The Azores is an archipelago of 9 islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Portugal and 750 miles from Portugal itself. The islands are all volcanic, not large and lie in three groups together ... we only visit the middle group of islands. Unfortunately we had to miss Flores (an island of the western group). And Sao Miguel, an island of the south-eastern group has in our opinion too little to offer to sail 150 miles there and back. So we limit ourselves to Faial, Pico, Sao Jorge and Terceira. And this first week only Faial.
Horta is the capital of Faial. the marina of Horta has the most entries and exits of yachts in the world every year. everyone who comes here has sailed several days in a row and has often been on the road for a year or more. we see many nationalities here ... French, English, Americans, Canadians, Poles, Swedes, Norwegians, Israelis, Spaniards, Portuguese and just go on and on. with all those murals on the quay it is a colourful intention. there is a wonderful atmosphere in the marina and the facilities such as washing machines, water, electricity, supermarket etc. are fine. lying here as a 'long distance' sailor is more like lying temporarily in a 'floating village' than really being a tourist visiting here. life takes place a lot on and around the boats in the company of other sailors and is less focused on seeing all the beautiful things that are here as much as possible. we try to keep a nice mix ... it is wonderful to be in the company of our friends o

The first two nights lying still is a strange sensation. Our bodies are so used to movement that it is especially (for Mira) getting used to lying still at night again. The first evening we lie between a Pole and an Israeli. We make a nice bottle of white wine soldier (still received from Jeroen and Yolande and saved for a special moment) and lie in bed early. The next two days we 'clean ship'; the usual things like cleaning inside and outside and doing the laundry. But also chores like filling gas bottles, treating the tent with waterproof spray, cleaning the teak deck extra and a visit to the hairdresser to look a bit 'pimped' again!

The weather is a bit changeable ... rain and sunshine alternate. But luckily we have a lot more sun than rain and the temperature is also delicious. Mostly we go out to dinner, because it's very cheap here. Peter's Sport Café is the meeting place for sailors and they have delicious draught beer and steak with fries. There was actually mail for us at that café ... thanks again Rinus and Marjanne! And of course we make a nice design for a painting on the quay. The four of us paint it in three days (paint has to dry in between) on the quay. Very nice to do!

On Saturday the 19th of July we watch soccer (NL-Japan) in a local cafe ... still a bit boring as the only Dutchmen, but we know by now that the other boats will arrive the next day, so the next games will certainly be more enjoyable. The Herring Gull arrives first ... half past 1 ... we welcome them and have a nice lunch with white wine, bread and cheese. The whole afternoon we hang around in the sunshine on the quay, painting a bit, chatting, waiting for the other two. At 7 pm the Barbarossa enters the harbour. Champagne (from the Bonnie) and homemade apple pie from the Brandaan. And an hour later the Valentine enters. Very nice to see everyone again after almost 5 months. We were able to arrange for the four of us to lie next to each other at the quay ... Barbarossa first, then Brandaan, next to the Herring Gull and finally the Valentine. Yes, there we lie next to each other ... just like the very first time in Portugal in the city of Porto last September. We have dinner with the whole group in Peter's Sport Café and chat till late at night. The following days we also need to catch up ... every evening we eat together and chat until the wee hours of the morning. It's great fun!

During the day it's like a small village ... everyone has something to do or clean up and in between have a nice chat with each other. The children play together and have a lot of fun. And football provides entertainment ... of course we watch the match Netherlands - Cameroon together, but also other matches such as Portugal - Brazil and France - South Africa are fun to watch ... of course dressed in orange and armed with the Dutch flag (Daniel vd Valentine).

So the days fly by, without being on the road too much. Except for one day when we rent a car and explore Faial. We drive to the middle of the island and take a nice walk over the crater rim of over 2 hours. Bit of climbing and descending and continuous beautiful views of the crater itself and all sides of the island and the sea. The island is full of flowers, especially hydrangeas, with white houses and red roofs. It is a hilly volcanic landscape and on the southwest side of the island we see a piece of land that originated only 50 years ago from a volcanic eruption.

The walk around the crater is a huge ordeal especially for Toine. Two days before, he suddenly suffers from his big toe in the middle of the night. An acute inflammation in the big toe almost certainly points to gout. It hurts enormously and only Ellen's (from the dentist in Nassau) painkillers help. Fortunately, the pain is diminishing, but it isn't over yet. The mental pain may be greater ... gout is especially common in men over 40 ;-).

Between the companies I have some contact with my work to hear more about the content of the job I can do after my return. Nice to talk to some people about it, think a bit about it, and then let it rest.

Together with the other boats we are working on the follow-up plans. Which islands are we going to visit and via which route will we sail back to the Netherlands? The Herring Gull will continue today or tomorrow. It looks like we will continue to travel with the Barbarossa and the Valentine in the coming weeks. We all have the same date in mind to be back in the Netherlands and the wishes for the last part of the journey are not far apart. For example, Ireland will be carefully explored as the next stop after the Azores.

In short, a wonderful week after a huge adventure of crossing: we are enjoying ourselves to the fullest and still have 2 months to go ...!