It’s been nearly a month since I made landfall in Horta with the Salty Dawg Azores rally. As I write this, Brenda and I are now in a marina in San Miquel, our last stop before she flies to Scotland on the 16th giving us more a week to tour the island together before she departs.
Over the next few days my crew, Steve and Peter will arrive with their partners who will also tour the island before everyone flies out and the guys move aboard to prepare for our run to the Med.
As I write this It is not completely clear to me where our first landfall will be, perhaps in Lagos, on the southern coast of Portugal, Morocco or maybe Gibraltar, at the mouth of the Med itself.
I say that as so much has to do with the orca “situation” and the uncertainty about how well the “Pinger” i have ordered from a company in Germany, will be at deterring attacks on our rudder. Some suggest that making a beeline for Logos in Portugal and then hugging the coastline until Gibraltar is best or going toward Tangier and pass on the southern coastline into the Med. I suppose I will have to decide on what course we will take, but not yet.
After a very nice few days in Sao Jeorge, Brenda and I left mid-day on Monday to make the 140nm run from there to San Miguel, a run that was somewhat spoiled by a very large number of squalls that hit us.
I suspect that had I used a Chris Parker, our weather router, he would have cautioned me on this but I didn’t so he didn’t. I got very little sleep so I was pretty beat when we arrived and while I rallied to have a very nice lunch out I was in bed by 19:00 and slept for 11 hours.
Our good by view of Sao Jeorge.
And, of course, one last photo of Pico, our constant companion since arriving.
Unlike many of the squalls on prior voyages, these did not bring increased winds, but killed the wind totally from the gradient winds of 15-18kts that were powering us along. The wind died to perhaps 5kts, and stayed that way for an hour or more but the seas were still up with a one meter chop, so the boat wallowed terribly until the wind returned. Pandora’s uneven and sometimes violent motion did not sit well with Brenda and once she was sick it was clear that nothing was going to solve the problem except “sitting under an apple tree,” which was not an option.
That was very unfortunate as the near dozen squalls that we had overnight was a lot in comparison with a single squall during my nearly two week passage to Horta from Bermuda. Brenda has all the luck.
As the biggest island in the Azores, San Miquel is very cosmopolitan, with the historic areas mixed with modern offices and hotels.
The marina is huge. And while I wasn’t able to book a slip in advance, as I approached the marina I was told “there are a number of open slips, just pick one and tie up”. After weeks of being told that the marina in Horta was packed and we’d have to raft to someone, this was a welcome change.
And for less than $200/week you get a slip on a very nice floating dock with free water and electric. The marina has a lot of boats that look like they have not moved in years so clearly living here is a very economical option for the “house or income deprived”.
This view represents perhaps 50% of the marina. And, there is Pandora in the slip at the end on the left.
Of course, what post is complete without a photo of Pandora up close?
Can’t sail here and yet want to be in the marina? Rent a house boat.
They are pretty neat and in a terrific location to tour the city. However, you won’t be alone as there is a whole row of them.
But, just like Pandora, you will have easy access to the city and the beautiful promenade along the waterfront.
And so begins the second day of our last visit in the Azores before we head our separate ways, Brenda and me, until she flies to Almeria Spain on August 1st where we will meet up again.
I will be giving a number of talks about our trip in the Azores and my passage there from the Caribbean so I thought it fitting to fly a few burgees, just in case I need them to illustrate the point…
I guess that’s about enough for now. On with our day. Lunch and dinner out and a bit of exploring.
Hopefully I will be able to stay awake long enough to have dinner out.
I’m optimistic…