Life in Horta
29 June 2010 | Horta, Faial, Azores
Graham
Well, the pace of life here in Horta is very steady indeed at the moment and is very much centred around the coffee perculator, maximum use of which is always made when alongside as it can be rather unstable on a rolling cooker in a rolling sea! Today was the first sunny day here now for over a week and it looks like the good weather may be here to stay for a short while at least. This will be great as I can finally get out with the camera and actually see some of the surrounding island sights, all of which have been obscured over the past week by very heavy cloud. Climbing to the summit of the mountain on the neighbouring island of Pico is high on my list but needs a good 8 hours to the top and back, so a bit more research is required on getting to the island first from Faial. The Azores are very low priced compared to anywhere we have been for the last 3 years, and that includes Britain. Scooter hire is quite cheap, so I suspect I will grab one for one or two days and get around the entire island. A full day should see most of the sights, as the main museum element and historical parts are around the town of Horta itself. Despite having been promised the spare chain plates for the boat, they have still not materialised which is becoming increasingly frustrating to say the least, and yet another reminder that '.... yachts have destinations, not ETAs....' They are now promised for tomorrow so hopefully I can get on and fit them so that the rigging can be set up in good time for our return journey. My neighbours on 'WHY NOT J', a 38 ft catamaran, are very friendly and we have exchanged a few meals and drinks over the past week. Today's big job was getting Peter's IRIDIUM satellite phone to download weather information from the internet whilst at sea, which I finally managed to get working for him after a few attempts and copious cups of coffee! It certainly kept the brain cells working. Rough planning for the UK South Coast cruise is now complete for when Tracey gets back to the boat in Falmouth, so hopefully, a relaxing trip to some of the quieter anchorages along that fantastic bit of coastline between Falmouth and Portsmouth. The Spain versus Portugal World Cup match is on the TV in the bar behind me at the moment so this is where I finish to preserve my hearing from the constant agonising screams of the audience standing about 3 feet from me, both Spanish and Portuguese....!