After
1800NM and pretty constant strong winds for the quarter of the fleet arriving
in the Azores, several crews have been surprised and welcomed in Portuguese
waters by whales and dolphins and everyone has a good welcome in Horta with
cold beers to celebrate and a welcome pack offered by the Azores Tourism Board.
The programme kicked off with
drinks offered by the well-known Peter’s Café Sport, a slightly different crew
supper where you cook your own food on a hot volcanic stone and a Happy Hour at
Clube Naval.
We
will continue with Happy Hours and tomorrow everyone has the opportunity to
sail on a traditional wooden whaling boat courtesy from the Clube Naval. On
Saturday after the Skippers’ Briefing for the Azores cruising, a tour of the
island of Faial will take place followed by the Prizegiving for Leg 2 from St.
George’s (Bermuda) to Horta (Azores), both sponsored by the Azores Tourism
Board.
At the time of writing, eight boats are still at sea and the
crews are all looking forward to being reunited over the coming 48 hours. It
will be a quick turnaround for the later arrivals ahead of the first leg of the
Azores Cruise to Terceira departing on Sunday 4th June.