Azores at last! - 38:31.82N 28:37.51W
Moya
Doug Smith
Tue 5 Jun 2012 13:29
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Hello All,
I am happy to report that on Monday 28th May at
1300 we dropped anchor in Horta Harbour - yes, we have made it! 38:31.82N
28:37.51W and we are all delighted!
After a difficult night, dogged by squalls we
finally dropped all sail at 0600 this morning and continued under power toward
Horta in lumpy seas with little wind - we were prepared to delay no
longer.
At 0900, whilst on watch and at the helm, I was
able to cry "Land Ho" in a voice that overcame all engine sound and roused the
watch below. Horta is backed by the island of Pico, with its 2000 metre
volcanic peak, which can normally be seen up to 30 miles off shore, but these
islands are known as the disappearing islands and that is exactly what they had
been doing until six miles off when they could hide no longer and showed
themselves looming out of the morning mist. Despite motoring for the past
few hours, we still did not have it easy, and the Atlantic swell pushed us along
from astern, trying to broach us whenever the helmsman lost concentration - we
still had to fight those last few miles.
At 1245 we rounded the breakwater, called the
harbour authorities - who sent us to anchor much to our dismay, but we were
there and 35 metres of chain rattled through the hawse pipe at 1300 precisely
and the team set to preparing the dinghy to take me ashore, complete formalities
and negotiate a more permanent berth. A first shower for three weeks was
thought necessary before they would let me ashore, then rapidly to the harbour
master's pier with my coxon (Rick) totally ignoring the 3 knot speed limit
- he does that when driving too - as the possibility of a beer on firm ground
became a real prospect. We climbed the stone pier, which swayed below our
feet, then rolled toward his office to queue for interview, first with the
Harbour Master, then with Immigration, then with Customs and finally with the
Police. With all dues paid, we were given a temporary berth alongside the
wall and went back on board to stow the dinghy and procede alongside. All
was accomplished by 1630 after shoe horning Moya's overall 53 foot into a
60 foot berth, the task made easier by Frank shouting the clearances to me in a
voice that could be heard in Lisbon - it was also heard by a gathering throng
who stood watching in hopeful expectation of a big crunch, which luckily never
came. Then the fuel stop was pulled, the engine died and it was all
over, we had sailed the Atlantic, all 2,440 miles of it from
Antigua.
We were all tired and the bottle of Champagne was
soon empty, to be followed by Richard's skilled hand with the Gin & Tonic,
followed by me making a nuisance of myself with anybody prepared to talk to me
on the quay until we all dragged ourselves or flowed, into Peter's Bar - famous
to Atlantic crossers - for Soup, Steak and Ice Cream.
I cannot write about the night we had, I can't
remember it except that it was very good value and not much in the way of a sore
head for any of us! We had all repaired on board by midnight, with my
minder, Rick, ensuring safe passage back to the boat however hard his Dad tried
to fall in.
We were looking for a rapid turn around to complete
the passage to Liverpool and planned to leave on Wednesday but life is never
that simple. We had arrived on a Bank Holiday Monday, followed by a
further public holiday on Tuesday - I had not realised that
Portugal was part of the Commonwealth and
celebrating the Jubilee! (joke) - but it meant we could not provision until
the shops were open on Wednesday. On Wednesday a big storm was forecast,
meaning we could not leave until Thursday at the earliest. Dave was leaving
us and we had a tired crew, with work committments that required attendance
before we could possibly get home, so the decision was made to leave Moya in
Horta and fly home.
The storm came, gusting 50 knots, one boat wrecked
in the harbour, and all flights cancelled on Wednesday - so our decision to stay
alongside the wall proved to be a good one!
Our shore support team then sprang into action,
with Carol managing to arrange flights back to the UK for the holiday week end -
a story for another time and possibly the most stressful part of our journey! -
but well done Caza, we are all grateful! A further thanks must go to Jean,
who had joined us for Antigua Classics and loaned us her husband Dave for the
passage, and her brother Andy, who between them, passed us excellent weather
routing information on a daily basis and kept us away from the worst the
Atlantic has to throw!
And finally, a special thanks to all those who have
e-mailed us during the trip, keeping our spirits up, and to those who are
reading these words - for, whilst I admit to completing this in the comfort of
home - the earlier episodes were written in some very uncomfortable weather when
really it would have been easier not to bother, convincing myself that nobody
was interested.
Until the next journey,
Doug
Photos: Horta at first sighting; The town of
Horta.
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