this crossing so far.

Day 13
We set the clock forward another hour. Now we only have 3 hours time difference with the Netherlands. And later on the Azores only 2 hours. The sea has been rebuilt a bit and therefore we only do school for a short time. For the rest we just lie down, watch movies, listen to music and read books. The sun shows itself very regularly and it stays dry. We spray through the water and reach enormous speeds ... often above 8 knots. Now we know for sure that we can arrive at Horta on Thursday 17 June. We also walk more and more on the other boats because they have less wind. That makes us decide to visit the island of Flores before Horta (on the island of Faial). Flores is the most western island of the Azores, but 14 by 17 km and seems to be beautiful. That is just 100 miles less sailing and at this speed we can arrive there on Wednesday afternoon June 16th. We stay for two days and then we go to Horta (130 miles) to arrive in Horta with the other boats. So we changed course ... a little more to the north ... a little less high in the wind and that sails even more pleasant. Via the Wereldomroep we follow the soccer game Netherlands - Denmark. Actually for the first time we listen to the Wereldomroep ... quite funny, because you can also listen to Dutch news. In the evening during the SSB session with the other boats, Horta is already in a good mood ... we all want to see each other there and have a drink after all the adventures of this crossing. Herring gull and we have had strong winds and storms. Barbarossa has torn the mainsail and will be at sea for more than 21 days in total, and Valentine has had a lot of light wind and a problem with the mainsail due to a blowpipe, but was able to solve that herself. For all four of us the most heavy and/or long crossing of the whole voyage. Day distance 182 miles, a new record!

Day 14
The last whole day is coming up, so we think. By last day, I actually mean '24 hours'. A day in this report always runs from noon to noon the next day. So now only one day and a few hours to sail and then we are on Flores. Lovely idea! We keep the good wind, wind force 5, half and occasionally direction high. This way we are already a couple of days in a row diagonally over the port side. It is cloudy with an occasional rain shower, but during dinner the sun comes out. And then again we are treated to a beautiful dolphin show with dozens of dolphins jumping high out of the water around the boat. Charging the batteries didn't go well for a while ... exciting, what will this be? Can we solve this ourselves and make it to the Azores with the up to 80% charged batteries? Toine will spend some hours puzzling and will find out that the V-belts are worn out, causing the alternator to slip. This is actually allowed if you look at the number of engine hours from Trinidad/ January, especially with this heavy alternator. Luckily we have spare V-belts with us ... and charging the batteries works perfectly again! We keep shooting through the water at high speed ... unbelievable how 'easy' these last days are to make a lot of miles towards the Azores. So a whole different week than the first. The last night (we still think) we get through ... the concept of a bed in the cabin for the one who is waiting and with the alarm clock at 20-25 min works very well. This way we get a lot of sleep every night. The last couple of hours to Flores the wind is coming from the south-east and it is only just high. We know that tonight and next night the wind will blow harder and that is why we want to be inside before 6 pm today. Daytime distance 178 miles and only 30 miles to go to Flores.

Day 15
About 25 miles away we see Flores in the distance. A still vague dark mountain with clouds above it in the middle of the ocean. With 8 knots of speed we hurry to the anchorage. The sun is shining and it is great sailing. Mira makes a chocolate cake with the girls to celebrate our arrival. And also the wine is already cold. Nicely on time around 17.00 hours we arrive at the anchorage ... but what a huge exposed bay with huge rollers coming in. There are a lot of boats anchored, rolling on the waves. There is hardly any room for us, we only anchor at 14 meters depth on the outside, very exposed with a lot of rollers. Moreover, tonight the wind is going to blow even harder. That will be a night of waiting and rolling back and forth ... we don't feel like it after 14 days at sea, then you'd prefer to just lie still and sleep through the night. The choice is quickly made ... just go back out to sea in the direction of Horta. Another 130 miles, that's one day longer at sea. Well, otherwise we would have done the same a day later and the total detour via Flores is fortunately only 30 miles. SSB's with the others don't work anymore ... I think we are too far away and having the summits of Flores nearby doesn't help either. It's just too high to sail and we don't feel like taking a detour anymore, so motorbike! And so now we sail into the last night and we all have a good night's sleep. Marinthe suffers from diarrhoea, doesn't feel sick, but she makes a lot of sheets dirty. Luckily everything can be put in the washing machine. Day distance 141 miles, 25 miles to go to Horta!
The last afternoon passes quickly. Soon we can see Faial and we sail past it on the north side. At the end of the afternoon we arrive very satisfied in Horta! Here we are going to rest for the next two weeks. Meet other boats, watch soccer, explore the island, clean up the ship and finish schoolwork. It will be a fun and enjoyable period ... we are looking forward to it!