Running of the Bulls-Terciera Island, Azores-June 2015

Whenever a town has a festival or party they rent Bulls and run them through the streets.  Somehow this is entertaining.  These bulls are large mean animals.  The local athorities block off a section and let the bulls have free run.  The area we were in was probably a six block area.  They use large semi trailers with boards on the sides and all sorts of barriers.  The timber barrier in this picture is where I hid.  I was behind the barrier and even had an escape route figured in case the bull knocked down the barrier.  In this picture the bulls had not been released and every body was feeling brave.

 OK the bulls are out and everyone is becoming less brave.  Look at the quilts hanging from the balconies across the street.  That is decoration for the festivities.  Also notice that people have their doorways blocked to keep the bulls out.  They were selling beer over the top of the barriers though when the bulls were on the other side of the block.  

 The white bull seems to be zeroing in on our side of the street.  Notice that there are no children just macho dudes who want to play the game. 

 Just to show that this is all real, there was a guy about fifty feet from us that was hit by one of the bulls.  We believe he lived because he raised his hand as the truck took him away.  That took some of the macho away from the rest of the folks.  

  After an hour or so the bulls are pretty sick of running on city streets with people taunting them.  The streams of saliva are clear to the ground and they look like they want to be done with this game.  They are still on the mean side.  Our buddy the white bull is back. 

 Notice how the bull became the king of this mountain.  He cleared off the lawn and everybody who was formerly brave disappeared. 

 I imagine that the guy on the street sign could have held on for hours if he had to.

Passages - 2015 - Chesapeake to England in Three Passages

We  came across the Atlantic in three steps.  Chesapeake to the Caribbean,  Caribbean to the Azores and Azores to England.

We left Hampton Virginia on November 3, 2014 with the Salty Dawg Rally and headed right down the coast.  The issues were where to cross the Gulf Stream and there was some bad weather moving from the Dominican Republic to a point east of Bermuda.  We stayed along the coast until we were about even with Cape Hatteras.  This is not because we were clever but we listened to Chris Parker.  He was our weather router for the rally and had been giving us his expertise to pick a departure date and a route to follow.  About Cape Hatteras we crossed the Gulf Stream.  It was a benign crossing and then we had some wind to sail with.  The picture below is the kind of cloud not to sail under.  The winds will increase and it is raining.

 This picture of Ellie shows the life jackets that we always wear when we are out of the cabin.  At night or in rough weather we snap on with a tether before leaving the cabin. 

 After three or four days the wind quit and the ocean got very calm.  The big boats with lots of fuel motored but we just sat there and read books.  It is pretty rare that the wind quits like this but it does happen.  After a couple of days the wind came back and we were sailing again. 

We did not have the moon on our passage so it was very dark.  Notice though that the Monitor Wind Vane (Helmer ) is steering the boat. 

This is a flash picture of the sails in the dark with rain.  Double reefed main and staysail is steady and slow.  

Traffic is always an issue.  We have an AIS Transmitter so that ships can  see many miles ahead that there is a  sailboat called Serenity many miles ahead.  Occasionally ships get close and it is quite exciting.  If you get as close as this picture it is not good.  

After nineteen days we came into Gorda Sound on the Island of Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.  We were able to pick a mooring at the Bitter End Yacht Club and sleep for the night.  One of the great moments on a passage is the moment that somebody gets to say land ho.  It is a good moment.  The pictures are of Faial Island in the Azores.  They are not pretty but after twenty two days the island looks good.  

Then as you get closer you can see houses and fields and proof of human habitation.  At this point you are tired but it still feels good to see land.  

The other passages we made were from St John United States Virgin Islands to Faial Island, Azores in twenty two days.  Next was San Miguel Island, Azores to Falmouth, England in twelve days.  The times are slow times but the crew on our boat is old and slow to make up for it. 

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Climbing Pico Mountain on Pico Island, Azores June 2015

Pico Mountain is 2351 meters (7700 feet) high and the highest mountain in Portugul.  It's most recent eruption was in 1720.  Most of the surface is rock.  It has not had time to erode to other things.

The picture  below is our guide.  His name is Joao (almost like John)  His family went to Canada in the 1950's but returned to the Azores for the quality of life.  Joao gives tours of the island and takes people up the mountain two or three days a week.
 

The mountain is steep as the pictures show.  The cone at the top of the mountain is a bit steeper and rather than  using hiking sticks it is the type of climbing where you need you hands and feet.  As you move up you move on limb at a time.  That means hold on with both hands and move one foot.  Then keep both feet on their holds and move one hand.  Don't slip!!!

This picture has me and Ian and Fiona from the boat Ruffian.  We met them is Hampton, Virginia and again in The Caribbean.  We also met in the Azores and when I asked them if they wanted to climb Pico they said of course.

On top of the mountain you need to take hero pictures.  By that I mean I made it and look at me.Woo Woo.

I was a little too tired to stand on top of the cairn.  It is an official hero picture though.

This a picture of the cone at the top.  Below the left ridge line you see some splashes of color.  That is the party after us climbing the final cone.   We are already back down. 

I talking about the climb afterwards Joao said the the second day would bring the aches and pains.  Usually it is the next day but I did OK through the next three days and the fourth day I could barely walk.  I mean Ellie could not only walk faster than me but but we would set objectives and she would wait for me.  All in all it was a good adventure and I am glad I did it.