Faial

Hi everyone,

We spent a week anchored in Horta harbour on the island of Faial.  Horta was the starting point for the OCC 70th anniversary Macaronesia cruise in company.  We met the crews of SVs Caballito da Mar IX, Coromandel, Metzi and Photon Infinity soon after arriving.  The others arrived around the same time as us, but from the Canaries, Azores and Europe.  We spent a great week exploring the town and island together.

Zen Again in Horta Harbour

A focal point for sailors in Horta is the famous Peter's Sport Cafe.  There's a long relationship between the cafe owners and the OCC so we were made very welcome.

The Cafe

View over the marina and harbour towards Pico

A get-together at Peter's

One day we taxied up to the Botanical Gardens.  Interesting place with lots to see including many orchids.

From the Gardens we walked back to Horta.  A park in town had several Black Swans which reminded us of home.

Black Swans in Horta park

Another day we did a half-day minibus tour of Faial, briefly seeing most of the key spots around the island.

Cruisers in Company

View of Horta from the North

Caldera

Selfie!

View down a river gorge on the North coast

Old lighthouse partly buried by 1950s eruption at Ponta dos Capelinhos

Ponta dos Capelinhos

Towards the end of our stay we had the 'official launch' dinner for the cruise.  It was of course at Peter's Cafe Sport.  We had a great dinner with Jose shouting us the first round of drinks and giving each boat a 'show bag' with postcards, burgee and a bottle of Peter's gin.  A great night.  We gave Jose a well-used OCC burgee from our last two year's cruising.

Dinner at Peter's

Zen Again OCC burgee on the wall at Peter's

A Great Night!

The following day we walked around Monte da Guia to Porto Pim where there's a nice black sand swimming beach and several cafes.

View from Monte da Guia

Porto Pim

On our final day in Faial the cruising gang taxied up to the Caldera to walk the rim.  We were very lucky with the weather and had a great walk.

We're so glad we decided to do an Atlantic Circuit to revisit the Azores and Canaries.  Doing it with the OCC cruise in company has made it even more fun, and we're just getting started!