The Azores!

Faial, our first stop

We arrived in Horta on the island of Faial on Monday June 3. It took us 12 day, 6 minutes to get there from Bermuda. As soon as we saw the island, I knew we were someplace special. I was mesmerized by the intense green pastures. It was breathtaking. We were immediately greeted by the Staff from the ARC Rally. After we checked in we the spot where we would anchor for the next several days. Mike and I got out into the town of Horta and did a bit of site seeing. I fell in love with the cobblestone streets and sidewalks and the old architecture of the buildings and homes. It was so different from anything we have experienced so far.

We also took a coach tour of the island. As we drove through the countryside we were told about some of the history of the island and how many of the beautiful trees and plants made it to the island. This is a very lush and beautiful island. The roads are all lined with hydrangeas. They even separate all of the fields and pastures with walls of hydrangeas. Right now they are just starting to bloom. This is called the Blue Island because they only have blue hydrangeas, whereas the other islands have purple and pink ones as well. It was absolutely spectacular.

Our first stop on our tour was to one of the Faial cheese factories. It was quite small, but they produce a fairly large amount of cheese. What an experience. The cheeses they make are semi soft cheeses, and they are delicious. In fact I think it was the best cheese I’ve ever had. Naturally we bought several blocks.

Our final stop was to the west side of the island. This entire island chain is made up of volcanoes. The last one that erupted here in the 1950’s increased the size of the island by several kilometers. There is a definite line of demarcation where the ash from the eruption settled. Apparently there are many homes that are still buried under the ash.

Terceira Island

As a group we did a day sail to the island of Terceira, our second stop. I’m not sure how, but it was even better than Faial. We took our time getting to Terceira and didn’t arrive at the marina until around midnight. Yet we were still greeted by an ARC staff member. Even the very nice people on the boat next to where we docked we’re out and helped us with our lines. As we pulled into the marina, it looked like something out of a movie, with the beautifully lit buildings.

The next morning we did a walking tour of the city, where we got a chance to see the beautiful gardens that are prevalent throughout the city, and the magnificent cathedrals.

We even had the opportunity to get a little taste of home

Then there was the running of the bulls, an event they do every Saturday during the summer.

It was a short stay in Terceira.

Sao Miguel, our final stop

And our best stop. Sao Miguel has so much to offer being the largest and most advanced island. Many of the streets and sidewalks were still cobblestone and the architecture was anything but modern. We immediately found so much to do. We spent our first day in port getting checked in and taking care of the boat. We set up a car rental for the next day and made out plans for touring the island. We went with our friends from Bistari, Josh, Tamara and Max. It was the most amazing tour ever. The islands, being volcanically active, has several hot springs, and after the long sail, we were all in desperate need for some. We found one on the northwest side of the island that completely natural. The hot water spring empties right into the ocean in a little cove. There’s plenty of surge, so they have ropes that go across the cove for people to hold onto, and ladders to in and out of the pool. We spent a couple hours there, going from the hot side closest to shore and the cold side

We drove around the island, stopping at viewpoints overlooking the calderas and the lakes there. One of the places we stopped at had steam vents and boiling mud from the underlying volcano.

By the end of the day we were all exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep. The next evening we all went to the most amazing steakhouse I’ve ever been in. We met the owner Louis, who raises the cows here on Sao Miguel, then ages the meat right there in the restaurant. We picked our desired cut of meat, a tomahawk, and the chef found the right one that would easily feed the five of us and cooked it to perfection. It was without a doubt the best steak I’ve ever had. No one left hungry.

The next evening was our crew dinner and awards ceremony for the second leg of the Rally. Among the catamarans we had finished fourth, even though we were the last on off the starting line. The final ranking takes into account how many engine hours were used and each boat is given a time factor based on the size and type of boat. There was one catamaran that everyone knew would take first place. It’s a performance cat that is about half the weight of our boat and several feet longer. It’s sort of like a Lamborghini in a race with Mustangs and Camaros.

We were completely shocked when our name was announced as taking second place. It was such an exciting moment for us, especially since we didn’t even think we would place. Our friends Bistari, took third place in their category. We so excited for them. It was a great night for us all.

After thoroughly enjoying the Azores it was finally time to leave and set out on our last leg to Lagos Portugal. We are supposed to have good wind and following seas for this portion. One more long journey and we will finally be in Europe.