4th February 2026

We are miles away from the Azores heading around 80° (almost due east).

Nowhere is there blue sky this morning as I finish breakfast looking out of the starboard side floor to ceiling windows of the Lido.  When I found a table carrying precariously a bowl of oatmeal. banana, honey and plain yoghurt, the place was full.  No al fresco coffee this morning trying to shelter from a blazing sun then!  However, I am enjoying from the vantage point of a window seat a different grey frothy Atlantic Ocean. I assume we are heading towards the African coast in search of (or towards) the least turbulent route home without compromising any schedules.  

We should be in a magnificent sunny  Ponta Delgada, today, a final farewell to the glorious even too hot climes of the islands we are returning from. 

However, I understand this rarely works out as hoped.  Winds and rain frequently batter the isles of the Azores (which I do hope that I get to visit eventually).  The grey sea and colourless sky is still mesmerising. Seeing this from the comfort of a decent cruise ship is a rare privilege.  (It might not feel like it after a day or two!) 

A few more people are in warmer attire while the hardy macho of society persist in denial with colourful thin Caribbean shirts, shorts and sneakers. I shall exchange my short sleeve shirt (from Potters in Buxton!) for a long sleeve counterpart, and return to the Promenade Deck for some walking, of which I have done little over the last two days.

Ye Gods!  Is that the sun breaking through?

The Captain’s noon-day broadcast more or less confirmed what we were told yesterday.  As you will see from the charts below, we continue in a predominantly easterly direction with Madeira c500 miles south east and the Azores a similar distance northwest. 

Things get even more interesting tomorrow as we approach Cape Finisterre, and inevitably the Bay of Biscay.

More views tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, David. 12.30 in his stateroom.