Category: Cruising

Another dark gloomy day. A 90m tall ship with 600k nm and 166 ports visited this vessel does the sea. Rhode Island to Lisbon 31 days. Sails with just under 200 crew. Longest journey just over 4,000nm. Weight 1836 tonnes. Managing the numerous sheets must take some time to learn.

Angra do Heroismo on the island of Terceira. We have yet to see the sun shine on this island so it’s a bit dark and gloomy. With a population of around 55,000 it is also the most populated place we have been for a while and it takes a few hours to adjust. This may be our last island on the Azores as there is a weather window opening up that looks good for a crossing to northern Spain.

  Fajas are the small villages on the rocky outcrops of lava found around the island. People live in some fairly inaccessible places with access via quad bike. Some areas can be reached in a small hire car whereas others involve a 5 to 10km hike. With regard to buses on the island there is one that goes south at 0725 in the morning and it returns at about 1700 that evening. Really, one a day? Yep that’s it on a week day. It’s main purpose is to take ladies to the fish factory and back.   We met Adriana

 Outdoor swimming pools, gardens, beautiful paving, so tidy and so peaceful.

Another great island. We are in Velas, the main town on the island, and it makes Horta seem huge.

So the wind died and we were just rolling and slamming down the coast of Pico with no wind forecast for four days. The boat didn’t want to go on. So we pointed the nose toward Velas on Sao Jorge and suddenly up went the speed to 5.5kn, all was good, and we closed the island. Nearing the port we could see lots of small craft the far side of the breakwater, There seemed to be about 200 people lining the quay. That is until we rounded the corner and saw double that number overlooking the marina. We edged bows

We were all sad to leave Horta; we had moved into this quiet, friendly island and nobody wanted to see it drift away in the wake….

Remember the cool cat of a few posts back? Well this is Gabby and she lives in the sea wall. We met a local resident who looks after her and who is going to buy Gabby a house to place on the sea wall for winter. This beautiful and friendly cat has been given two new homes but each time has runaway to the harbour wall where she has now lived on a permanent basis for the past year. There is a abandoned dog problem on the island and the lady looking after Gabby has also created an association to