After 3073 Miles of open ocean and 30 days and nights at sea two weary sailors sighted land, and the Morven fetched up safely on the tiny island of Flores, most westerly of the Azorean archipelago and thus the most western point of Europe.
We’d left Antigua on 15th May and had quite an eventful passage, sailing a much longer and more convoluted route than anticipated in order to avoid the worst of the weather as we monitored a series of depressions crossing the Atlantic to the north of us.

We dropped the sails on 15th June and anchored in a bay outside the town of Lajes. As soon as we were sure that the anchor was holding we enjoyed a bowl of porridge to warm ourselves up (yes it’s just 15° here; oh how we are missing the Caribbean) and then bed was beckoning; we were both asleep within a nano-second. What luxury to be able to sleep as long as we want to though, rather than grabbing a few hours between night watches.
Next morning we moved to a berth in the tiny marina located behind the main harbour wall and, went in search of customs officials and, more excitingly, some Portuguese wine & cheese!
We plan to stay here for the next week or so to relax and also deal with the inevitable list of small, but essential repairs and maintenance jobs before we can sit down and write the complete Atlantic saga, and then we sail on towards the next island of Faial.

Meanwhile, on first impressions Flores looks to be a charming and friendly island, very laid back and welcoming to sailors in small boats – just what we need.