LOG DAY 24 : HORTA , FAIAL, The Azores,
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Tue 29 May 2012 11:39
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TUESDAY 29th May
2012,
Its a fresh day here today and very cloudy to
boot,
The harbour is very well sheltered and a great
stopping off place for boats of all descriptions crossing
the Atlantic from west to east. The marina's cannot
cope with all the boats at present, so all along the quay
walls the baots are rafted 4 to 5 deep .
There are still some boats yet to arrive and
by all accounts are having a tough time with the wind
changing direction every few hours,
Voyageur arrived yesterday just as we were on the
Ferry on our way over to PICO,
We got the 10,30pm ferry across to this Island a
few miles to the east of HORTA where we are
rafted up with others to the quay wall
,
On the subject of quay walls, It is tradition here
to paint something on the wall before leaving , it is
suppose to bring luck, the result is a fantastic
collection of art work across all the quay walls, and we will
do one before leaving,
Many irish boats have paintings here already ,
including " Mary P "
PICO was terrific, our taxi man, " Carlos" spoke
perfect english and took us to all the sights and places
that were open , as this was a holiday , and so is
today,
We had lunch in a local family restaurant and had
blood sausages plus french fries, all locally produced,
On that, these Islands are self sufficient in all
food matters,
Almost all holdings are like little farms and
produce wine, rear their own pigs, chickens, and grow most of their
own fruit and veg, and the cost of everything is
way below that of Europe,
We arrived back to " Horta" around 18.30hrs and met
David & Susan ( Voyageur ) and had to celebrate the
news of our daughter " Sarah " who gave birth
to a bouncing 8lb 6oz baby Max on Sunday ,
SUNDAY 27th
A miserable day, lots of rain and
hangovers , Skipper & Aileen walked up to the church
to say a few prayers for Sarah, who was now in
hospital waiting to give birth to her first child,
Of course as anxious granparents, we kept in touch
by phone as much as possible,
then late on sunday night, she gave birth,
Well done Sarah,
We also paid a visit to the local supermarket and
got some provisions, including " Belly Pork " and
all great value including the taxi ,,,,
SATURDAY 26th
We had a late start to the day,
The four of us went to " Pete's Sports Bar " for
lunch / brunch which started with a couple of beers
and was quickley followed by wine, this was a kind
of Make Up for the 9 days at sea almost entirely
without alcohol of any
discription.
Later we all went in different directions , Aileen
to Mass, D & V to the laundry, while skipper did a tour
of the town,
Later still, we all met again along with the crew
of " Sookie" ( who were now in a poor state ) in " Peters Cafe Sport
"
where we had dinner and plenty of grrog.
Denis had to carry " Andy" back to Sookie at the
end of the night as he was listing from the drink, a real late night
it was..
Thats it for now,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde (
Skipper )
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