The unfinished chapter 2025

End of summer 2025 (abridged)

The night at Angra do Heroismo was memorable, but not in a good way. The boat was being thrown around all night long by the swell, so nobody got a good sleep. I got out a few times to try to adjust the dock lines, but little did it help. So much as we liked the town (highly recommend to visit), the three of us were a bit discombobulated after a rough night. Most importantly, it was made known that there is no place for Salty Ginger in Angra. Good luck in Praia da Vitoria.

The greeting at Praia was not exactly cordial. Despite the fact that a few months prior I got an email from the marina to the tune "let's discuss when you get here", the guys at the front office laughed at the idea that S.G. could spend the winter there. 

Nevertheless, we did spend a lovely evening at the town party!

This situation called for a quick decision about what to do next. A call to Ponta Delgada affirmed that they had room for the boat and she could stay there over the winter.

There was a "small" problem: all three of us had tickets to fly from Praia and Peter had school starting the following Monday. In the end there seemed to be only one logical solution to the situation: Irina and Peter fly home, while I do a 90 mile crossing from Praia to Ponta Delgada. Oh, I was also supposed to report at work on Monday...

Having read enough about sailors, the last thing I wished upon myself was a solo overnight. Well, there I was departing into a windless night. I set the alarm for 30 minutes after I checked up on the boat. Sometimes I would wake up before the alarm. By dawn I got enough sleep, Sao Miguel was to port and fishing boats were all around. That was the ultimate goal: avoid near-shore collisions.

The two days I spent in Ponta Delgada went by so quickly... It takes so much more time to dress the boat for the winter alone.

The most important news were: the transmission did not want to engage in forward. Luckily I found that out during a practically windless part of the day. The marina gave me a contact of a Brit named Alan, who came to survey the situation and assured me that he could handle it.

Having hired German boat caretakers, I finished all projects and flew to Zurich. Ponta Delgada made no impression on me despite my youthful desire to come here. I was disappointed.

2026: A weekend on Sao Miguel

The Brit mechanic bowed out. Health issues. I kept sending regular payments to the boatsitters and got pictures when things would go wrong (mostly they didn't). I emailed another mechanic recommended by the marina, but then he stopped responding. Now I was really in trouble: not being able to put the engine in forward is more than problematic.

I bought tickets to Ponta Delgada to check up on the boat in person and then called the Portuguese mechanic, he said he'll meet me at the marina on Saturday -- his email inbox is a mess. Fine.

I was aware of the fact that April is a bit of an uncertain weatherwise month in the Azores. Plus, it'd be a crazy amount of work to get water, etc to get going on the boat, so I booked a hotel in Ponta Delgada. It turned out a great decision:

a) the magnetic card to enter the marina demagnetized (I would have to get that resolved at midnight on Good Friday)

b) the effort to get fresh water going would be substantial (did I mention landing at midnight)

c) there was no good place to sleep since the boat was prepared by ME for the winter

I met up with the Portuguese mechanic on Saturday morning and did a few chores on Salty Ginger. By late afternoon I ran out of chores since (ta-da) it's Easter weekend and I can't get supplies because the sailing chandleries are closed!

There was only one right solution to the problem: rent a car to explore the island on Easter Sunday!

Windy Easter day

Unlike the previous day, Easter started with mild wind that built up during the day. Luckily, the sun also came out -- otherwise I would have been very very cold.

I got a no frills (by modern standards) stick-drive Peugeot and set off exploring the western side of Sao Miguel. I knew that it was supposed to be pretty, but just how I could not have imagined. Well, I may have gotten lucky with the weather (even if I couldn't wear a hat for the fear of it getting blown away).

The full set of pictures is here

Having spent enough time in Ponta Delgada (and Sao Miguel), I have to admit that I changed my mind about the appeal of this island. I will happily come back here in July on the way Madeira, and I will be more than glad to return here again in the future.

The delay in publishing the original account of Terceira & Sao Miguel story is purely due to unforeseen circumstances that caused a lot more stress than I could handle at the time. Something had to give...