We departed Ponta Delgada around 0700 on Monday 26th July, bound for Angra do Heroismo on Terceria, a passage of around 90 miles. With moderate winds just forward of the beam we made reasonable progress until we got caught in the wind shadow of the island and so had to motor the last 4 hours or so.
Steps felt rather queezy for most of the trip but by the time we were a few hours out he was feeling much improved and able to take the helm for a few hours. Vince bravely tried out the fore cabin to sleep and emerged a few hours later saying it felt like sleeping in a washing machine!
Approaching the marina in the dark was a little confusing but thanks to the chart plotter and benign conditions we avoided any mishap and made fast to the visitors' pontoon at around 0500 and caught up on our sleep.
We checked in once the Marina staff came on duty and motored round to a tight berth at the head of the marina. Thankfully there was next to no wind because we over shot our slot and had to back up to get into it. Bonny has a mind of her own in reverse thanks to her long keel but with judicial fending off by the crew, both embarrassment and the disdain of our new French neighbours were avoided.
It turned out they were about to embark on an undersea operation. One of them had dropped his glasses over board and was most concerned as to the reaction of his wife who was due to join them in the coming days. He was therefore about to don goggles and snorkle to look for them. However, as he explained to Mick, he had not yet received both Covid jabs and would we therefore refrain from pooing until he had completed his mission!
Mick assured him that despite Brexit, being British citizens, meant we would not dream of embarking on such a course of action. As you can imagine the crew and skipper were most amused by Mick's account of this re-statement of the Entente Cordiale!
With an international incident avoided and cordial if not close relations having been established with the French, we went off into town to explore and admire some of the views....
Before long we felt in need of some refreshment and so headed for the town square where we were served first drinks and then lunch and more drinks by a very friendly waiter...
We reviewed our plans and itinerary over lunch. I had assumed we would stay for a couple of days at least and explore the island a little, but the winds were due to evaporate over the next few days and so we decided we would press on for Horta on Faial the next day. The winds would be light even then but we were hopefull we would be able to sail at least part of the 75 mile passage. We would then have the islands of Pico and Sao Jorge within day sails or more likely motors, or even Ferry trips. Departure was therefore set for 1000 the next day (Wednesday).
That evening we ate ashore at a Restaurant overlooking the harbour and were fed enormous portions of Azoren stew (beef) and other delecasies ...
So this morning, after a checking out and a quick shopping trip by Mick, we said Goodby to Historic Angra..
We played with the cruising shute for a while but the wind quickly faded and so we motored for the South West corner of the island to escape the wind shadow. By 1340 we had a steady breeze but at the same time I noticed a problem with the mainsail clue outhaul (the bit of string that pulls the back corner of the mainsail to the end of the boom). The plastic block had started to disintegrate and the line had jammed in it...
So in what would probably prove to be the freshest wind of the day we had to drop the mainsail and replace the block and line...
Thankfully we had spares of both and so were sailing again in 20 minutes or so.
We've had two fleeting sightings of Dolphins and/or small Wales but too far off to be sure.
It's now 1800 local time, we're about a third of the way through the passage to Horta by distance and I'm losing my data signal and so I'll try and post this now.
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