Sao Jorge
04 July 2018
We left Horta at 1030 on Friday 15th June for the 23nm to Velas, Sao Jorge. We were a bit sad to go as the OCC Azores pursuit rally was taking place with lots of celebrations coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Peter Café Sport.
The departure from the quay was somewhat tricky and the skipper misjudged the conditions so we became the entertainment for a while. Boats were rafted up in trots of three and we were the inside boat. There was a raft close ahead and close astern. The wind was blowing off the quay and the plan was to shuffle forward a bit and astern a bit, and let the wind blow us off but this did not work as the stern was blown off and the bow came in … lots of windage at the stern and the wind blowing over and not onto the bow was unhelpful. We went back alongside and in a rather unseamanlike manner did a kind of springing off the bow which we should have done properly in the first place.
With little wind we only managed to sail for about 30 minutes so the other 3.5 hours were motoring.
The harbourmaster at Horta had phoned his colleague in Velas so they knew to expect us and provided space rafted to a Spanish Amel, the crew of which were not overly welcoming. A pontoon party that night had us introduced to a crowd of other yachties, including some OCCers.
We hired a car again for a couple of days and toured the island – the drive along the south coast with steep cliffs and hillsides (more mountain than hill) was magnificent. Flat areas on the coast, Fajas, formed either by volcanic flows or massive landslips provide space for villages and fields.
Cows are in abundance and we visited the Finisterra cheese factory for a tour and tasting – marvellous.
On the north coast we hiked from Faja dos Cubres to Faja da Caldeira do Santo Cristo where only about 10 people live but there is a nice church, bar/restaurant and a museum. A splendid island.