Tour of Faial Island Azores June 2015

Horta on Faial Island is the usual Port of Entry on the Azores.  We tried to go to Flores but the wind switched to Northeast and the Harbormaster kicked all the boats out of the Harbor.  So the choice became Horta.  Faial as well as all of the islands of the Azores is very clean and orderly.  Every house and farm is so well kept that you begin to look for something out of place but is is not there.  There are a lot of parks or vistas that allow you to enjoy the countryside.  These three pictures show a nice valley that was one of the last valleys on Faial because it doesn't have access to the sea.

The Portuguese began settling the Azores in 1432.  The early settlers were from Portugal but later immagrants were from France and Belgum and all over Europe.  They all are Portuguese now and the islands are part of Portugal.

The islands of the Azores are very agricultural but they have had to specialize.  For example oranges can be grown in Portugal and shipped to the Azores cheaper then they can be grown locally.  The main agricultural products are cheese and sausages.  Every island has several cheeses.  Linguica and Chorizo are my favorite sausages.

Across the road from the viewpoint looks up toward a town that has access to the sea.   Again it is very orderly and well kept.

 The picture is looking toward Horta and the Port.  Serenity. our boat, is tied up behind the far breakwater.

In the clouds you can see the Island of Pico.  It is the tallest mountain in Portugal.   I climbed it which is the subject of another post.

Below is the western end of

Painting the boat name on the Breakwater Faial Island, Azores June 2015

When you go To Horta on the island of Faial, Azores superstition has it that you must paint the name of your boat on the breakwater to keep your Karma in good shape.  Boats have been lost that left no name on the breakwater.  The protocol is you must find a space that you cannot read and then you can paint over it.  There are no unpainted spaces.   It was fun.   I was given some paint by Micheal and Mattheus from a German boat Rosinante and then I went to the Chinese hardware store and bought more paint and some brushes and solvents.   Ready to go I thought.  First I painted the space white and let it dry.   The next morning after coffee I came out with my paints and somebody was painting in my little white rectangle.  I expressed my disapproval, the guy apologized and cleaned up his mess and I was ready to start. 

This is definitely amateur and freehand but it shows the cutter rig, the double reefed main, the Monitor Windvane (Helmer) and the names of the crew.  Notice the water bottles behind Ellie.  When you are done painting for the day you put the bottles at the corners of your art and tape in between (blue tape of course) so that not too many people step on your art.

 

Ellie didn't get to paint but that was a good thing.  The Chinese paint thinner mad my hands numb for a few months. 

Check out the other boat names. 

Serenity in Horta Chilling and getting ready to tour the Azores.  One really fun thing happened as we were checking out with immagration.  The official asked us if we knew anybody  from the Azores.  We explained that Ellie's Grandfather was from San Miguel Island and the guy just lit up and we went through the particulars. 

Just to show that there are people with artistic talent that paint their boat names in Horta I have included some of the painting of some of our dockmates Rosinante and White Witch.

Spa Creek sailing school Spa Creek Annapolis Maryland Chesapeake Bay August 2014

The Sailing School at Spa Creek teaches kids to sail before they can read the instructions or worry about details.  In this picture the  boat is pulling the four dinghys behind.  This is the first step where they teach the kids to control the boat with the rudder. 

 The instructors pull the boats around for days until the kids know how to steer the boat.  It is fun to watch.  At first the different boats wander back and forth but the kids learn fast. 

 My guess is that these kids are from six to eight years old. 

 At that age they learn pretty fast how to steer a boat.

 The next step is to add a sail to the boat and learn to sail.  The boats with the striped sail are the rookie sailors.  We spent many hours watching the kids learn to sail.  The instructors used the mooring bouys as objectives for the sailors.  For example they would tell the class to go to bouy 57 and some of the kids would head there.  Other kids would point their boats into the wind and the boats would have sails aback and out of control.  The instructors would patiently tell them that they were pointed in the no go zone.  They helped to get sailing again and point at the bouy. 

 Since two or more sailboats constitutes a race, as soon as some of the kids figured out how it works they were racing and having fun and learning how to sail.

 I think that this picture shows that they all learned something.   In the first days of striped sails the boats would be all over the mooring field and this picture shows a tight group.  The next step is white sails and more races. 

The picture with St Mary's Church and High School has a good story with it.  The church was founded by Charles Carol who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independance.   He was the longest lived signer of that document and also the only Catholic.  Annapolis was the Capitol of the U.S. so Mr Carol started this church and was later an Archbishop of the Catholic Church.

 

Spa Creek Annapolis, Maryland August 2014

Spa Creek in Annapolis is one of the nicest places we have anchored or moored our boat.  It is protected from the weather and has all the city stuff close at hand.   It also has the best chandlery we have found in our travels.  It is called Fawcetts and is the chandlery that others should study and emulate.  As you can  see from the pictures it is a very nice part of town.   Look carefuly at the two large trees in the right of the picture as well as the nice pilings keeping the lawn in place.

The next picture is the same place at high tide with a strong southerly wind blowing.   The first picture didn't have the park bench because it was taken in.   In the years to come Annapolis will need to be raised some.

 Any way you look at it this is a nice part of a nice town.

Every place that a road terminates at the creek is a place where you can tie up your dinghy and go ashore.  There are quite a few of these places and sometimes even with docks.  Annapolis is a boater's town.  There are more boats than people since people from the back country need a place to keep their boats.

There is an inlet to the center of the town which is called Ego Alley.  When you have a 50 foot boat like the on the in the left of the picture you light up a cigar and cruise your boat slowly into Ego Alley.  It is not a through waterway so at the end you turn your magnificent craft around without hitting anybody and cruise back out.  I needed to also cruise this place so that is me in the rowboat.

Bundaberg and Mathews Birthday Party October 2005

Bundaberg, Australia  October 2005

Mathew's Birthday Party
  We were anchored north of Bundaberg Australia headed south to Bundy.  We were north of Great Keppel Island and ready to head south.  As usual the weather did not cooperate.  There was about a three day blow from the north so we moved from the north side of the island to the south and rode it out.  It was not a problem since we had enough beer and books to read.  Mathew was not worried because he understood that his birthday did not take place until we reached Bundaberg.

  We ended up riding it out for three days and then left for Bundaberg.

Mathew did not cut the cake but he was ready to.

Once we were in Bundaberg the birthday could proceed and Mathew would be five.  Bundaberg was set up to receive the  Port to Port Rally from Port Villa Vanuatu to Port Bundaberg Australia but there was an early season cyclone and the rally was delayed.  We used the tents next to the marina for the party for kids and parents.  Some people who were entertainers for the rally needed somebody to practice on so they made balloons and played games with the kids.

A great way to entertain parents and kids.

Most of the kids on the table showing off their baloons. 

Mathew is the Blond boy on the right and his sister Natasha is the girl with the purple bandana.  The other kids are from various boats in the marina.  Their parents are also enjoying the entertainment.

 Bundaberg Port Marina looking across the river.

Tea Plantation San Miguel Island, Azores June 2015

San Miguel Island, Azores June 2015

The tea plantation   (Cha'  Gorreanna)

The tea plantation on San Miguel Island Azores is the only tea plantation in Europe.  They have produced tea for export for over a hundred years.  The machinery is all flat belt drive which means it was probably purchased a hundred years ago.  There were things that we learned about tea.  The difference between black tea and green tea is that black tea is cooked longer.  The tea leaves that are harvested are only the new sprouts of the tea plant.  The top three leaves are harvested.  The top leaf is called orange pekoe.  The second leaf is called pekoe.  The third leaf is referred to as broken leaf. When they began growing tea they had to import people from India to teach the Azorians how to grow tea.

The tea plants are harvested by a machine that runs in the gaps between the plants.  Originally there were individual plants that were picked by hand.  Now the machine picks the leaves and the individual plants have turned into a hedge.  The gentlemen in the foreground are moving tea from an  oven to a box where it will cool and be ready to be sorted.

The machines are old but are well maintained still working.  The overhead shaft and flat belts are how machinery was run before electric motors. 

In the Azores hydrangeas are everywhere.