Faial

After being in Horta for nine days, we managed to escape the repair cycle and actually visit something. We only had one day and the rental car was due in the next morning, so we made the most of it.

We started out early morning, and the roads were pretty quiet as it was a Sunday and most Portuguese don't do much before noon except go to church. So did we:



A very nice ruin in Ribeirinha, left from the last big earthquake in 1998.

The new peninsula in the West after the eruption of Capelinhos also merited a visit, so we walked around the old light house and read the signs depiction the cataclysmic events of 1958. Since the visitor center wasn't open until the afternoon, we walked around the area covered in volcanic ash for a while and then sought the trail to the cauldron from a previous eruption. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the end of the trail so we coudn't visit the cone.



The old light house, partially covered in ash.

While driving up the volcano, we did come across the Levada trail, whit its nice meandering water conduit in very good order. It reminded us of Madeira and the excellent trails we have taken whilst visiting that island.



Next up was the Northern coast, where we drove down to the ocean and visited the destroyed harbour of Porto da Eira. It's amazing how the fishermen could have used this port over hundreds of years, when it was always just a small indentation in the coast, without any protection from the ocean swell. It was destroyed by a winter storm and doesn't look like it will be used for anything else than bathing anytime soon.



Whilst driving back to Horta, we passed the Botanical Gardens, and even though the sign at the gate indicated they were open, there was nobody there. The gate itself wasn't shut though, so we could walk the gardens at leisure. We didn't however get to buy the T-shirt, because the souvenir shop was closed.



Back in Horta, a parade was underway for the ascension festivities, so we visited the Monte de Guia cauldron as we couldn't get through town. Next to it is a nice little museum in an old whaling factory. It has some interesting displays as well as documentaries about Faial's past as a whaling station.



As the big Continente supermarket was open until nine p.m. - and this on a Sunday! - we did our shopping for the crossing to the Isles of Scilly.

Peter Sport

Sailing to Faial was as hard as sailing across. We needed wind as we didn't have the engine to help us along. We got 20 knots and after 24 hours we were close to Faial but 20 Miles to the South of our destination due to a stubborn East-North Easterly wind that went up to 25 knots as we approached Horta.

Finally on the second night, as we were tacking to the island, the wind started turning North East. This allowed us to get closer in on each tack.

Near the morning of our third day out, we got close enough to sail into the channel between Faial and Pico. A short hop into the harbour and we anchored close to the marina entrance. A bit too close to a superyacht also anchored there, which proved our rescue later.

As it was now Saturday, we couldn't get a tow into the marina. But the agent of the superyacht complained and an hour later, we got a tow in from a quickly roused marina employee.

Later we did what every sailor does after arriving in Horta, so we visited Peter Sport Cafe, comitted to sailors since early last century.