Year 3 -8th October 2026 – Depart Faial -Azores for Hamble UK

We all woke at about 8.00am and Mark and David went to get croissants, bread and pastel de nata. We had a pleasant breakfast of croissants and jam, tea and coffee and I had some granola.

I had noticed a leak from the rear toilet at its base. It did not see to be coming from any pipes and seemed to be coming from below the macerator. I therefore messaged the guys at Mid-Atlantic who had come before but they were too busy but they recommended the guys at Café Peter who offer yacht services. I walked across and saw Dwark who I had chatted too before and explained the problem. He said he would come across which he did some 30 minutes later.

I had a spare macerator so they agreed to replace it which they did. This stopped any leak from the pump but there was still a small leak from the base. The seal underneath must need replacing. There was nothing we could do here so it will have to be fixed in the UK.

I had been monitoring my phone as Keith Watson (Whatty) was flying in and once he landed he messaged me and I met him at the taxi rank. It was great to see him again and he is returning to Stormbird for the 6th time on my trip.  Keith Winstanley has returned for about the 10th time making them the two most consistent returners although Mark did a lot in my first year and has now been on since Cape Town. I settled Whatty on board and went off to the marina office.

I paid the marina bill and then went to the Immigration Office to check out of the Azores. I then had to call all the crew to come and all of us had to give our pictures and fingerprints again. I thought with the new EU system that this would not be necessary.

We filled the water tanks and prepared the boat. Dave and Mark went off for a swim. I then went through the boat with Keith (Commodore), David and Whatty inside and outside which took us to lunchtime. We had a sandwich with egg mayonnaise which Dave had prepared and cheese and meats.

I gave the Commodore, Whatty and David their life jackets and lifelines. We then got together as a crew and I went through the route, passage plan and then did the general briefing and then our emergency procedures.

We had decided to leave between 4-5.00pm and so Whatty and I went for a walk and had an ice cream. I showed him round the town and everyone liked Horta.

Mark set about sorting the fishing gear as Dave had bought some more lures. We had taken out the freezer stuff for supper.  We had our last cup of tea with a pastel de nata which was delicious.

We prepared, took in the electric cable and prepared the lines and at 16.32pm we reversed out of our mooring and we headed out of the harbour. We were off.

I was conscious that this was my last leg of my circumnavigation and I had given my last briefing and this will be the last crew. It was a good crew of Mark Malitskie, Keith Winstanley, Keith Watson, David Mark and Dave Smith. Mark started with me in July 2023 to the Canaries and we have now done two Atlantic crossing together including the Stormbird one in January 2024. He then returned to Panama and sailed to the Marquesas. He also returned to Tahiti but had to return home due to his wife becoming ill and has now returned since Cape Town. He came to see Stormbird in Antigua before I bought her and he had sailed Stormbird back with me from the Azores originally in 2022. He also sailed a lot with me on my last boat and we have sailed any miles together. Keith Winstanley who has been on about 10 times and which included Spain to the Canaries, the Atlantic crossing in 2024, Panama to Galapagos, Tahiti to New Zealand, Bali to Thailand, India to the Maldives, Mauritius to Cape Town and now has returned for the last leg. Keith Watson (Whatty) did Spain to Canaries, Grenada to Panama, Marquesas, Tahiti to New Zealand, Thailand to Sri Lanka, Maldives to Mauritius and now returns for the last leg. David Mark did Grenada to Panama and has now returned for the last leg. He was on my last boat with Mark and I when we did the Atlantic in 2019 with the Arc +. Finally Dave Smith who only contacted me earlier this year and who has been on since Cape Town.

The passage back to the UK and specifically Hamble is about 1,400-1,500 nm and at this time of year you have to watch out for the lows billowing across the Atlantic from America. As a result we may get some 30-35 kt gusts but we shall keep on the outside of any lows. The passage should take us 8-9 days and we hope to arrive mid-late morning of the 17th October all being well.

On checking the weather we do not expect any meaningful wind until about midnight on the 9/10 so we were likely to motor for the first 31 hours.

We got out of the harbour and there was about 10-11 kts of wind and so we upped the sails and were soon doing 7-8 kts in beautiful sunshine. There was a little traffic about but we sailed close hauled round the first headland and then on our course of about 040 degrees which was more of a beam reach going to a broad reach.

We sailed along nicely and we saw Faial, and Pico looking stunning in the sun. As time went on the sun began to fade as did the wind so we had to motor again but then we could use the main to assist us so we motor sailed.

Mark prepared supper which was a hairy bikers sausage stew with rice and David had fish. This was warming and lovely and we had supper in the cockpit in sunshine. This was a lovely start to our last leg.

The wind increased to about 9kts so we put up the genoa and sailed. We passed round Pico and the island of Sao Gorge was then in front of us and as the sun went down we left it to starboard. We could see the volcanic cone of Pico which rises up to 2,351m and it is impressive.

David and I had been on watch since we left and as it got dark we handed over to Mark and Dave and we were sailing nicely. I checked the weather and all was fine and so David and I went to bed as we had the 2.00am -5.00am red eye slot. I heard the sails come in so the wind must have died and we then motored as anticipated.

We settled down to our first night of the last passage.

The picture of the day is the 6 of us before we set off. The last Motley Crew!!

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com