Atlantic crossing from Bermuda. 17

Thisbe
Tue 19 Jun 2007 23:10
Azores     Tuesday 19th June 07 
Hired a scooter and drove around the island. The place is very agricultural which answers a lot of questions re the tidiness of the place. Small farms are everywhere and everyone seems very busy moving cattle around, cutting hay a silage, strimming trimming and generally keeping on top of the job.  The roads are very quiet, certainly by our standards so it was a very relaxed drive around, cold
though  which was a bit of a surprise. We drove most of the way up the volcano but had to turn back through lack of fuel. The view from high up was fantastic and the air wonderfully crisp and clear. The hedges we could see from the boat on our way along the island are mostly Bamboo interspersed with mile after mile of  Hydrangea shrubs growing close together to form a windproof hedge. The whole place has the appearance a cultivated  country estate in England but of course in this latitude the most unlikely plants grow wild beside the road and are just kept trimmed back. Back at base in time to shop and reprovision for Thursday departure. Its not easy to obtain things we take for granted, the horror of horrors....no tea !       Have been coming across people we met in St Lucia and other Caribbean ports and hearing their tales of the last three thousand miles, the plucky skipper of Enya did it solo and is still smiling. He is from Norway and has been away a year, he departs on Thursday as well, looks like quite a little flotilla will be heading out at the same time including the Azores and back racers from Falmouth who I said were leaving today. All the talk is of weather forecasts of course so fingers crossed for a fair wind.     Manny