Iris and I had a lovely holiday in the Azores about 22 years ago where we met a Portuguese couple who were also on holiday. They knew the area very well and took us to the best places, including “Peter’s Café Sport”, a bar, where they claimed you could get the best gin and tonic in the World. I think they were right.

Peter’s bar is well known among the Trans-Atlantic yachtsmen and a favourite place to rendezvous, so on a glorious sunny morning after four days of gales, rain and some very rough seas, I set out in the warm sunshine to try and find it.

The bad weather had delayed our progress, shortening our stay in the Azores, so although I soon found the bar, the thought of me watching our ship disappear over the horizon from a bar window while sipping gin and tonics made me decide to pass it by. Besides I had a couple more memories to refresh during our brief visit.

The harbour walls in Horta are decorated with literally thousands of illustrations painted by visiting sailors showing the dates of their visits. They often include the names of crew members and usually have colourful images representing the names of their crafts.

I tried to find one that would have been there when Iris and I visited, but without success. The paintings are constantly being overpainted with new records as the old ones fade away. The earliest I saw was 2003, although a fellow passenger says she found a 2001 and is sending me a photo.

The sea view from Horta is dominated by a volcano, the isle of Pico. It was still smoking when Iris and I visited, but reassuringly for the islanders who have made their homes there, there were no signs of volcanic activity yesterday.

It’s now Wednesday and we have started a four day voyage towards Bermuda, hopefully avoiding it’s famous triangle!

The wind has picked up again to gale force 8 but at least it is warm, and the sea, which incidentally is nearly 12,000 feet deep here, is not as rough as it has been.