Exploring the island
In the morning I got a call from a Portuguese number. A bit surprised I answered and heard Jose from Velas marina say that he has a spot available for us, rafted to another boat. We were almost getting ready to take the dinghy to the dock in order to get picked up by a cab, but it seemed much more prudent not to leave the boat at anchor for the entire day and take the offer. We quickly got our act together, tied the dinghy alongside Salty Ginger and narrowly avoiding a collision with rocks (the captain was multitasking), we tied up to a red-hulled boat flying a Swedish flag. The owners instantly recognized us: we helped them with the lines in Lajes do Pico. Since the cab was already waiting for us, we quickly tidied up the lines and left, thanking the owners for being rafted to their boat.
Our desitnation was Faja de Ouvridor. A picturesque place with a natural outdoor pool. The northern side of São Jorge has one faja after another: these are relatively flat outcrops of land where building a village is actually feasible. Few of the fajas are easily accessible by boat, and none are suitable for Salty Ginger. There are also fajas that are not easily accessible by car. Since less than half of our company was in a mood for a hike, Ouvridor was a perfect location.
We called the driver and went to get drinks and ice cream at a little stand. The nearby restaurant is closed only on Tuesdays.
Antonio came to pick us up and per Irina's requests made a few stops on the way to take pictures of the hydrangea-lined roads and fences. Irina's objective was to find cows that perfectly matched the scenery.
Antonio dropped us off at a local cafe, but when we walked in the owner told us that they were closing and would not feed us. Supermarket came to the rescue: we got fish, burgers for kids and went down to the boat to cook a late lunch.
The Swedish couple saw Valentin and I setting up the hammocks on the bow (next to their cockpit) and invited us over for a boat tour. They have been living aboard since May last year, and were now finishing up the North-Atlantic circle that we are starting. Their next destination is the Med, where the boat will winter. Before I could finish the beer kindly offered to me by our neighbors, I was called by Irina: another boat was pulling in and was going to raft alongside.
The Portuguese skipper was very talkative, yet polite. He was delivering a boat back to Lisbon after a regatta aboard with his wife, daughter and son-in-law. "I love boating," he exclaimed, "but it's bad for your wallet, liver and back." With that he offered us a bottle of wine which we declined, since we wanted to go swimming.
After a late dinner, nobody was in a mood to go to a restaurant. We actually did make a reservation at a restaurant up the hill, but we couldn't find anyone to take us there and nobody was in a mood for an hour-long walk to get food. Instead we had salad and simple food on the boat. The boys were quickly done and went onto the bow to talk and ... be boys. At some point I walked over to our Swedish neighbors to drop off chocolates and to tell them that they should inform us when they go to bed so that we don't annoy them with noise. "Oh, that's totally fine! We raised 3 kids, and we now have 3 grandkids, this is what kids are supposed to do."
Sail to Graciosa
The Portuguese were scheduled to depart after getting groceries in the morning. We were going to follow suit after finishing breakfast. With the checkout procedures completed, we untied ourselves from our neighbors and motored out. There was practically no wind, so motoring was the only way to get us to the other island.
Shortly after we rounded the western tip of São Jorge, Irina shouted, "Whale!" Indeed, a sperm whale was coming up to the surface, showing us its back and then submerging for short intervals. At some point he dove and did not reappear. Within a couple of minutes, we were surrounded by dolphins. At first, these guys didn't seem particularly interested in playing with the boat: they seemed to be feeding. But as we circled around, they decided that after all it could be fun to play with the bow and played in the bow wave as I accelerated the boat. We watched the animals feed and play around the boat for a good half hour.
At some point, it was clearly sailing weather. It didn't last long, but Valentin and I did a few tacks as the wind kept shifting. Once our speed fell below 3 knots, we turned the motor back on.
We decided not to pull into the village of Praia, but instead head to an anchorage, where according to the harbormaster in Velas, at least 4 boats can anchor. The entrance into the shallow anchorage spot is rather inconspicuous, making it very well protected from the ocean swell. Inside we found 10 boats already at anchor. I haven't anchored in such a tight environment since Block Island, so I did a round to find a good spot, briefly ran aground next to a boat almost identical to Salty Ginger and finally dropped the hook without getting into anybody's way.
Graciosa
The water in the anchorage was not clear, so rather than swim there, we packed the swimming things and took the dinghy ashore to go into a natural pool. It looked small, so I didn't even think of putting on the mask at first, but the diversity of living creatures was quite large. Andy even spotted something that looked like a lion fish.
After taking showers on the beach, we walked to Santa Cruz for dinner. The village has a nice feel to it, and after a short walk we ended up in a small restaurant. Run by the locals, for the locals. Lovely food and wine!
In the morning we took another walk to the town, and went into the town museum. It tells a nice story of how the Portuguese settled the island and the amazing diversity of artisans that the island needed in order to be able to sustain humans: farmers, wine makers, coopers, metal workers and so on.
We got some provisions while walking through the town and decided to skip the town festival and instead head back to Pico to anchor in Madalena.
Given the long distance between the islands, we couldn't leave too late, but that still allowed us to squeeze in a swim. This time around, the high tide erased the natural barriers of the pool and the fish were not around, but nevertheless, everyone appreciated jumping into the refreshing water. And taking a fresh water shower after that...
Once we were back on Salty Ginger, I heard a commotion while getting the dinghy ready for departure. Turned out that a small lizard hid inside Barbara's bag and was now on the loose inside the boat. Hopefully it can get some insects, but what is it going to eat afterwards? And what happens when it runs out of food?
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