Exploring the Azores

What a fascinating place - here you can feel the vast spread of history…walking on islands born less than eight million years ago, down streets that Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama walked hundreds of years ago.  We’ve been to two of the nine Azores islands so far and will sail to one more tonight.  First stop was Faial, where we added our boat insignia to the famous Horta marina wall, where it seems all ocean-crossing yachts stop to leave their mark.   An amazing variety of museums for such a small island and we often had them all to ourselves.  The whaling museum and oceanographic center had a wealth of information about the whaling industry and the ties between the New England and Azorean whaling history, and we had a great guide for the historic “Peter’s Café Sport” scrimshaw collection.  We rented a car and went out to the newest piece of land…a 2.5 square km piece of land created in 1958 by a volcano with an abandoned lighthouse that now overlooks the new point. The volcano was the impetus for the Azorean Refugee Act, sponsored by then-Senator JFK and Senator Pastores - roughly 30% of the Azorean population has since emigrated to the U.S., leaving many abandoned buildings on the islands but creating great direct flights to Boston!  Next highlight was the caldera in the middle of the island, where the kids marveled at our drive up INTO the clouds and were amazed how we ended up getting wet just by walking through the clouds around the caldera. My favorite stop was the Botanical Gardens, where we saw samples of all the many agricultural crops the Azores have grown and exported over the centuries and the kids learned about native, endemic and invasive species. The kids’ favorite: the swimming beach at Porto Pim (same place where the whales were brought for processing) and going into town for gelato.  

From Faial, we sailed through the night past several other islands to Terceira. We all love sailing at night…the kids have learned many of the major stars and constellations and this last time we were graced by a visit from a pod of dolphins – you could hear them all around the boat as they came up for air, but the only thing visible in the night were their sparkling trails through the water as they zipped through the bioluminescent phytoplankton, like some kind of underwater Disney Tinkerbell show. Our boat is now in a marina just below the city of Angra do Heroismo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with views of an old Spanish fort on a hill surrounded by the longest wall in Europe.  We visited a Franciscan monastery which houses the city museum, just in time to catch a beautiful organ concert, and the kids found another perfect little beach just down the way from the boat.

When we’re not sightseeing, we visit the markets for local fish, cheese, wine, fruit and vegies, or work on the boat, or bring out the homework bins. (Yes, mean ol’ mom is making them start school in summer.  At least I don’t make them put on school uniforms every morning like the kids on another boat nearby!)  The kids love to fish off the boat and have also watched every episode of Gilligan’s Island and Looney Toons.

Next stop is the island of Sao Miguel, where we'll leave the boat for two weeks while we make a quick trip back to the States for my mom's 70th birthday celebration and to pick up our lovely old lady cat, who was spared the trip across the Atlantic.



Horta marina wall

Vertebrae chair in whaling museum

Capelinhos volcano from 1958, view from lighthouse
(which is no longer on the edge of the island!)