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!
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