Ilha de Culetra

We anchored off Culetra arriving late in the day.  The next day Josie, Justin and I walked through the small village across to the beach on the other side of the island.  The sun was warm, but the water was a bit cool.  We walked down to the end of the beach that was beyond the lifeguarded area where it was not as crowded.
Michael decided to stay on the boat and did not join our shore excursion.  We were off again the nest day.  There are so many nice anchorages but so little time!!!

Some of the houses in this small seaside town were quite interestingly decorated.

More visitors

We have had birds drop in on us from time to time as we are sailing, but these visitors seem to come a little more often here in the Mediterranean. Perhaps because we are close enough to land for them to make a flight but still far enough away (out of sight of land) they decide to stop and take a break.  Some of them have stayed aboard for an hour and come quite close to us.  One landed on Justin's knee briefly one day.

Another time one hung around long enough Josie fed it bits of the orange she was eating.

Delight (visitors)

Leaving Gibraltar we had periods of no wind where we just drifted, especially early in the morning.  Josie and I were on watch early one morning during one of these periods when I was reminded of one of Beth Moore's talks where she received what she called a delight.  That is exactly how I felt; delighted by a reward for our patience by a visit from a pod of what we determined to be pilot whales.  Shortly after the sun came up we spotted what at first we thought were dolphins, but as they got closer proved to be whales.  We woke Michael and Justin up as we were sure they would not want to miss out.  The whales played around the boat for an hour.  They would swim around, move off, dive under the boat and provide quite a show.  Michael tried to get a shot underwater by hanging off the back of the boat and reaching his hand down into the water with the camera, but was unsuccessful.  I finally got into the water with the camera and Josie and Michael soon joined me.  Shortly after that the whales departed, resuming their journey.  We saw a pod the next day as well, but we were underway and not just drifting and they did not linger.

Ferraguda

Anchoring off Ferrraguda we ran into S'Ours again and enjoyed seeing them before they took off for England and we continued our voyage.  

Everyone else elected to stay on the boat and I took the kayak into town by myself.  I elected to go around the castle and beach the boat closer to the fishing harbor.  I walked through the town and came back out on the beach across from our boat.  I took the beach route back to the kayak, but had to wade in the water around the castle as the tide was coming in and there was no longer any beach showing in front of the castle.

More on Lisbon

Michael and I made a trip into Lisbon without Justin and Josie, this time into the center of town.   Lisbon was having a Festival dos Oceanos while we were there.  All of us saw the National Geographic photo exhibit while we were in Belem, which was one of the free exhibits.  (We didn't make it to any of the concerts/performances.)

While we were in the town center, Michael and I had the opportunity to go into one of the free exhibits that was part of the festival.  This one was the Luminarium.  It was really cool to walk through. The pictures are only a dim reflection of the true experience, but you can get an idea of it and also the scale as I have included both interior and exterior shots.  (Too bad Justin and Josie elected to go swimming instead of making the trip to town with us!)

Lisbon Musems

While staying in the Oeiras Marina, we rode the metro in to Lisbon.  One of the days we spent in the suburb of Belem visiting museums.  (It was on a Sunday when admission was free.  We visited the Mosteiro Jeronimos, Archaeology Museum and Maritime Museum.  I also went in the Modern Art museum by myself as Justin and Mike were not interested and Josie said she did enough walking on a previous visit.  It's too bad because she would have enjoyed the Modern Art Museum.

Rio Guadiana

We spent a week anchored in variouys spots in the Rio Guadiana bordering Spain and Portugal.  At our northern most stop we were anchored between the towns of Alcoutim on the Puortugal side and Sanlucar on the Spanish side.
After a couple of days we planned to leave and go back down river, but each day we found another reason to stay.  While there a festival was going on in Sanlucar.  On the final day of the festival they took the virgin across the river to visit Alcoutim and there was a big parade from the church to the waterfront where she was taken aboard a boat leading a boat parade over to Alcoutim.
Arriving in Alcoutim she was paraded to a church nearby where there was singing and praying before the parade returned to Sanlucar.  We waited on the Alcoutim side for the virgin's arrival and then joined in the boat parade back before returning to our boat.

 

                                  In the picture on the left you can just see Jusstin and Josie in the bottom left corner.  In the one below you may be able to find Justin, Josie and Mike in the back of the crowd

Angra do Heroisma

We enjoyed our stay in Terceira. Josie was able to catch up with her friend Shelly and we made new friends.  Angra do Heroisma is a historical town as it formed an important link in new discoveries and as an important stop on the trade routes historically.  There are many walks, small chapels and a large park as well as a a beach.  Enjoy the slideshow of some of the many beautiful sights.    Some of the photos were taken from a Sunday afternoon walk, including those of the fort.  You can see that parts of the old fort have been modernized and it is still in use today.

Steet bullfight

Michael and I walked to the grocery store one afternoon in Angra to find it closed and stalls set up in the parking lot and on the road.  Upon asking what was going on we searned that a bull fight was going to take place in the street in a couple of hours.  We decided to hang around.  These street bullfights are more like bull teasings than fights, although sometimes people do get hurt.  The bulls are not killed.

In addition to the stalls, there were also street vendors selling snacks and beverages.

















The blankets hanging from the windows are a carryover from the days when the girls would stand on balconies to watch the bull fights.  The blankets would be hung on the railings to keep the guys from being able to see up their skirts.  The guys would flirt with the girls and tease the bulls to show how macho they were.

We met a couple, Morris and Alda there with their granddaughter.  Alda is originally from Terciera and met Morris while he was stationed there.  They married and are currently living in Florida.  It was a pleasure meeting them and sitting on the wall with them.  They were able to explain to us a lot of what was going on.



The bull is kept on a rope kind of like a long leash.  About halfway down the line 4 rope handlers hold onto the line and again at the end of the line are four more.  It is the responsiblility of the rope handlers to keep the bull within the white lines that mark the ends of the street where the bull is allowed to go.  If you leave your car parked inside the white lines or you yourself are injured, you are responsible for all damages.  If the bull goes outside the white line, the farm is responsible for all damage.
 Sometimes when the bull gets teased and starts running back up the street the rope handlers at the center of the rope will drop the line and get out of the way and then grab the line again after the bull runs by.

Arrived in Portugal

I know it has been a while, but I have not had easy access to wifi since leaving the Azores.

We overnighted from Sao Jorge to Terciera where we spent a fer days before continuing our Atlantic crossing to Portugal. More on Terciera as I am able.

We were aiming for Lisbon and were trying to make as much north as possible to be prepared for the south current as we neared Portugal. The first day was beautiful sailing; close hauled with winds about 12 knots, we were able to make northeast. Over the next few days the wind gradually clocked around more and more east of north pushing us farther and farther south until we were more likely to make Africa than Portugal. We finally ended up motoring due north for about 7 hours while the wind was down. Then the wind came up strong gradually increasing to 25-30 and we were sailing with a rail in the water most of the time even with the mizzen put away and a double reef in the main. At least the wind was more north maybe even a little west of north and we were making a good course for Lisbon, sometimes maybe a little south of Lisbon, but still Portugal. The seas were big and we were constantly getting doused. the water also managed to find its way into the cabin in a few spots making for wet bedding.

Finally the winds and seas began to die down and we neared the coast. Unfortunately the wind died down to nothing and as we neared the coast we could not see it for the thick fog. Fortunately we have radar and were able to see on the radar screen the ships we could not see with our eyes. (Josie is blowing the fog horn in the picture)

By the time we entered the channel the fog was thin enough that we had about two miles visibility and improved as we continued to make our way to port. We stayed in Oeiras just outside Lisbon for the next few days. Unfortunately there was no free wifi there for me to update the blog. (It's not in our budget to pay the 20 euros per day that was charged there.

We left Oeiras on Wednesday, August 3 and anchored off Portimao yesterday. we will continue on today. I will update blaog when we are in an area where I am able to do so, but wanted to let everyone know we are safe and in Europe.

Quick trip to Velas, Sao Jorge

Sao Jorge, (named for St. George, the dragon slayer) is another beautiful spot in the Azores.  Cobblestone streets, mosaic plazas and scenic views and friendly people are the norm.  You can see for yourself by watching the slideshow in the post below.

Unfortunately the marina was fairly full and we were tied up on the concrete pier in front of reception with another boat rafted next to us.  This was not real comfortable, especially at low tide and we left the following day.  We were lucky not to have a lot of wind coming in while we were there as the concrete pier isright at the entrance and quite open to the sea.

Sao Jorge

Horta

Horta is a much larger and more commercial and touristy town/port than Lajes das Flores.  Many cruisers stop here on transatlantic crossings thus marine supplies are more readily available.  Wonder of wonders Mid Atlantic Yacht Sales had the part we needed to attanch the roller furler to the mast correctly!  That alone was worth coming to Horta.






There are many shops and cafes on the cobblestone streets near the marina.  Many of the sidewalks are made up of dark and light colored stone mosaics.  While Horta is larger than Lajes in Flores, it is still easy to get around by foot ane not as steep.  (My calves burned for several days after we got to Flores after not walking for four weeks!  The hilly roads on Water Island were a distant memory that my muscles forgot.)





We borrowed bikes from our new friends from S'ours.  The grocery was far enough away it was nice having the bikes to help with the carrying.

The tradition of painting on the walls before sailing on has obviously been going on for years here and you can see where some boats had returned adding the current year to their paintings.  Every available wall space was taken and you had to really search to find a spot to add yours, with many resorting to the walkways.  Some of the paintings were quite elaborate and very well done.  Others remained very simple.

Josie did ours again with everyone signing their own name.

We ended up staying three nights instead of the two we planned. The islands of both Pico and Sao Jorge are within site of Horta.  The vocanic cone of Pico sticking up above the clouds formed quite a view.

We left on Thursday morning (July 14) on a day hop to Velas, Sao Jorge.

Leaving Lajes

We enjoyed Flores, but all good things must come to an end and it was time to move on.  We wanted to visit some of the other islands in the Azores before heading across to the Atlantic coast of Spain.  We decided to stay Saturday for the Cruisers Potluck and leave on Sunday.

We were definitely glad we stayed the extra day as we had a wonderful time and made new friends.

Another must before departing was following the tradition of painting the boat name and names of crew onto the wall that goes around the marina.
Josie did the design and painted it and we all signed our names.

We left Sunday morning, July 10, for Horta on the island of Faial expecting to arrive the next day.  There is a large grocery there and also a chandlery that might have the part we needed for the permanent fix attaching the roller furler to the mast.

We left with the wind behind us at 10-15 knots. One of the other cruising boats, S'ours, left not long after we did and we communicated with them a few times during the journey.  They passed us by on Monday arriving at the large marina in Horta about an hour before us.  We arrived  about 5:00 pm and after checking in and clearing customs and immigration were assigned a slot rafted up to another boat along the seawall.  Even though this is a large marina it was jam packed!