We sailed overnight from Flores to Faial and anchored inside the port of Horta. There is limited anchorage space but the docks were all full. Some of us stayed on the boat and others at the Pousada Forte da Horta hotel. The hotel is right by the docks and built into an old fort. It has a small and chilly pool but fantastic food, especially the breakfast buffet. Ask for a room facing the harbor with a balcony.

We took a side trip to the nearby island of Corvo. Boats depart from Santa Cruz and take about an hour or so to get to Corvo. On the day we went there was a strong breeze with steep waves making for quite the bumpy ride in a rib on the way there. It turned out to be totally worth it.

Sailing from Bermuda, we made landfall in Lajes on Ilha das Flores, which is the Western most island of the Azores. Some sailors skip this to go straight to Horta on Faial. We strongly recommend against that, as Flores is a most wonderful island …

Early on when discussing an Atlantic crossing we talked about various possible routes, such as going relatively far North and landing in Ireland. It all came together though when we decided to participate in the Newport Bermuda race and to then sail from there to the Azores. We would then cruise the Azores for a while …

A few days ago we completed our passage from Bermuda to the Azores. We departed from Saint George the afternoon of July 1st and arrived at Lajes on Ilha das Flores 10 days later. To be more precise it took us 9 days and 18 hours to cover 1,690 NM for an average speed of 7.2 knots. This was made possible by superb conditions. We sailed mostly on a starboard tack with wind speeds in the 10-20 knot range.

Excited to report that we have successfully completed the Newport Bermuda race. Frolic is currently at the dock at RBYC. We were sailing in the Finisterre Division, which is the cruising division of this race. While we were competing we were also really putting the boat and its systems (and the crew) through its paces as a final shakedown before our North Atlantic transit.