Faial and Terceira
Amoret
Sat 16 May 2009 15:48
|
Most yotties' descriptions of Horta focus on
Peter's Bar, the hangout of sailors for the last fifty years. Yes, we had
several lunches and beers there, but I forgot to take any pictures. Maybe Liv
and I will get back there in the next couple of months. Neither did we do a
painting on the harbour wall to commemorate our visit. When I called at Horta in
Dipper 13 years ago, I felt that one of the beauties of sailing is that the
sea wipes out our wake as if we had never been; something still tells me that
this is how I want things to be.
Anyway, we enjoyed the charm and yotty
atmosphere of Horta, and also went for an excellent walk up a valley and over a
ridge with spectacular views all the way. The cows were entertaining thogh I
failed to get a snap of our close sighting of an Azores Bat, the only mammal
that was here before people came. The walk back (unplanned but we mistimed the
bus) included a great view of Horta harbour from the ridge.
      Eric had to fly home from Faial, but Brian and I
stayed together for the daysail to Terceira (Portuguese for "third" as it was
the third island that the C15 navigators discovered).that provides the
island's name. This also runs to interesting cloud effects, so here are
a couple of samples.
  As the swell was still large in the
Pico-Sao Jorge channel, we chose to go round the south side of Pico. Pico draws
the eye from anywhere on the adjoining islands because of the perfect
volcanic cone.passed a few whale-watching boats and open fishing boats, saw
a distant large group of pilot whale, and were shadowed for a long time by a
warship doing strange changes of course. Eventually and sadly the reason became
clear when she called us on 16 to ask us to keep a good lookout for any
wreckage from a 5.5m leisure boat that had disappeared in the storm two
days before.
  On my first visit I fell for Terceira: the town of
Angra do Heroismo has a magnificent waterfront adjoiing the customs quay. The
quay and the waterfront are still there (and even considerably renovated as
befits a World Heritage Site) but instead of the peaceful anchorage there is now
a marina bang in front of the Misericordia church.
  In fact it doesn't matter too much, as all the good
views of the town remain; previously the anchorage was exquisite and free, but
one needed to clear out quickly if a wind between S and E came in. The
maria is excellent, though on the day of our arrival (we were 2 days before "the
season" began) the reception pontoon wasn't there so we had an
alarming moor to a wall bristling with sharp metal fittings. The following day
the pontoon reappeared! Anyway, here we are in a friendly marina in a
lovely setting, with outstanding showers, laundry, cafe and of course power and
water on the fingers for the outrageous sum of 9 Euros a night (same as Horta)
though showers are extra. The town is bursting with restaurants, though the
only tourists appear to be from the few (5 or 6) visiting boats. It's hell, but
someone has to come here.
|