More from Santa Maria
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Sat 2 Sep 2017 16:12
So the last few days have been jointly planned. We managed to hire a car and toured the island in full together. We saw the whole island, from the very top to the very bottom. Then, a couple of days later, we took Maiike-Saadet out for a sail and tune up. She is a very impressive boat....53 feet long and semi custom buily in the Netherlands. The boat surges along with an easy sea motion.
We have spent a good deal of time together, dined together, drunk beer and wine together and generally had a good time. Last night was the fiesta do Sao Pedro....hosted in the port by the fishermen here, and we all went over to enjoy the party.
Jean, from Belgium joined us. His boat is Sandettie, a UFO 34 which has seen some action, notably the 1979 Fastnet race, when she was rolled and dismasted, though thankfully without loss or injury to her crew. He came across to chat yesterday afternoon as he had spent some time crewing on a Sigma 33 in Belgium some years ago and wanted to talk about old racing boats for a while....
We have been waiting for a proper and comfortable weather window to sail to Portugal. Tricky at this time of year as the Nortada whistles down the Iberian coast every few days. But tomorrow we will go back up to Ponta Delgada for a change of scenery as the wind looks to be arriving and it should be a lovely sail.
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