When it
rains it pours. Since we last post we have:
Seen a
ginormous whale on our way into Horta (it was swimming parallel to the boat,
about a boat length away, and was about as big as the boat. Very amazing and a
little bit scary).
Had several crew changes: 1. Our Great Lakes sailor John returned to the great lakes as foreseen. He really did turn out to be a salty, kind and generally amiable chap all round, so Melville was right about the Great Lakes sailors being awesome. 2. Simon and Tatjana left early, jumping ship in Sao Miguel. We were very sad to see them go. But we also understood their motivations, as Tatjana had the worst case of seasickness anyone had ever seen, and there was simply no point in prolonging her agony. 3. Will’s brother and Ximera’s owner, Robbie, joined us in Santa Maria.
Visited Horta, Sao Miguel and Santa Maria in the Azores. Horta was probably the favorite, and certainly was mine (Jonas’). We appreciated the historical buildings, the beautiful landscape, the festive and fraternal atmosphere (not least at Peter’s Sport Café), the delicious food, friendly locals and generally relaxed atmosphere. Being from the historical whaling village of Sag Harbor, NY, I was particularly intrigued by Horta’s whaling history and felt a connection. We left our painting on the wall of the marina for good luck. Ponta Delgada (Sao Miguel) was also good fun, particularly the old part of town where Will and Michelle provisioned the boat at the local market. I went surfing with Dave from Testarossa (hi Dave!), which was very awesome. Santa Maria was also a cute little place.
Now we are happily chugging toward our destination with less than 1 day to go until THE END OF THE ATLANTIC CROSSING. Wow.
Picking up Robbie has been great; he has breathed new life into the crew. Without him on board, we would likely have motored straight from Santa Maria to Lagos. However, probably because he has not spent the last 5 weeks at sea, Robbie brought with him a contagious enthusiasm for sailing (you know, using the wind and those flappy white things), and we were all afflicted, so leaving Santa Maria we sought out the wind with the desperation of a wino scrounging for change to buy the next bottle. We sailed far North and so far have been rewarded handsomely, with 15-20 knots of wind consistently aft of the beam (broad reach). The weather has been mostly gorgeous, a bit chilly but sunny, with blue skies, puffy clouds, and an electric blue sea with white-capped rollers.
Now all we have to do is not get smashed to bits by one of the ever increasing fleet of cargo ships, and, Insha’Allah, we’ll be toasting Ximera’s first West to East Atlantic crossing tomorrow. Yoo-hooo!!!
Photo caption: Respecting local lore, we left
our painting on the wall of the
Marina in Horta to ensure safe passage. So far
it’s working.
Plaque blog