Açores_Azores : Sao Jorge

Nous continuons notre route vers l'Est vers l'ile de Sao Jorge que nous ne connaissons pas. Là aussi la place manque dans ce petit port de Vila das Velas et il faut veiller et régulièrement appeler la marina pour connaitre la disponibilité de place. Mais quelle satisfaction de visiter cette ile magnifique au relief escarpé et de profiter de cette petite ville mignonette aux rues pavées de fresques de basalte et de marbre crème: Les Açores dans toute la beauté sauvage de ses paysages et au rythme des traditions conservées. Mais il faut se dépêcher d'apprécier ce petit paradis car les choses évoluent très vite. 

We continue our eastwards journey to the island of Sao Jorge, a new destination for us. Here as well we witness the overcrowding of the Azorean marinas. The tiny port of Vila das Velas sees movements in and out, but one has to regularly call the marina to know if there is any place vacated for the day. Our timing of arrival at Velas is pretty good - having had absolutely no trouble weighing our anchor at Horta (what a relief!) we sail into Velas marina at noon on 4/6 just as a couple of yachts leave for the other islands. The small village of Velas, quiet and impeccably maintained with its basaltic black and marble white paved streets (an artistic tradition common to Portugal's towns and cities), is set in backdrops that beautifully blend colourful parks and coastal walkways. The island of Sao Jorge is magnificent with its steep cliffs especially on the northern coast, with green hills, lush forests and natural coastal pools well worth a day's visit. We spend slightly more than a week here, finally (after 6 months since Richard's Bay!) able to hose down Galatee, our spinnaker and our dinghy, and not forgetting to leave our 'mark' on the jetty wall of the marina, a tradition of passing yachts, highlighting our Atlantic tour of 2010-2011 and our Round-the-world tour of 2015-2018.
 

Açores_Azores : Faial

Finalement nous apprécions notre situation de relatif isolement au mouillage de Horta qui nous permet de vaquer à nos occupations sans avoir à nous occuper des autres voiliers à couple qui manœuvrent très souvent et à toutes heures pour accueillir un nouvel arrivant ou laisser sortir le voisin avec parfois des conséquences fâcheuses pour le matériel... Malgré une fréquentation en nette augmentation, la ville reste toutefois très agréable et le contact entre équipages et Açoréens toujours aussi courtois et chaleureux. Nous redécouvrons les lieux et revisitons des souvenirs que depuis sept ans nous avions enfouis au fin fond des replis de nos mémoires et que la vue ressuscite: Porto Pim et son ancienne station baleinière, où le navigateur Genuino a maintenant ouvert un restaurant après deux tours du monde et le café Peter qui fête cette année ses 100 ans de tradition d'accueil des marins de passage. Toutes les routes semblent continuer à converger vers cet archipel et nous recroisons avec émotions quelques voiliers rencontrés en Patagonie en 2016 : Alea et Skoiern notamment (qui fête aussi ses 100 ans!).

Eventually we greatly appreciate being relatively isolated at our anchorage in Horta, without having to take into consideration the movements of other yachts which, whilst alongside (two, three or four yachts deep), yachts have to be moved every so often to either make place for a new arrival, or to let your neighbour out. Some of these tight-fitting manoeuvres, either in haste, carelessness or frustrations, may obviously have negative consequences such as scratches, bumps and raised temperaments. Despite the significant increase in numbers - of yachts as well as crew - Horta has retained its charm. The Azoreans, as it was 7 years ago, are welcoming, warm and super friendly. We rediscover and revisit places bringing back fond memories : the bay at Porto Pim, where the historical whale station still stands as a museum, and where Azorean navigator Genuino - the only Azorean who has single-handedly sailed twice around the world - has chosen to open an interesting restaurant. Not only are delicious local dishes sumptuously served accompanied by beautiful Fado music every Friday night, the restaurant serves as a 'museum' of Genuino's souvenirs, collections and documentation from his world tours. 2018 is also the 100th anniversary year of the famous Peter's Cafe, celebrating thus its long tradition of welcoming passing yachts who seem to converge from all corners of different oceans. Here, to our pleasant surprise, we cross the paths of yachties who we met in Patagonie in 2016 : S/Y Alea (Johans and Sylvie) and S/Y Skoiern (Patrick and Anne-Marie), the latter coincidently celebrating as well the 100th year of Skoiern's construction.