Yes the Azores was a
better alternative to the Canary Islands. We estimated that the winter would
not be warm and nice like in the Canaries, but at least not too cold either and
the marina prices were moderate.
After a week in the Muros
bay we said good-bye to Kai and Alina from Norway,
who by now had caught up with us in Muros and one evening we left the nice
bay.
We had a weather window
with a forecast on northwesterly winds 15 to 25 knots for 4 days and then
the wind should die off. The forecast was not quite correct, because the wind
came and went and we had to motor sail most of the way. If we hadn’t done
so, we would have been caught in a gale that arrived a day after we arrived.
The passage was not the
comfortable one we had looked forward to, as we had large swell from north east
and the wind waves from the north west creating cross
waves all the way to the Azores. When there is no wind in the sails and you are
in a situation like we were in with seas from two directions it is very
tiresome and the mood bottoms out. Everything moves in the cabin that normally
does not move, if you have sails up the slap and bang all the time. Everything
you do has to be thought through beforehand, because you have to hold yourself
onto every handhold and frame you can find otherwise you will end up with a
broken leg or arm when you cannot keep your balance. When you need to cook or
boil water holding yourself with one hand and only one hand free to do the
cooking, you can understand it is not an easy task.
We were longing to
the end of this passage and after 4 days and 20 hours we moored in Ponta
Delgada. We checked in, got a place in the new marina and just sat down to
relax with a glass of wine, we were “dead tired”.
After one month in Ponta
Delgada we had to move to another marina, because the swell from the sea was
amplified between the outer break water and the marina. Even in a slight wind
we could hardly walk in the boat due to the swell. We had a few blows, not very
strong, but enough to break 4 of our 20 mm nylon mooring ropes in one of the
blows.
We would have liked to
stay for the winter in Ponta Delgada, but the uncomfortable/unsafe marina
prohibited our plans for a wintering there. It was a pity, because the island
itself, San Miguel, is one of the most beautiful places on earth we have yet
seen. Judge for yourself when you see the photos of this island.
We shall start with
photos from the marina and Ponta Delgada and of Lisa of course. Lisa has now
become a little cat lady and we think time has passed too quickly since she was
a small kitten
First an evening picture
from the Ponta Delgada marina then Lisa.
The first month
in the Azores the weather was quite warm and nice so the air-condition
was good to have in the marina when there was no movement of the air. Lisa
placed herself in front of the cold air outlet when it was too warm for her
liking. Other times it was nice to relax beside "daddy", or have
check outside to see what was going on. We had a visit one day of the Bounty,
which is a full seize copy of the original ship. The new bounty sails around
with paying guests on charter trips. This "new" Bounty was the ship
that was in the movie with the same name.
We hired a car for
a couple of days and drove around the island San Miguel
On the way back to Ponta Delgada
we drove on the east and north coasts where these sceneries are taken.
The next day we visited the
Lagoa Fogo in the central part of the island, there are some lovely valleys
with waterfalls on the northern slopes up to Lagoa Fogo.
The best part for us is the western side with the two famous crater lakes, the blue and the green lake. At the beach on the Blue Lake is the town Sete Cidade situated. The whole area around these lakes is so beautiful that is difficult to describe. The images cannot fairly describe the ambiance and beauty of this place, it is just heaven. It is a place Béa and I could live at for the rest of our lives.
The time had come when we decided to leave San Miguel and Ponta Delgada. We have now started a cruise around the Azores islands to find a suitable place to stay for the winter season. The first was the town Angra on the island Terceira. It took us 15 hours to sail to Angra and it was one of the best, no it was the best sailing on the whole year of 2009. The wind was perfect at 20 knots on a beam reach and calm sea with very long "flat" waves. We left in the evening and arrived early next morning in Angra.
Angra do Heroismo which is the correct name of the town is classified as a World Heritage City and one can understand that when walking the streets here. The town is very pretty with old buildings and narrow little streets, all in very good shape. Angra do Heroísmo is the historical capital of the Azores. Today, together with Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel and Horta on the island of Faial, Angra is one of the three regional capitals of the Azores. Each capital houses one of the three branches of government; Angra is the site of the judicial branch, the Supreme Court of the Azores.
Angra is also the archipelago's oldest city, possibly dating as early as 1450. Some claim that Angra was founded by Álvaro Martins, who sailed with Didrik Pining on his expedition to the New World, and with Bartolomeu Dias on his voyage around the Cape of Good Hope. Others contend that Angra was founded in 1450 or 1451 by Jácome de Bruges, a Fleming in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator, who recruited farmers, fishermen, and merchants in the Low Countries to colonize the Azores.
The word Heroísmo ("heroism") was added to the name of the city, Angra (meaning "inlet" or "cove"), by Maria II, in recognition of the bravery and sacrifice shown by the people of Angra in the struggle that ended with the formation of a liberal constitutional monarchy in Portugal.
Angra was hit by a major earthquake on 1 January 1980 that did considerable damage to the city's historic center and to many other locations on the island of Terceira. The Azores have experienced many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions since prehistoric times, but the 1980 event was probably the most serious since the eighteenth century. The damage in the city was repaired and rebuilt within four years. In 1983, the historic center of Angra do Heroísmo was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
From Angra we continued to Praia da Vitoria
In Praia was the first time Lisa fell in the water. She had become over confident about where she could balance, but on the stanchion line was not a good idea. She was swimming very good and fast too. I jumped onto the pontoon and got her by the neck skin and into a warm towel. After the sweet water shower she dried very quickly and sat by me for the rest of the day. On some of the other photos you see a bit more stormy winter weather. The Azores is situated far out in the Atlantic and the winds from low pressure systems that pass north of us can get very strong at times. The maximum so far has been 70 knots.
Praia da Vitória is the second largest city on Terceira Island in the Azores, located on the eastern fringe of the island. Because it is so close to the American airbase in Lajes and the airport of Terceira, the city often finds itself serving as a base for tourists looking to explore Terceira Island. But few of the island’s visitors ever overlook Praia da Vitória itself – its natural beauty and cultural offerings too conspicuous to ignore. The city offers everything from cliff-sheltered beaches and sheltered dunes, to rustic countryside and old gothic and baroque architecture.
As the Azores are all from volcanic origin, there have been devastating earthquakes from time to time. Praia da Vitoria was hit and much destroyed in 1841 and the infamous quake in 1980 on the New Years Day. In December the 15th 2009 a rainstorm destroyed a lot of houses and streets in Praia and it was declared a catastrophe close or equal to the 1980 earthquake. We had some very strong gusts that we could feel onboard the boat and the rain was more than "torrential", but we could not believe that it would cause a catastrophe like it really did. Cars parked in the streets were thrown on top of each other and often plunged into houses along the streets. Mud and clay was burying some houses and most of the town was flooded.
Our Christmas decorations in the boat is a must every year, we spend a traditional Swedish Christmas eve and a traditional Belgian Christmas day.
We will update the website again next year (2010) when our cruise among the 9 islands of the Azores continues and when there are more to tell and photos to show.
Until then, we wish you ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!