Horta, Ilha do Faial
The Arquipelago Dos Acores is composed of nine volcanic islands. From west to east: Flores, Corvo, Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa, Terceira, São Miguel and Santa Maria.
We made our landfall in Horta on the island of Faial, on 23rd of May after 22 days at sea since we left the anchorage of Marigot in Saint Martin. And so, 14 years after her first visit in 2012, Lovisa was back in Horta. The harbor was pretty full when we arrived but luckily the harbour master found a place for us alongside the Danish sailboat S/Y Iris and Norwegian one S/Y Nemo. After our first night, Iris left to another island and we got the place directly along the quay with Nemo and another Dutch boat on our starboard side. When Nemo left the following day, the 33 foot sailboat S/Y Sorgenfri of Johan Petersen took the spot. Johan is a Norwegian sailor who circumnavigated the world, including a visit to Antarctica, with three of his friends in the nineties when they were in their twenties.
We dedicated the first day in Horta to simply recover a bit from the lack of sleep accumulated during the passage. The place we got in the Marina was extremely well protected from the swell so the boat was completely still. No need to worry about an anchor that could start dragging, no need to inflate the dinghy to go on shore and we had the marina’s café just a few meters away. Luxury! Then came the time to clean and dry the interior of the boat, wash our clothes, take a warm shower and open the last gift from Maria’s sister and brother in law.
We went to Peter’s bar the day after our arrival. Peter Café Sport is an iconic bar located just in front of the marina in Horta. A place where sailors traditionally gather after arrival, to share sailing stories around a drink and some food. And after so many nautical miles behind, no one is short of sailing stories.
Because most of the sailors who cross the Atlantic from the Caribbeans to Europe stop in Horta, we came accoss many familiar faces just walking in the marina. But not only faces. Leaving a painting on the pier of the marina of Horta has been a tradition for many years and on our first day in Horta, as we walked along the quay, we found the painting that Anders and Ann-Christin did in 2012 on their return voyage after eight years around the world with Lovisa. Of course it was damaged by the years under the rain and sunlight but still recognizable. We also spotted the one that Thomas and Petra sailing S/Y Anne-Mon made in 2021 as well as several others.
It took us many days to really recover from this passage. Many days for the body to adapt to the cooler temperatures and humid climate. Many days for the brain to relax and not dream about navigation.
Once sufficiently restored, we decided to rent a car to try to discover what the island had to offer.
From Horta, we drove on the slope of the volcano toward the top for 30 minutes through a very thick fog. Until the very last meters before the viewpoint of the crater, we kept hoping for the fog to miraculously dissipate at higher altitudes. But no miracle happened at the top and this is the view we had when we reached the top of the crater…
We had a good laugh at this. In nice weather we would have seen the contour of the crater, the lake at the bottom and the sea in background. We felt grateful that we could still find our way back to the car.
After this breathtaking experience, we opted for someting inhouse. We drove to the lighthouse Farol da Ponta dos Capelinhos on the western end of the island. The lighthouse is not operative anymore and it is now a museum that recalls the eruption of the submarine volcano Vulcão dos Capelinhos in 1957 until 1958. The volcano erupted just in front of the lighthouse that is now standing behind the remains of the cone of the volcano that rose above sea level.
We continued our journey through the fog toward the northwestern part of Faial where we stopped for lunch. And there, after delicious fish sticks, meat sticks and grilled swordfish, we finally started to see a bit of blue sky. Never give up ! Never loose hope ! While a thick fog was covering the south and center parts of the island, the north part was actually enjoying a lovely sunny day.
We enjoyed a few kilometers of road under the sun until we got back into the fog. On the way back to the marina, we stopped by the Botanic Garden of Faial. Interesting work to preserve species but not as visually impressive as Jardin de Balata in Martinique.
Then came our turn to paint so we bought some paint and pencels and let our talent flow on the pier of the Marina.
Here are some of the paintings left by other sailors and friends we met along the way.
Apart from enjoying Faial, we also needed to prepare for the next leg. When it comes to the seawater pumps, we noted gladly that the spare seawater pump stopped leaking by itself after running for a few hours. We serviced the original water pump and replaced all sealings and the bearings. We also replaced the shaft and the cover because both were a little bit worn out. Once we got the pump reassembled we reinstalled it back on the engine.
São Jorge
After a long and deserved rest, on June 3, we left Horta and sailed to Velas, on the nearby island of São Jorge as we were curious to see a a bit more of the Azores before heading toward Ireland and Scotland. The trip was a four-hour enjoyable downwind sailing in winds that slowly increased from 5 to 13 m/s. We contacted the marina as we were approaching the harbour and they gave us a spot immediately. Velas is a small harbour with limited number of places. The smaller the boat, the higher the chance to get a place.
The harbour of Velas is also the home of a colony of Cory’s Shearwater. These birds are out fishing during the day and they come back to the nest only at night so the marina is immersed in a very special sound these birds make.
In Velas we met again with our friends on S/Y Alba who sailed there the day before us, and we got the chance to share a beer with Johan and his mates on S/Y Sorgenfri.
After a month at sea we thought it was a good idea to get some exercise and go for a hike. There are several hiking trails in the Azores. We went for the most popular of the island. A walk down from the 700m hill of Serra do Topo in the middle of the island down to Fajã de Caldeira and Fajã dos Cubres. Fajã is a portugese term that designates a coastal plain. It took us 3.5 hours to get to the last Fajã where we got picked up by a taxi to get back to the marina.
We remained truly fascinated by the nature of São Jorge and the calm of Velas. So far probably the most peaceful and prosperous place we have visited during this whole adventure. Houses, gardens, streets, even sidewalks are very well taken care of, in the evening we heard someone play live music, there was a festival, and people were socialising in the main square and in bars. There is even an auditorium in this small village. A lot is happening in the middle of the Atlantic. And they love their own locally produced meat and dairy products – as do we.
We would have gladly spent more time but we still had a long way to go to get back to Sweden …