It’s hard to believe that it has been three weeks since I made landfall in Horta, and as the days flew by, not a lot of posting going on from my end. Forgive me but we have been so busy that somehow “life got in the way”.
It’s hard to know where to start except that the Salty Dawg Azores Rally was a terrific success with all but one boat making a fast passage. The one boat that arrived a lot later and that is a long story for another time…
The Dawgs had a wonderful time celebrating the arrival of the fleet at Peter’s CafĂ© Sport, the iconic waterfront bar that has catered to the blue water cruising community for more than 100 years.
I presented the current senior “Peter”, not his real name, but he plays the part well, with an SDSA rally flag. Peter donated a bottle of his signature gin which went to one of our members in a raffle. I always carry raffle tickets aboard Pandora for events like this 🙂
Peter proudly displayed our flag.
The gang posed for a group shot with the harbor in the background.
I also presented Peter with an Essex Yacht Club burgee that was given to me years ago by my friend Ken. This flag, from our home club, belonged to Ken’s dad, a member for many years. Years ago I took Ken and others from his family out on Pandora to spread their parent’s ashes on the waters between Stonington CT and Block Island, a path that they had taken many times over the years, so often that they joked that they had “worn a groove in Block Island Sound.” I wrote about that emotional day in this post.
Somehow presenting the “Appleton family burgee” from Essex to Pete’s CafĂ© seemed like a fitting gesture.
There are thousands of burgees on display, in some cases, multiple burgees deep covering the walls.
There was so much to do in the Azores it’s hard to know where to begin…
Years ago, during our first few seasons in the Bahamas, we spent time with friends on a boat called Nati, a small catamaran owned by Anne and Dick. We went everywhere with them and had a wonderful time.
They sold Nati a few years later and now live in Florida and when we were talking with them last year about our plan to visit the Azores, they told us about friends that they had also cruised with, Lynn and Ian, and about their home in the Azores on Pico, an island that is very close to Horta. They were adamant that we reach out to them and arrange to meet.
Brenda and I contacted them and immediately hit it off. They invited us to visit and we made plans.
We arranged to put Pandora on a dock and hired a company to keep an eye on here while we were gone.
So, last weekend we met Lynn at the ferry dock in Pico and began a whirlwind multi-day tour of the island and a wonderful stay as guests at their amazing cliff side home.
The coastlines in the Azores are very rough and the “harbors” are basically walled in “teacup” basins, just big enough for a commercial dock. The walls are huge and speak to the power of waves when the seas are rough. Note the diminutive size of the car compared to the wall. Nobody builds walls like these unless there is a very good reason.
I could not believe their place as we walked down from their steep driveway carved into the hillside.
The view from their patio down the coast is amazing.
The colors and light change by the moment.
One moment better than the last.
Can you imagine a more beautiful spot to share a meal? I can’t…
It gets better… They have an amazing window that looks out on the ocean. To me it looks like some sort of big screen TV screen-saver like you get on YouTube. An hours long movie with clouds slowly streaming by.
Every day we toured a different part of the island. At the end of one day we returned home to discover that someone had, anonymously, left a large selection of limpets, a sort of clam or snail that sticks to the side of rocks. Ian broiled them with olive oil, salt and garlic. This selection wasn’t even half of what was gifted to them. Yum…
The next morning Ian delivered kitchen scraps to a neighbor’s chickens who he greeted with a “good morning girls”. They were thrilled to see him and new what was coming.
And speaking of “neighborly generosity”, we were invited to a celebration in their village where there were huge potluck tables heaped with food, wine and some alarmingly strong home made local spirits along with “spirited” dancing. It was a magical evening on so many levels. This sort of “community” is sadly lacking in the suburban area where we live. Sure, we socialize at the yacht club and other “membership” groups that we are involved with, but a sense of community in the neighborhoods, where we have lived over the years, is sadly lacking.
This celebration reminded me of our neighborhood in Jackson NJ, decades ago, where most of our neighbors were from Brooklyn and Staten Island, a place where their neighborhoods had a distinctly old world feel, which they brought with them to our community. There were lots of big parties back then where many neighbors joined in the celebration.
The architecture is so beautiful in these villages with everything built out of volcanic stone. Even the “ruins” are beautiful.
We also visited another couple who had moved from California and renovated an ancient stone cottage. The couple entertains a lot and there are so many tables on their patio that some passersby think they are running a restaurant. Sorry… You have to be a friend.
All over Pico, and elsewhere in the Azores, a common building material, is lava stones with the mortar meticulously painted in white. This church is certainly represents the pinnacle of this tradition sporting a breakwater to top all breakwaters with every joint painted white.
Whaling was a big part of these islands until it was banned in 1984 when the “save the whale” movement was in full swing. It does seem sad that so many of these magnificent creatures met an untimely end, nearly 2,000 in Horta alone. Fortunately, stocks are improving but their ultimate survival still face major threats with commercial shipping, fishing and other environmental threats.
In the Azores, where whales were close to shore, they were captured with small boats. These open rowing/sailing boats, are still a big part of the culture here. Nice to see Pandora in the background.
I was fortunate to be able to see a few of these beautiful boats sailing in Horta.
I am not certain what this means but the boats in Horta have pink interiors and those in Pico, red.
When they were hunting whales, fisherman would row out to harpoon the whale and these powerful motorboats would tow the whale back for processing on shore. These boats were made on Pico and have huge Caterpillar engines in them. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of horsepower to tow a 50′ whale.
To attach the whale to the boat required a hefty bridle which attached to the stout towing bit that crosses the cockpit.
After the hunt the whale was towed to a processing factory and hauled up a stone ramp.
And then cut into pieces for processing into various products. These gentle creatures were enormous and no match for the hunters.
This brief documentary movie is part of a whaling exhibit that we visited in Pico. It gives a good feel for what it was like in the day when whaling was an important part of the local community. Not so good for the whale though.
Beyond remnants of the whaling industry, Lynn and Ian took us round and round the island and saw many of their favorite places.
Commercial fishing is still a big business here in the islands with tuna fishing particularly important. The local fishing boats look like they are designed for rugged conditions.
Some bigger than others but all brightly painted.
The bulk of harbors are nothing more than small inlets with a breakwater and a big crane. Nearly all of the boats are pulled out of the water after every trip. These simple cranes have a capacity of 40,000 pounds and are operated by boat owners so there is no hauling fee. A lot different than in the US where to “dry sail” a boat is a very expensive proposition. In the US, if so it yourself cranes like this existed at all, would require extensive training sessions and waiver after waiver, just to get near a crane like this.
In spite of the water being chilly, swimming in the islands is hugely popular and the local government has established many “swimming holes” for the locals. Each spot has stainless steel steps with cement and tile walkways leading to down to a sheltered cove. Some are very elaborate and all have fancy bath houses, all free of charge.
Many hang out to enjoy the warm sun if not the warm water.
Some swimming spots are more elaborate than others.
I am told that on some islands there are hot springs that feed into them allowing for warm water swimming year round.
The picnic areas at some are very elaborate and we stopped and had a lovely meal of fruit, bread, cheese and cured meats as well as locally canned tuna, at one. It overlooked the ocean and had a number of very nice tables.
It came complete with a community of resident lizards. These guys live in the stone walls and are everywhere. This one scampered up onto our table, looking for scraps.
I assumed that they ate bugs or something but not bread, cheese and fruit. I tossed scraps to them, to the horror of our hosts, of course. As you can see, it was a big hit. Sort of like a Raiders of the Lost Arc movie clip. It seems that it is “every lizard for himself” as not a lot of sharing seems to be going on. “Oh I will wait my turn, you go first, I insist!”
Of course, many scenes were not quite so visceral.
I did not expect to see tree ferns. And, unlike the Caribbean islands, where they only grow higher up the mountains where it is cooler. Here about a 1,000 feet of elevation is cool enough. Like Brenda, they prefer “sweater weather” and the Azores has that in abundance.
And vines that look a lot like morning glories are quite invasive.
You don’t get the full picture of these stands of blue unless you step back a bit.
And speaking of flowers, the Azores are known for their extensive hedges of hydrangea. Unfortunately, we were a bit too early to see them at their height of bloom but they line both sides of most roads. Pretty amazing.
The islands are also known for cheese and where there is cheese there are cows. They are everywhere and look like very happy cows.
I wonder if the quality of the view has a bearing on how good the cheese is? I can say that the cheeses are awesome…
And Pico is also known for wine. With the constant wind and cool temperatures, to keep the grape vines as happy as the cows, they build miles of lava rock stone walls to keep the vines warm. These vineyards are within a few hundred yards of the ocean and it is hard to believe that salt spray doesn’t kill them.
The area is impossibly scenic, with windmills that were once used to grind grain. Not sure why one is in the middle of grape fields but it looks great.
Unlike in the US, where individual vines are meticulously groomed and sprayed with weed killer, these vines, some hundreds of years old, are pretty much left to fend for themselves.
And every row of vines has it’s own private stone wall to keep it happy and a bit warmer during the cool evenings. And happy they appear to be. Of course, why not sprinkle a bit of pineapple in the mix?
Land use in Pico, and elsewhere in the Azores, is carefully managed with no space unused. Much of the island is pasture and the villages are clustered along the coastline. The views are amazing.
Our friends Lynn and Ian, and we didn’t even know that they would be our friends for more than ten years after spending time with Anne and Dick, cruising in the Bahamas.
Lynn and Ian only had to visit Pico once when they decided to purchase a home there, now more than a decade ago. They continue to split their time between Pico and the Bahamas, summers here and winters aboard and after spending a few days on Pico I can see how they decided that they wanted to make a home here.
When we spent time with Anne and Dick so many years ago who would have ever expected that we were destined to be friends in Lynn and Ian, a decade before we had even met them.
It took many years but it finally happened and we finally met the friends we didn’t even know we were destined to have. And we are so glad that we did.
Someone once told me that life is “all about what you decide to spend your time on”. So true, and who’d have imagined the chain of events that took me and Brenda to Pico to meet Lynn and Ian.
Now we have to figure out a way to stage a reunion of sorts at our home. Anne and Dick? Lynn and Ian?
let’s not wait another decade to make it happen.