Goodby Angra, Hello Praia da Vitoria

July 31, 2008 Thursday

Today we just finished the most delightful light-air sail down to the main commercial port on the island of Terceira. It is Praia da Vitoria, so named because it has the best beaches on the island (praia) and sometime back in the old days the town picked the winner of some political conflict and became the "vitoria".

We have lots of pictures to put up from Angra, but just wanted to write a little something to show that we are still here. We've been lazy until we finally got bored with Angra and had to move on. It's a great town though and all of the Azores are a great vacation destination unless you like casinos and discos. I'll take beautiful, pastoral, charming, inexpensive, and crime-free, thank you. I can't help it, I'm old.

This has been a mixed week emotionally, having lost both family and friends to old age. I get little satisfaction from the realization that I am now the oldest man in my family and the next up to bat. Oh well, got to go out in a blaze of glory. Speaking of which, I had a huge compliment this week. It seems that there is a flamenco club in Puertollano, Spain that has a bi-annual singing contest. Well, this year they want to honor American aficionados (don't ask me why - I just work here). They saw the YouTube video of me singing and playing and want me to perform. They sent word through a friend and I have tentatively accepted, pending the financial arrangements. They sent back word that they were delighted. I've been involved with this odd art form for almost half-a-century and it is nice to be recognized by those who know what I am doing.

OK, so we are going to row in and report to the authorities and have a look at the town. Our efforts at towing a lure did not produce a fish and so we will see if a fish market can fill the void. Here are the last pix of Angra.

Here is one of Angra's main cathedrals.

The architecture is just what I like.

The streets at night are well lit and completely without members of the underclass (which don't seem to be here anywhere)

Nice, huh?

This was a sidewalk cafe that we favored. Great sandwiches for little $.

Lazy times in Angra

July 27, 2008 Sunday
It is the day after my birthday and we are just laying around, taking it easy. Yesterday we hiked around the city again.
Here is a shot of the botanical garden - it is much bigger than this, but this gives an idea.

Here is yet another sidewalk mosaic. Nearly all the downtown sidewalks are like this and the patterns are all different - the workers get to be artisans. Cool huh?

You'll remember that I mentioned the clarity of the water. Here you can see some rocks below the surface, giving a hint of that clarity.

We hiked over to the fort on the East side of the harbor. It has been converted to a parador, but they let you explore the old parts.

Then I made a panoramic shot of the West side of the harbor, showing the other fort all along the waterfront. Double-click to make it bigger.

After seeing the fort, we walked around shopping (or looking at things). We passed through a neighborhood where there were all the car agencies. Nearly every Japanese, Korean, and European make was represented, but only Ford from the US. Most of the cars were smaller than the same brand in the US. I wish we could buy them there!

This is a pretty big city. We were amazed at the number of boutiques and sporting clothing stores. In the evening, we went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. A good time was had by all and I got everything that I wanted.

The Azores are a terrific place to have a vacation. It could cost a bit to get here because you probably would need to fly into Lisbon and then catch a hop to one of the islands. Then there are ferries to inexpensively move between islands. Hotels are very reasonable, especially if you don't need the 5 star kind. Food is pretty cheap - about 10-12 Euros each for a dinner - wine is more. You can find a fixed price meal with drinks and dessert for 5 to 7 Euros. Hamburgers and sandwiches are around 3 - 4 Euros. Car rentals - 30 Euros per day - fuel same as the US. This is probably one of the cheapest places in all Europe and virtually no crime or other tourist hassles. Almost everyone speaks English.

It can be noisy in the marina. There are two big churches that ring bells on the hour and half-hour. Then someone shoots off rockets all through the day at random times, continuing right up to midnight. Not the fireworks kind of rockets; the kind that go up in the sky and make a big bang. Then there are a few goats and roosters for the domestic touch. And then the local ducks and geese pick the most inopportune times to express themselves under our window.

Andi was feeding some stale bread to the ducks yesterday and started a fish feeding frenzy. There are so many fish in the marina that the ducks lost most of the bread to the swarming fish. There were at least 10 varieties including some big ones who would shoot up from the deep and eat one of the small fry. That caused a shock wave to run through the swarm, but then the fish returned to the feeding again. Never seen anything like it. It takes me a long time to get to the boat because I fish-watch all the way down the docks.

Walking through Angra

July 24, 2008 Thursday
We went hiking around town today and were impressed that this is a real city. Horta is just a big town in comparison. Angra has a downtown with lots of modern shopping, big city squares with benches and tables and restaurant kiosks for outside dining, and a most amazing municipal garden, several city blocks in size. We took a quick look at the garden, but Andi is planning on going back for a long visit. We had lunch and then hiked up the hill to the fortress on the West side of the harbor.

In the 1500's, the Spanish temporarily held the Azores instead of the Portuguese. The Spanish wanted to use this harbor to replentish the gold ships on their way home from the new world, but to do that they had to fortify the harbor against the raiding English, French, and stray pirates. The fort stretches along the coast looking down on our anchorage.

We started up the hill heading West...

And we looked down on a nice beach and the marina.

We passed through a very typical residential street.

As we walked along the walls of the fort, we looked out a cannon port and saw our boat.

I glued a few photos together and made this panoramic. You may have to double-click to make it big enough. We were high above the walls of the fort here. We'll visit again when it is sunny to get even more pix.

Angra do Heroismo

July 23, 2008 Wednesday
Today we had an utterly fabulous sail to the island of Terceira and the harbor town of Angra do Heroismo. We left Vila das Velas, Sao Jorge at around 8:30AM with a nice westerly wind. Since we were going East, for once Black's Law was not in effect ("Everything is Upwind from Here"). Shortly after we left, we were followed by a catamaran who quickly put up a spinnaker. I thought, "well, he'll be blowing by us in no time". The old racer in me thought of getting serious about more sail - the new lazy cruiser said "Nah". We jibed downwind in 15 to 17 knot winds and sailed along the most beautiful island - waterfalls coursing down the cliffs in spots. To my surprise, the cat wasn't beating us. When he went way inshore and we went out, we gained quite a bit of ground on him. When we got to the end of the island, the wind came dead aft and got stronger. Did I set the pole? Nah - just took down the jib and sailed on the main alone - doing 6.5 knots anyway. The cat just kept falling behind. When we cleared the end of the island and came into the stronger winds in the channel between Sao Jorge and Terciera, the winds came forward, blowing directly across the boat. Up went the jib and we took off like a rocket. We looked back and the cat seemed to be struggling with his spinnaker. Of course, it was way too much wind. All he needed was a jib - but no, he set another, probably heavier spinnaker and continued wallowing. By the time we got to Terceira, he was almost out of sight astern. I thought those things were supposed to be fast.

The whole time we were having this non-race, there were no waves, the sun was shining, Andi cooked a fabulous lunch, the beers were cold. We were at Terceira by 4:30 and chose to anchor instead of using the marina. It is a very modern and comfortable marina, but we save money by anchoring for free and have lots of privacy. I'd rather spend my money in restaurants!

I want to mention the water here - it is crystal clear. The snorkling is very nice and there are loads of fish. We caught some grey triggerfish. I didn't know if they were edible, so I looked them up on the web. They were considered one of the most delicious small fish - taste like lobster. So we grilled them and wow, were they great. There are lots of fish in the marina - it is like an aquarium. Strange, but there is little marine growth - no mussels or barnacles on the pilings or rocks (or on our hull). There is a little slime on the pilings, but otherwise nothing. Amazing, but I like it.

We were sailing along Sao Jorge and there were little villages along the shore with terraced grazing on the hills above. Imagine the work to carve out fields like that!

As we sailed along, we passed some waterfalls. One is easy to see - can you find the second?

This is the East end of Sao Jorge, but you can also see the volcano on Pico just to the left of it. You may have to double-click to make it bigger.

Here is the view of Angra do Heroismo as seen from our boat in the anchorage.

Here is the church by the waterfront. It looks sort of bluish in the photos, but in real life it is heliotrope. Imagine the meeting of church elders the night they decided on that paint job!

Almost ready to leave Sao Jorge

July 22, 2008 - Tuesday

Here we are on the little pedestrian street, people watching (and being watched), enjoying a cold one and the mosaic sidewalk.

At the uphill end of the street they built this cute little park, beautifully maintained.

Here is a volcanic arch that Andi spotted when we were sailing in. So we walked over and took this photo.

Here is the same arch taken from the water inside an ancient volcanic caldera. All the walls of the caldera are almost vertical and made of cooled lava. Andi was driving the dinghy.

Here is Andi snorkling under the arch.

OK, so I have been wondering how the Azoreans manage to have such beautiful streets and parks with no evidence of an economic basis for their wealth. You may remember the old WPA programs of the Roosevelt administration - intended to pump money into the economy to lift us out of the depression. That appears to be what is happening here. The European Community pumps money into the poorer areas of Europe - and this is one of them. They obviously spend it on public works - in Horta, the garbage trucks emptied the garbage in the marina 4 times a day! There are lots of folks hired to trim the grass and maintain the parks. Those folks spend their paychecks and the money trickles down through the markets, restaurants and service economy. There is very little tourism here although every little bit helps. Selling meat and cheese couldn't support this island at the level we are seeing. Based on their own economic activity, this would be a third-world place and would look a lot more like Mexico in terms of maintenance. But the way it is currently done, it is a wonderland with residents who take obvious pride in the beauty of their world.

Today we were supposed to sail the 50 miles to Terceira, but there is no wind so I think we will stay another day. Don't be afraid to email - we'll get it.

Sao Jorge

July 17, 2008 Thursday
Yesterday we sailed over here and it was more sailing than we have done in a long time - by that I mean we actually did things with the boat instead of just riding on it. You see, Vila das Velas harbor was directly upwind from Horta.

For those of you who haven't completed Sailing 1A, I'll point out that sailboats cannot sail directly into the wind. On a good day with everything working perfectly, we can probably sail at a 45 degree angle towards the wind, meaning that by zig-zagging back and forth, we eventually arrive at a destination that was directly upwind. But good days are rare - usually there are currents and other problems that give us more like a 50 degree angle. And that makes the trip take longer.

So when I said we did a lot of sailing, all that tacking upwind means pulling the jib from one side of the boat to the other every half-hour or so. So we did more tacking yesterday than we did to cross the entire Atlantic Ocean (on the passage, sometimes we didn't touch any of the lines for several days). I guess I'm complaining because my hands are sore. Some folks wear gloves, but not us machos!

So here we are! Yet another lovely Azorean harbor. This one has some commercial stuff because it is the main harbor for the whole island. These islands are about the same size as Catalina and its sisters. All their supplies have to come by ship and then they send back to the mainland the legendary Sao Jorge cheeses. Sorry we can't share some electronically. Here is a video of the harbor - if you just see a white space, wait a while; then you will see a picture of Andi - click on the play button and you will see the word "buffering" - that means it is putting the video into your computer's memory - if your computer is fast it will only take a minute, otherwise go make a drink. Once it is buffered in you can replay it at will:



Tomorrow I'll put up some pictures. I guess you have already figured out that we still have internet access. There is wi-fi in the harbor. I'll digress just long enough to talk about the officials here. We have been dazzled at the courtesy and cooperative spirit we have found here. There are quite a few officals, but when they come to the boat, they help plug in the electricity. Usually we go see them in an office close to the harbor - they fill out a few forms and off we go. They usually have good advice for things to do and see or good places to shop. The officials in Central America were officious and unpredictable... and not very helpful. The officials in the US are bored, uninterested, officious and unpredictable. Generalities I know, but the overall impression. Just another plus for the Azores.

Here is Saeta at home in Sao Jorge

Here is the main church featuring the ornate stone mosaic on all the sidewalks.

Here is the sidewalk in front of the church. Friends told us that this is all new work - it wasn't here last year.
Here is a little shopping street (no cars) with the mosaic sidewalk. The next entry will have my comments on how they can afford to do all this.

We have a lot of pix of the volcano on Pico - here it is as seen from Sao Jorge. These islands in the middle group are pretty close together.

Off to Sao Jorge....

July 16, 2008 Wednesday
Today we are off to Sao Jorge, a quick little sail of 21 miles. I don't know if we will have internet over there, so I am putting up a few more pictures. I can always send text over the radio.

Here is another, better shot of the volcano on Pico as seen from the marina in Horta.

Andi spent 2 days painting on the wall, during which time she was photographed and interviewed by tourists repeatedly. She got to meet all kinds of interesting people.

Here is how our wall painting came out.

Here is a replica of a 16th century caravel that was a part of a reinactment last weekend of the arrival of Flemish settlers in the 1500's. Faial was not just settled by the Portuguese, but also the Flemish.

Here is a road sign that we saw in Flores. Would somebody please explain exactly what kind of danger it is warning us about?

A day trip to Pico

July 10, 2008 Thursday
Hello again,
Yesterday, we took the ferry over to Pico, 20 minutes away, and rented a car with some of the other cruisers (Merritt, and John and Shirlee from Solstice). It was a Mitsubishi Colt and decently comfortable for 5. Of course, the mountain required an aggressive use of the gears, given the load. I think we only got into top gear for about 2 minutes all day. Cool little car though - why can't we have cars like this in the States? We drove up to the top of the mountain and all around the perimeter of the island - in the car all day and used 6.7 liters of fuel - for which we paid $10 Euros!

Here is the volcano on Pico as seen from the marina in Horta - most of time it is shrouded in clouds. You can see some of the paintings that the cruisers put on the seawall. We will be adding ours in due course.



The ferry pulled into the harbor at Madalena, one of the bigger towns.


Then we drove all the way to the other end of the island - took a few hours - where we stopped for lunch. Pico is one of the wine growing regions of the Azores and grapes never had to work harder to survive. Here is a sparse vineyard near the lighthouse.


There is little level ground, so they pile up some volcanic rock and throw a little dirt behind the wall and call it a vineyard. You gotta really want some wine, I guess!


Here you see the grapes lying directly on the volcanic soil (more like crushed rock). I suppose there must be some dirt around somewhere because a few of these wines are decent. A lot are pretty rough. Most of the better wines are imported from Portugal (as are most things). A drinkable wine can be had for as little as 2.60 Euros and that would be better than 2-buck Chuck. As a result, the cruisers are having a lot of wine tastings. There is a lot of socializing here among all the boat people, but there is quite a gulf between them and the locals. The locals pretty much keep to themselves and given that few of us speak Portuguese, there is little common ground. A lot of the locals that provide tourist services speak excellent English so getting business done is easy enough.
We are going to stay in Horta maybe another 5 days of so and then start working our way East through the islands. August is the big European holiday month so everything is crowded, expensive, and crazy during that month. Therefore, there is little reason to rush to Portugal until the bedlam settles down. We just need to start before the Portuguese Trade Winds start getting light in September.

Still catching up on old pictures for you....

Mick Roberts in Oriental, NC plotted our daily positions on a chart to see our progress. You can see how our weather guru, Herb, had us zig-zagging around bad weather.
Here is Faial and it's neighbor, the volcano Pico rising through the dawn clouds.
This is the "White Castle" rock formation.
Here is a bit of the coastline that I also show you in a video later - but this should be much sharper, especially if you double-click it.
Here we are in Peter's "Cafe Sport", a world famous watering hole in Horta. Peter Azevedo, the owner, was a genial host for sailors for many years and just died last year. It is still a center for the cruisers and there are boat flags all over the walls.

Left over pictures from Flores - just couldn't leave them out.

These two guys motored by in their dinghy and we did a double-take. They had a white cat in the bow, acting as if it was a dog. Every time they went by, the cat was up in the bow, ready to go ashore. Amazing!!!
Andi grabbed a shot of this exotic palm tree in front of the Cathedral.
They don't call this place Flores for nothing.
Here is the harbor from high on the hill.
And who can resist a really bad billy goat?

I suppose you remember that you can double click on a photo and it will double in size? You did remember that, right?