Last Lap

We are getting ready for our last long passage back to the UK. After a small change, we are now leaving direct from Horta on Faial rather than heading to the island of Terceira first. They are celebrating their Semana do Mar this week and we felt like staying for that which meant we have been unable to take in Terceira. It has however been fun and we do not regret it despite being very crowded on the wall here.

This morning saw us doing the ritual large food shop in the supermarket with a lengthy list of staples and some luxury snacks to tide us over long night watches. This is a strange passage to be preparing for. It is only half the distance of our passage from the Caribbean but is in much more northerly lattitudes and so the weather is much less predictable. It will also be getting colder as we get north as well. However, there is really an end of cruise feeling now. We are, most likely, ready to move on from the Azores but not really ready to stop cruising and pick up the threads of a shore based life yet.

The local band marches by after the official opening.

A local laser sponsored by Dunkin Donuts! Not sure that it would be wise to over indulge before heading out for a race though.

The Semana do Mar is a lot of fun though the bands can be a bit noisy at night. Still, they are nothing compared to the racket we had to try and sleep through in English Harbour Antigua. We were favoured by a visit from the Mayor of Horta giving all the visiting cruisers a gift of local produce (cheese), hydrangeas and a program of events. The cheese was delicious. There have been various processions and as I write this there is an informal racers for single handers though they call it the lonesome sailors regatta. A bit of a mistranslation from Portuguese I suspect. The Mini 6.50 boat head back to Les Sable D'Olonne at 1300 tomorrow. This has dictated our planned departure for Wednesday so as not to have to tangle with them.

The food stalls have been excellent and Audrey went into ecstasies over the local sausage.

We had a "black helicopter" fly over our head this morning!

As usual, we will be out of touch while at sea of course but hope to be arriving in Falmouth around 19-21 August if anyone is in Cornwall and would like to help us drink some Betty Stoggs. Audrey has expressed a longing for a pie though. I have to say that real ale is the only thing I have seriously missed about the UK.

Events in Horta

Well, the weather has been dire here which is ironic given that I understand that it has been warm and sunny in Blighty. Today, in particular, I got caught out in a tremendous thunderstorm coming back from the supermarket. Still, we have had a bit of excitement with a mini 6.50 race arriving over the last couple of days.

You can follow the race here

You really have to admire the people who enter this sort of race. the boats are 6.5 meters long or about 21 feet. They then sail offshore and even across the Atlantic. The newest boats are rather strange looking as well. Apparently, the wide spoon shaped bow gives them more buoyancy which makes the boats drier and so faster.

Two Days Of Tourism

We spent two days doing the tourist thing by hiring a car, first here on Faial and then on Pico. Of course the weather did not cooperate and we had low clouds and some heavy rain. Mind you that is nothing to what it is like now!

Here are a selection of pictures for your viewing pleasure as they used to say on television.

First, we visited the volcanic area at the western extremity of the island. We had seen this from seaward as we approached Faial but it was intriguing to see it close to. They have built quite a good visitor center under the disused lighthouse which explains the history of the earth, volcanoes generally and Faial specifically. The weather was very cloudy to downright foggy but it made it very atmospheric.

We then drove round the island. The cloud was too low to visit the caldeira in the middle of the island unfortunately.

The hydrngeas are truly amazing on this island and they have their own unique variety.

Proof we hired a car and a plague dedicated to the first Portuguese to sail solo round the world:

Audrey and my Mother

Next up was Pico! The weather was even patchier except when we were in familiar bits from our stay in Lajes so here are fewer ones here.

Back to Horta

But not the Future thankfully.

Sorry, that was a dreadful joke but it had to be done!

We have been back in Horta for the last few days and will be here for around another week before heading for Terceira and then on to the UK possibly via NW Spain.

My Mother arrived after a very long journey by train from Bradford-on-Avon to Lisbon via London, Paris, Irun, and Vigo. She then got a plane out to here.

We had a nice enough sail for all of 22 miles from Velas on Sao Jorge though the wind first died and then filled in from the nose along with a strong tide for the last bit. Still, we have been enjoying seeing more of Horta and will be hiring a car to visit Faial properly as well as getting the ferry to Pico and doing the same with a car there.

We also had a chance to catch up with Bruce and Gina on Karinya who showed us to the best tea shop we have seen for a long time. They grow tea on the islands and the tea drinkers we know (Audrey in particular) reckon it is very good for you tea connoisieurs.
Here are some photos of Horta.

Horta has some very elegant squares and this one is in front of the University with a spectacular view across to Pico (when you can see it).

We found a huge and sadly derelict house all overgrown with a notice that it was to be demolished. Chance for someone with a big Euro lottery win though.

The Casa tea house has a lovely garden complete with cute cats.

It also has this intriguing drainage channel in it.

Another square and a monument to an earthquake that devastated a village called Praia do Norte in the seventeenth century.

They have some very large old trees on this island as well.

The flowers are truly amazing on these islands and I may try to get a horticultural entry for those legions of gardeners who devour these ramblings.

Punch and Judy Birds

Well, they are Corys Shearwaters really but their cry is quite extraordinary and when there are lots of them they do sound a bit like a Punch and Judy show so we have called them this. Every night they fly around crying. We tried to record it but a mobile phone is not an idea recording device.

As ever, the web provided a solution though.

Punch and Judy Bird Sound

Graffiti

We have put our mark here in Velas.

We have had a bit of frustration as the inflator pump for the dinghy has given up the ghost which has been confining us to marinas. However, owing to the kindness of a neighbouring boat here we have now blown up the dinghy and are now going to be able to stop at Madalena on Pico before taking our way back to Horta. We should therefore be able to report fully on the Pico wine and also visit some lava tubes!

Sao Jorge

We have been a few days here in Velas now and feel like we are getting a handle on this long thin island. Velas is another delightful little town that forms the capital of this island. The marina is friendly and not quite so small as the ones at each of the Lajes (Flores and Pico) though it is still quite small. There are a good few more yotties passing through so it is a bit busier on the dock than Pico was.

We have had a bit of a frustration as we had intended to spend most of our time here anchored outside the marina in the interests of economy but when I went to blow up the dinghy, the pump started pushing air out of the inlet valve rather than just through the outlet valve. Clearly a non return valve had gone. This pump was new when we left La Linea but has led a hard life and is considerably corroded.

I managed to get it apart with lots of freeing oil to find it impossible to refit the flap that stops air escaping back out of the inlet valve. Ergo, no more dinghy till we can get our hands on a new one! We will therefore be confined to marinas till my Mother arrives bringing a new one with her! We are doubtful about getting one here and it would likely be twice as much as if bought in the UK. The black circle on the gray plastic of the pump is the offending non return valve. Lesson learn't, don't leave your pump in a pool of salt water in the bottom of the dinghy for prolonged periods of time as we have been doing.

Sao Jorge is famous for it's cheese and today we set out to look at one of the local factories in a village up the hill - everything is uphill on this island! We found the village but no cheese factory which is odd as it is both famous and good. Apparently there are more cows on the island than people. Still, we can at least buy the cheese in the local supermarket here.

Here are some pictures of the island. Photography has not been as rewarding as it might have been owing to the variability of the weather which continues warmish (not to us who are now acclimatised to tropical heat still) but with frequent rain showers.

These islands have incredible flowers, especially the ubiquitous hydrangeas.

After a typically large lunch, I took some photos of the village of Velas before getting back on board.

A rare picture of the every lovely Audrey.

Even fishermen have to do their laundry.

Finally, avid readers of this boring ramble will remember the remarkable Swedish woman Eva Kullgren who is now in Brazil. Her boat was an old Hallberg 28. This is another one hauled out here.

It is interesting to compare it with what Hallberg-Rassey make now!