Azores Island Hopping

The storm passed, more boats arrived looking wet and exhausted and we were able to get outside and do stuff again.

Andy and I took a ferry from Faial to Pico, spent the afternoon in the worst hire car ever (100,000 km on the clock, no suspension left or padding in the seats but very cheap!) seeing around the island, stayed in a little hotel in the whale watching capital of the Azores and the next day climbed to the top of the Pico volcano - the highest point in the Kingdom of Portugal. This was quite a tough climb in places but another very sociable yachting activity - we started off at about the same time as Inge and Soren from Germany, who we knew from the bar and then met the crew of Irish boat Pylades, who we hadn't yet talked to, at the top.

Then it was back to Horta and, still waiting for the Duogen spare parts, time to get on with preparations to leave.  Sailors are not meant to leave Horta without putting a painting for their boat somewhere on the harbour wall. This is supposed to make sure you arrive at your next destination safely and Horta is apparently where it all started so you HAVE to do a painting here.

June 21st was Andy's birthday - thanks for all the messages he received - so after dinner (including a really expensive chocolate cake) we headed for Peter's bar. Its actually a lot quieter than when we first arrived - many boats have moved on - but suitably fuelled, Andy's best birthday present was cutting Eskild's hair at 3am. To give Eskild confidence Andy started with Soeren, another young Dane. Then it was Eskild's turn and I'm not sure who was most worried; at one point the clippers did look as if they were going to give up, but generally the result is pretty good! (and long long overdue)

We gave up waiting for spare parts and were checking out with the marina and immigration when our parcel finally arrived, so next day the 3 of us set sail for Graciosa, one of the smaller islands.  We kept our eyes open all through the 50 mile trip and were rewarded by seeing two sperm whales, one big and the other smaller, swimming along side by side - really great.

We anchored in the tiny harbour with just 2 other boats and went to the village in search of food. We could only see 2 small cafes and picked one for no obvious reason at all - it turned out to have a massive and excellent restaurant hidden in the back where everything we had, steak, fish and squid, were all delicious. The next day we walked off to see yet another volcano, however this one is a bit different. In the crater there is an absolutely massive cave with a big lake and a small patch of bubbling mud, and a very nice guide who doesn't speak any English or French but is highly enthusiastic about showing you around the cave. On the way up to volcano a local dog decided just to come for a walk with us - we were out for about 4 1/2 hours and did not return past his house - we felt rather mean as we got in the dinghy to return to Nimrod and left him on the harbour wall gazing at us!

The next day we sailed another 50ish miles to Angra do Heroismo on our fourth island, Terceira, where we discovered they were one week into a ten day festival and this seems to be the island where they really do festival properly. The live concert in the marina finished around 5am last night and tonight it all finishes with fireworks at midnight.  The streets are all beautifully decorated and there is something going on somewhere all the time. We have seen parades of bands and children, a sort of farmer's market, several bands and dance groups and a weird fashion show, but Eskild hasn't managed to see any bull fighting or bull running yet - no one seems to have told him the right time or place - he has a last chance this evening!

The islands are all actually a little different although its hard to explain. Faial is totally covered in Hydrangeas, all along all the roadsides and making the hedges between all the fields. When we drove round the island they weren't quite at their best. Pico has fewer hydrangeas and is dominated by the huge volcano. It has lots of sights of volcanic interest and is very beautiful and also seems a bit more laid back and easy going than Faial.  Graciosa was just small and very rural with peasant ladies in black dresses and straw hats and many more donkeys. We saw an old man in a flat cap talking to his donkey outside his house but he had a mobile phone in his other hand! Terceira is by the far the most cosmopolitan place we have been yet - it will be interesting to see more of the island if we hire a car for a day. Then its one more island to go (Sao Miguel) and another week and a bit in Azores before we sail on to Europe.

Lucy (Sunday 26th June)