July 16th , Porta de Santo Antonio, Terceira, Azores

Last night we arrived at Terceira after a superb day of sailing. Great weather, gentle breeze, no swell..we sailed close hauled for the fist leg to the East end of Sao Jorge and then beam reach to Terceire. Of course we got the gennaker out as well :-)

We arrived at around 9 pm and were welcomed by the marina staff that helped us getting in a berth.

They are all so very friendly here!!

The day before we left Sao Jorge we did a great hike. There are a lot of trails set out and the one we did was from the mountain down to the North coast. The view was amazing and half the Island is covered by Hortensias. We crossed some streams and went down to a beautiful waterfall.

It took us about 4 hrs to walk to the place were the taxi picked us up again.

Then the driver told us about the bull fighting that they had in the other village and he drove us there. They have bull fights all the time, every Sunday at least. It's not really a fight and they don't kill the bull. They let a bull out and the 'brave ones' tease him until he charges and they run away..

The bull is tied onto a rope that's hold by a bunch of guys to keep some control..

Anyway this time the arena was the parking lot. The bull had no grip at all on the concrete and slipped the whole time.. That made it a pathetic spectacle and especially Eline got very upset and angry. I didn't like it either, so we left pretty quick again.

Normally they do this on a field or in the streets, like here in Terceira. Everytime you here a canon, it means a bull is out in the streets and here that's pretty much the whole time, even at 8 am this morning :-o

Anyway, today we'll explore the village a bit and check on what we want to do tomorrow.

July 13th Velas, Sao Jorge, Azores

Today we sailed to Velas on Sao Jorge, a trip of 35 Nm.

For some reason I woke up later then usual and the weather wasn't that nice. However when we left Horta at around 10:30 the sun was out again and we had a nice breeze.

After an hour or so the wind dropped and when we were down to 2 kts we had to start the engine. Not for long though, an hour later the wind picked up again :-)

By the time we got to Sao Jorge the weather had changed again. Dark thick clouds and visibility had dropped so much that we couldn't see the Island. Only when we we less the 2 Nm from the rocks we could see the Island.

Velas has a vary small marina with even smell berths. The harbor master was very friendly and very helpful but the birth he showed me was not wide enough.. We tried but we just didn't fit....

Anyway we ended up alongside a 55 ft Swan :-)

In all the people over here are very friendly indeed and it's a real pleasure to visit these Islands

They are all different but very beautiful...

Anyway, after I had checked in the clouds were mostly gone and the sun was shining again.

We walked around a bit and when I got back to the boat, Rutger and Eline went over to the supermarket to get the onions we forgot yesterday. They came back all excited... and called me to come on deck. It was amazing, a rainbow so close that the boat seemed just under it...

If the weather is good tomorrow, we plan to do the most famous hike on the Island. Then on Sunday we'll leave for Terceira

Horta July 12th

Titel July 11th Back in Horta, Azores

Last night we arrived in Horta again. The flight was ok but it still took us a whole day. Especially Eline didn't enjoy it very much, she doesn't like flying, too boring and too much waiting.

It turned out to be a real disaster for her... when we finally arrived, her suitcase was missing..

For a 17 year old.. that's about the worst thing that can happen. On top of that, the weather was not as good as in the brochure :-o

It took her some time but in the end she was okay[ish] again.

We had dinner at Internacional and that was real good. Afterwards Rutger and Eline went for a walk and we had another drink before going to bed.

This morning the weather was really fine and sunny. First thing we did after breakfast was go get some stuff for Eline and when she found a nice dress she was happy again. Then we had some things to do on the boat. Rutger had already done most of the cleaning when I was shopping with Eline. Then the bilge pump turned out dead .. it's not even a year old. Anyway we fixed it, replaced the also diseased inverter for a new one. I also had ordered a new unit for the fuel inlet since the cap went overboard mid Atlantic. Rutger tried the cap first and we were very lucky: it fitted, so we didn't have to replace the whole unit :-)

This afternoon we found a nice spot to put our painting and did some preparations in making it nice and white. Tomorrow we'll try and finish it.

Jean Pierre, who looked after the boat, told me that Teceira would be a nice island to visit. There's a lot going around, so he says. It's only a 12 hr sail so it's worth going there and if we're lucky we'll see some whales on the way.

Anyway that will be the plan for Friday, tomorrow we'll explore Faial.

In the mean time, I hope very much Eline's suitcase will turn up. Usually it does the next day they told us. We'll know in an hour or so... fingers crossed.

Rijswijk, June 23rd, late...

It took some time but... I added a few pics to the ocean updates.
If it works out, I'll try and upload some video's too .. tomorrow that is :-)

Thursday, June, 21st ,Rijswijk Netherlands

After a long day traveling we're back to base...

We had a long stop over at Lisboa, so we took the bus and went downtown for a few hours.

 For me the only place so far I went before on my to the Caribbean. A bit strange, but still nice even though, to my recollection, it was a bit warmer last November :-o

We all have to try and pick up 'normal' life again. In many ways, this trip wasn't just a vacation.

Being on the ocean for 16 days, covering almost 2100 Nm's on a small boat with 4 different personalities that are there for different reasons and hardly know each other is an adventure:-)

It all worked out great though and for me it's another unique experience which I share with people that are very dear to me.

I'm very lucky anyway because I'm still not there.. Next month the final leg, back to Scheveningen, is still waiting. I guess then it will be way harder to adjust to normal life again. So if anyone has any tips to share, please let me know :-)

Horta June 19th

At last, the sun is back :-)



The world looks very different now and way better to remember for our last days at Horta !