Ola from Horta

Passing the island of Pico

Festival lights at Ponta Delgada

Saturday morning, main square

The strangest thing in Ponta Delgada - Saturday morning, the imposing Church, busy with lights, the main square, busy with people. A happy scene except that the people were on all fours, mainly women, some weeping, others mumbling something over and over to themselves, many with bloody knees. All looked cold, wet and miserable. A penitence of some kind on the occasion of the festival of Santo Christo do Milagros - Saint Christ of Miracles. It puzzled me why the penitents were almost exclusively women - I don't believe that women are more 'sinful' but are they more inclined to feel the need to repent and if so why? (answers on a post card please)

Pilgrims come from all over the world to honour Sao Miguel's Santo Cristo in thanks for the miracles he has performed. We were hoping we'd be permitted the miracle of sun and warmth but apparently this was not possible. So we set off for the more westerly island of Faial under a cloak of rain. Impulse was in her element with 15 knots of true wind just forward of the beam. Not a bit under pressure she raced along doing 7-9 knots. Passing the island of Pico we were congratulating ourselves, reckoning this would be our fastest passage ever. Inevitably the wind then dropped forcing us to play the hokey cokey with the sail locker.

Now we are in Horta harbour. It's lovely and low key. The rolling hills above the Portuguese townscape have quenched my thirst for green. The chirpy birds have reminded me its Spring and that Devon must be at its best - which is nice given that its almost our next stop.

We are leaving tonight. All being well the wind (plenty of it) will be on our stern. We'll skip along the edge of a low, heading NE, and scoot into the Isles of Scilly to catch our breath. The 1200 miles should take us no more than 2 weeks - but I think I said that once before!