Land Ho!

38’35 N 28’36 W

I was on night-watch hours before we were to hit the Azorian Islands. We were charging into 15 knots of chilly head-wind and crashing over decent sized seas with the knowledge that as we neared land, we would likely encounter ill-lit fishing boats and all kinds of other floating debris that could do our boat damage.

My eyes squinted and strained into the dark distance. Wind and sea-spray pelted my face. The ghostly figures of sea gulls were all the time swooping around the boat, barely seen. Since the radar doesn’t do you much good when the waves are bigger than most of the small boats you’re on guard for, I was left to wonder: “What is that faint light in the haze? A boat? Some low-hanging star? Or is it just my imagination?”

The sun came up soon enough, and after navigating around some beautiful cliffs, we landed on the island of Faial at a port called Horta. What a cool place! The first time we stepped on land after being at sea for two weeks, I got what I guess to be the opposite of sea sickness. I went kinda dizzy for a moment and had to crouch down to make sure I wouldn‘t fall. Who woulda thought?!? It felt great to be on solid land though.

Horta is a very popular way-point for sailing yachts, but the marina it’s self is not that big, and it‘s governed by a first come, first serve policy. So when it fills up, boats are forced to dock onto other boats and climb over one another to get to land. We docked onto a boat occupied by a nice Australian lady called Pipper, and then another boat filled with Germans docked onto us!! I guess it’s common practice to board other people’s boats with or without permission, but I found it all a bit crazy/odd. There were some extremely nice yachts there, and because of the aforementioned policy, Jon and I got to board some!

The next two days were filled with beautiful sights, great food, and interesting people, which made the stop super memorable.

Eric