Change Of Plans

After we left, the winds were on the nose and the forecast had changed, which made it unfavourable for the crossing.  So we put into Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel island.  We will likely be here for few days, along with our Japanese friends on Foxglove, to wait for a weather window.

Bye Bye Azores

Our stay in the Azores has been beautiful.  Yesterday we spent the day on the beach in Porto Pim,  about 1 km. away from the marina.  A few of the cruisers that we met are planning to stay longer, perhaps for the whole season, and that certainly has its appeal.

Entrance to the beach

Porto Pim beach

For us, though, we are shoving off and heading for the main land.  It is just under 1000 miles to our planned landfall in Portimao, and it should take 8 or 9 days.  The sailing should be great as we pass through the Portuguese trade winds that blow steadily from the north.  Grib weather files show winds in the 10-25 knots range blowing consistently.  This will be a big change from the gennaker sailing that we did from Bermuda to the Azores.

We will be leaving behind our friends on Ti Gitu and Meredith.  Our other friends on S'ours left last week for the mainland and should arrive there any day.

Mo and Paul (Ti Gitu)

Yoshi and Fumi

Horta

View of Horta from Pico

Beside us on the dock, we met Yoshi and Fumi, two cruisers from Japan who have been cruising for about 4 years now.  It took them 72 days to sail from Japan to Vancouver, where they spent 3 years cruising the coast.  Then they sailed down the coast, through the Panama canal, to Bermuda and onto the Azores - with stops along the way.  I suspect that you will read more about this very interesting couple because they will make the crossing at the same time as us, winter in Spain, and then sail to Croatia next year to cruise the coast there - exactly the same as our sail plan.

Connie and Bob (Meredith) 

I will be posting during our crossing to report on our progress.

Branko

Wall painting in the Azores

Horta , completed painting

Designing the painting in Horta

Helping Meredith, Flores

Flores sign, finished product

Painting your boat name, dates, picture and/or some design that represents your crew and boat is necessary here in the Azores.  It is said (not sure by who) that if you leave Horta without leaving your mark bad joojoo will follow you and your boat - well of course Anne and I could have none of that.  So to avoid and discourage the bad luck (joojoo) we painted not one,  but 3 paintings and helped with a fourth  :-)

Flores, the new marina encouraged paintings, so we started there with bare walls (very different then here in Horta, where space is a challenge.)  And began the tradition of wall painting in Flores.

Check to see the differences in the two H2OBO paintings - and yes I did contribute to the painting (lettering) and Anne was the artist.  I was the picture taker, obviously :-)

Mag

Anne, she is such a kid :-)

En route to completing, Flores

2nd sign we made for S'ours, Flores

Black Swans

My friends in finance will understand the significance of "Black Swans".  This is a term that denotes the occurrence of rare events.  Supposedly one rarely finds black swans in nature and, similarly, certain financial catastrophes should only happen rarely.

Well, here is a couple of rarities that I photographed living in the central park in Horta.  Perhaps even rarer is the occasion for a prairie boy from Winnipeg sailing his boat over here to snap a picture of them.  I hope this does not bode ill for global markets.

Horta is a charming town, somewhat more cosmopolitan than the towns in Flores, and we will stay here a few more days before we sail for Sao Miguel.  The marina is fairly inexpensive and it is worth the money to be able to rinse the saltwater from H2OBO.  There are many shops and amenities that make Horta a favorite stop for ocean voyagers and European vacationers.

Branko

Flores To Horta

We left wonderful Flores yesterday morning at 8 am and arrived in Horta this morning at 11 am.  The sail was vigorous with winds mostly ahead of us.  What ever happened to the so-called trade winds?

You have seen the pictures of Flores that Maggie posted and they do not do that island any justice.  It is simply beautiful.  Mountainous, bucolic and absolutely littered with a wide variety of flowers, Flores has to be the jewel of the Azores.  It has not been corrupted by tourism yet, so prices on everything are reasonable.  The bus to the other end of the island at 2.13 euros has to be the best transportation value.  It winds through all the torturous roads and into the small towns.  The bus driver even stopped at the scenic vistas so the girls could snap some photos.  The people are also extremely friendly and many of them have either lived in Canada or have relatives there, so our reception was very warm.  Flores has to be on the list of places one must visit.

Extinct volcano core off Faial

We just got to Horta, but it already looks promising and we will spend the next few days checking it out.  Stay tuned.

Branko

H2OBO in the Horta marina

Travelling around Flores

We took the local bus,  twice, $2.13 Euro - per ride.    This is what  we saw.

Road sign to a dock

Waterfall and swimming hole 

Faja Grande

Along the road

Old stone house near  the waterfall

Faja Grande area

Along the roadside

Church is Lajes

Flores

BBQ on the beach

The marina we are staying has no electricity nor water - but its free and brand new.    Things may change today as 'officials' (men in suits) and the media will be here to inaugurate  the marina.   Perhaps, instead of a large pair of scissors cutting a ribbon there will be huge lever,  which will start all the lights, water and electricity :-)

Barn

View of the harbour

Balcony view

Main church in Lages

Where the chickens live

By the roadside

Fishing boats

The boats have all their flags flying and it looks quite festive.   The concrete, surrounding the marina has a number of paintings already made by the boaters and we will be adding ours in the next day or so.

At dock

We have spent the last few days relaxing, socializing and walking about the island.   Ti Gitu, S'ours and Meredith are all here too - we were all in Bermuda together and left at different times - so upon arrival we have been having a lovely time with everyone.

Flores,  means flowers in Portuguese - and the island is aptly named.  Beautiful blue hydrangeas, wild pink roses, orange and white lilies grow wild, along the roadsides, covering the stone walls and in the fields - making the scenery even more magical.




Mag.

Our Feet On Flores

Day before landfall 

We made it!  We had to motor the last 130 miles but we are on a dock in the unfinished marina (so no charge) and getting ready to use our legs again.  The island is beautiful and I can't wait to walk the hills and towns.

Thanks to all our blog watchers for your good wishes and comments.

More later,
Branko

Sunrise, arrival in Flores - Anne at the bow

Flores 

21 Days At Sea

Anne, and the Atlantic

Just another  day on the Atlantic

Three weeks into the Atlantic crossing and we are just 100 miles from Flores, Azores. Our original destination was Horta, which is still another 120 miles beyond Flores, lying south east of it. Two things are attracting me to Flores: it sounds lovely and a burning desire to make landfall - any landfall.
Since our severe gale blew back on June 22, we have not seen more than 10 kts. of wind nor any rain. The days have blurred into one long day punctuated regularly by darkness, occasional sail trim changes, and progress, or lack of it, made towards our destination.

When Maggie and I were sailing on Lake Ontario and were bemoaning a lack of favourable winds, we would often speculate and dream of sailing on the ocean and how fantastic it would be to always have fair winds to
 sweep you along. That is certainly not been the case on this trip. We have been trapped by high pressure systems and without our gennaker and engine might still be floundering in the middle of no where. In the old days of sail, before the auxiliary engine, ship's crews could find themselves becalmed for weeks and have to resort to killing off the livestock carried aboard in order to conserve water. Fear not, we have a watermaker and an engine, so Sophie was never in danger.
We should land in Flores tomorrow. I am sure the next 24 hours will have us thinking what will be the first thing that we want to do when we step off the boat for the first time in 22 days.
Branko

500 Miles To Horta

Well, we are surely learning to be patient. The winds have been light and have mostly been sailing with the gennaker up for the better part of a week. Our progress has been slow and we hope to arrive in Horta by the weekend. There are a couple of highs looming ahead which means more light winds. Thankfully we have the gennaker so that we can make some progress and the Cape Horn wind pilot so that we do not have to hand steer.

Along the way we have been visited by several pods(?) of dolphins, turtles...News Break!! Anne just sighted another Sperm whale about 50m off our port beam - fantastic!

Fishing has been a disaster. I caught a beautiful Dorado (a.k.a. Mahi Mahi, dolphin fish) but the knot let go as I got him near the boat and I lost my lure. Shortly after something big and strong snapped my second lure off with a sharp tug and that was lost. It is pathetic to think that we will have been living on the boat for close to a month while crossing the ocean and not once had a fresh fish meal.

We are out of fresh fruit, so we will be ravenous for some when we get to Horta. Everything else has been working out well, and we are having fun.

Branko