Leaving Horta, heading for home...

Atlantic dolphins follow us as we leave Horta

Impy looking small amidst the big boys at Horta

Pretty as they are, the multicoloured swirls than dance across this week's weather chart fill me with dread. Two tiny red blobs in particular. They sit in the centre of each anticlockwise spiral and herald winds in excess of 40 knots. Plotting our likely position at various projected dates over and over, we determine that we shouldn't be in the hot zone but, in reality, who knows? Oh well, we have gone for it anyway and - so far so good.

We left Horta at the end of the afternoon with a gentle breeze plumping the spinnaker. We coasted past the high cliffs and Faial's emerald green hillside with its Etch-a-sketch of small square fields. A pod of bottlenose dolphins arrived, much larger than the common dolphins we have become accustomed to. Some entertained us with acrobatic jumps and side flops but all were soon gone, to round up supper no doubt.

The wind began to gust around midnight. The asymetric was replaced by full main and headsail on a goosewing. It's quite a caper changing sails singlehanded and this simple swap took ages. I was glad for the exercise though simply because it kept me warm. All the while dolphins swam around us, streaking this way and that, lighting up the otherwise dark water with explosive phosphorescence.