Azores in 5-4-3-2-1

We were overtaken by Hamish on yacht Low Profile early this am! So there I was writing to you as this 13m yacht crept up behind and I thought shall I, no it’s 3am, maybe I should, ah no it’s too much, but I really should… And that’s when I decided that it was on and that I had to defend our place. Turning to windward I put up the main, tweaked everything, got an extra 0.8 of a knot out of the downwind run, but calm as a cucumber along comes the very friendly Hamish, has a chat, and away he goes off into the distance.

Working down from 250nm to go to 120nm was a durge; so slow. Then the wind backed and put us on a broad reach so now we are tanking along at 7.5 to 9 plus knots and Hamish, once vanished, is back on AIS ahead of us so we are reeling him in. But he is 9 miles ahead and we have just 39nm to go so I think he will take the line with ease. Our ETA is about 5am. Hamish recommends the steak on a hot rock with Pico wine, this his 4th time here, and it sounds like a mouthwatering prospect. It’s blowing about 18-25kn from SW. The Azores is buzzing with ship and yacht traffic so there’s lot’s to see and focus on all of a sudden. Fantastic. It’s great to see after days alone. It all started to get exciting at about 100nm out and the hours are rushing by. I can now get FM radio but only some dreadful stuff on the classical station – need to knock off a few more miles.

DTG 35nm

Galley same as yesterday

Barometer – 1021