another dolphin

sailed to ponta delgado, met up with mona, then headed back to blighty.

14 days 2 hours for the return trip, 2 hours faster than the outward journey.

sao jorge

eventually it was time to leave

calheta

after graciosa i went to horta.

horta was crowded.

from horta i went to the lovely sao jorge

where i stayed in the tiny harbour at calheta

marguerite

after a week in terceira i moved on.

i was sad to leave.

sailed in company with marguerite, an old bristol channel pilot cutter, returning to the uk from the caribbean.

we sailed to graciosa

clemens

clemens and i played chess most days, usually in a cafe overlooking the harbour

clemens had his boat out of the water for a re-paint

peter

i was lucky to make some friends - this is peter from sea wych, peter had sailed from the caribbean and was on his way to the canary islands.

peter had been sailing for a long time and gave me a few tips

especially about the correct gear for fishing.

festival

nearby, in Angra da Heroisimo, the festival started up.

everyone seemed to go.

they laid a blue carpet all the way down the high street, people put chairs on the pavement outside their houses and shops to watch the parade go by.

praia

made it in to harbour as the breeze built up, it blew for several days, gale force at times.

eventually it calmed down and the sun came out.

this is Praia da Vitoria, a friendly town

an island

after 14 days i put terceira into the gps as a waypoint (i'd had horta in) and it said it was 25 miles away, so i went outside and had another look

and there it was.

cetacean

is that a dolphin or a porpoise or a ?

a friend had given me a whale identification guide, which enabled me to say i'd seen risso's dolphins and common dolphins and that, on reflection, my pilot whales might have been rissos dolphins.

i think this is a common dolphin. i'd go bonkers when the dolphins turned up, screaming encouragement at them.

dolphin

before i set off i thought that the main dangers were that i'd go crazy or that i'd be sunk by a whale..

after a few days, off biscay, i was relaxing in the sun when i saw 2 pilot whales heading straight for me.

i rushed to switch the engine on as i had read this would warn them of my presence.

they seemed to laugh and both dove at the last moment straight under the boat.

after that i stopped worrying.

big sky

the sea was calm and the skies were entertaining.

i had an ais receiver with an alarm that would go off if a ship over 300 tonnes came within 8 miles of me, and a radar that would set off another alarm if it picked up anything within 6 miles.

after a while i realised that they could keep a better watch than i could, especially at night.

so i could get some sleep. but looking back at the log-book there was rarely more than a 2 hour break between entries.

bird

finally on sunday the weather was ok so i topped up the tanks and hauled up the anchor.

outside in the bay there were lots of boats out for the day, had to watch-out

i went on a long tack close hauled heading north, another boat was close behind me, looked like they might be catching up, i made some adjustments and kept ahead, after a while they turned home.

soon it was mostly just me and the wildlife.

falmouth

falmouth is a nice town with a good chandler and an excellent chart agent and the pubs and restaurants aren't bad either.

you can browse the internet for free for half an hour in the public library, which is where i'd go and check the weather forecasts each day.

a couple on a catamaran had just returned from a trip around the world and they told me to use Wetterzentrale. i had to wait 4 days for a forecast without the word 'gale' in it.

i went to the chandler and bought a solar still and a waterproof 'grab bag' and i asked the chart agent for 'a mercator projection chart from here to the azores' and he had it on the counter in a second and said 'this is what you want', and it was.

dermot

waited a few days in falmouth before setting off, resting and waiting for the weather. dermot is pointing to someone else's boat, mine is the blue one, third from the right.

i hadn't expected to meet anyone i knew in falmouth. i'd just rowed ashore and was busy tying the dinghy up when a voice behind me said 'hello ron, what are you doing here' and it was dermot. dermot was on a round britain trip and his wife and son were with him and i spent some time with them.