Thank you, Azores

 We're back on Salty Ginger!

Despite my fears of a crowded Zurich airport due to people departing for vacation on the evening of the last day of school, the time between us entering the airport and sitting down in the terminal to feed my teenage kid was perhaps 10 minutes. Our flight to Lisbon was delayed by some 20 minutes. Oh well, we have a 2 hour connection to Ponta Delgada -- we'll make it. Peter's head started to fall onto my shoulder as the plane was accelerating on the runway. I read for some 20 minutes and then followed suit. We stepped out of the airplane refreshed after a long, eventful week at school and work.

I had hopes of having decent dinner in the airport, but all the food looked rather unattractive, so we ended up finding a place with okay view of the Belgium-Spain World Cup game and shared a lamb shoulder which looked like the best choice of something edible. I decided to try the traditional Portuguese cod pastry (typically a safe choice) and my tummy was disappointed on the flight from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada.

Midnight local time, we stepped out of the plane and in the typical Azorean fashion walked to the terminal.

Our luggage was already there on the belt (how?!). We walked outside and a cab was ready to go (verifying that we had cash). 10 minutes later we were at the marina gates.

Now, I was expecting to find the boat moved because the marina emailed me a few weeks earlier and I asked the boat caretaker to oblige. After running around all the docks, I spotted Salty Ginger in the exact spot where she was in April. Strange, I thought. But there was much more important business: the boat key was not there. Oh, mechanic... But that's a different story. Peter climbed through one of the hatches that I conveniently left unlatched, and we were inside. We found sheets, made Peter's bed, made mine and crashed after brushing our teeth using water from a little pot of water that Peter filled. Commissioning the water system was not happening at 3am Zurich time.

WhatsApp vs visual

Despite the fact that we went to bed late, the 2 hour time shift made itself known, and both of us were up before 7am local time. Admittedly, I woke Peter up while getting the water system up and running. After all, we had projects to do and at the very least we would need to be able to wash hands.

Peter was rather excited to see Alice again after 3 or 4 years. "Papa, I'll go out of the gate and wait for her there". I asked him to help me instead: "we'll see her at the street level when she arrives, trust me."

At some (lucky) point when I stuck my head out of the cabin into the cockpit I did see Alice standing in the exact spot where I thought she would appear. "Peter, let's go!"

We were waving at her as we were walking down the pontoon, but Alice was in her phone. Presumably trying to call me. Yelling was a faster way to catch her attention.

"Didn't you get my WhatsApp message?" asked Alice after we hugged.

"Let me check," I answered. "I did! 15 minutes ago."

"Good. I just wanted to be sure my roaming is working."

Even though quite a few things have changed their position from disarray (welcome to SG) into their proper positions, the boat was still a mess. We left Alice's suitcases on the boat and went to a cafe across the street to plan the day. Despite a 3-hour sleep on the plane, she was determined to push through and work together to get the boat ready for departure.

Saturday projects

We had quite a bit of work to do. First things fist, we put up the bimini to create some shade from the sun. It was not hot, but that's very deceptive. Especially for people like me who spend their days far away from UV exposure.

Hoisting the foresail took some time, but was uneventful. The more adventurous task was to replace the furling line of the mainsail. Yes, we did replace it last year, but the rough winter swell in Ponta Delgada messed up the line, so it had to go. I remember Mark & Frank working on the mechanism last year, so I figured I'd follow the steps that they did. I figured it would be safer to take the sail down completely since the wind was gusting, which should also make the job easier. We unscrewed the four bolts holding the furler spiral and nothing happened. The thing wouldn't come out. I spotted a screw that was connecting the top and the bottom parts. Not easily accessible, but that must be the key for us to get the drum out. The bolt wouldn't come out. After half hour of trying by all 3 of us, things looked hopeless. I was ready to wake up Mark! And then I spotted 2 more screws that we didn't undo... Then the job was finished in 15 minutes and the sail was ready to be hoisted back.

We went for lunch to a cafe and were quite disappointed to find out that the only marine supply store that comes up on Google maps is closed. We did have many more projects to work on, so getting supplies on Monday would be fine.

Festivities

How could I forget! July 9-12 was Grandes Festas do Divino Espírito Santo de Ponta Delgada! That's why Alice arrived 15 minutes later than I expected: half the streets along the shore were closed for the big party. As we were messing around on deck, musicians were doing sound check at the arena right next to the marina. Around 3 there was a parade along the street separating the town from the bay. We were surprised that bagpipes made their appearances.

For dinner we went to Mercado do Peixe. Alice and Peter already knew that they would have to follow me to the fish restaurant where I have already been twice. Alice ordered a tuna steak (admittedly a bit dry), while Peter and I opted for a whole barracuda.

That fish would have been more than enough for the 3 of us, but who knew!

For football fans it is definitely nicer to be closer to the North America: the England-Norway game started at 9pm instead of 11pm as it did in Zurich. Alice could sit through the first half and left right as the aforementioned musicians started to perform (funny that we already heard almost all the songs). Peter and I stayed for the second half and the went back to the boat, collapsing into the beds despite the roaring music.

Exploring the island

When we booked our rental car on Saturday, at the spot where I picked it one up in April, they told us that the square will be closed, so we will have to pick up and drop off the car at the office across the street from the marina. When we showed up to pick the car up, the guy started apologetically, "look, we just got the police notice that you cannot return the car here. Instead, you will have to go to the airport and my colleagues will return you to the town. On the bright side, if you want to return the car after 6pm, it's ok!"

Our destination: the caldera and geysers of Furnas! We drove to the point overlooking the volcano lake and then hiked down. The forest is very green and quite magical.

At the bottom we found many more cars and people as well as the sulfur-stinky geysers.

Very quickly we realized that restaurants use the warm soil for cooking!

Peter was not a big fan of the smell (who was!), but he was very much excited by the pineapple stand in the parking lot. Of course, a teenage boy needs some energy to get back up the hill!

Near the village of Furnas there were more geysers. While I was curious to take a look at all the smoke, I slowed down and got sped up by Peter's remark, "are you slowing down intentionally to make my life unbearable due to the smell?"

One of the most unusual human-made attractions it the town is their electricity transformer box!

More pineapple!

Our must-go destination was a pineapple plantation. No, they are not native plants to the island. Yes, they must be grown in greenhouses, but they are served in many places on the island and they are tasty.

The weather turned from pleasant overcast to raining, but that was not going to stop us from sampling the fruit and pineapple beer at one of the plantations on the outskirts of Ponta Delgada.

Now we have 2 fruit in the basket on Salty Ginger: one to be eaten on the passage and one to be enjoyed when we get to Madeira.

Getting ready for departure

Monday was supposed to be that kind of day. Get everything ready before leaving the dock after breakfast on Tuesday. There were more projects, getting groceries, going to the marine supply store (what a disappointment), getting guitar strings, checking out of the marina, checking out with the authorities, and hopefully cleaning up Salty Ginger.

We did tick off quite a few items off the list and managed to enjoy a few sites in the town.

I also went for a swim. It's not that I planed on it, but on Saturday Peter was trying to be helpful to lubricate the wind generator and in the process accidentally dropped the cap into the water. My reaction time was not quick enough, so it slowly sank to the bottom. Having consulted the tide tables and the depth under the keel, I had a pretty good feeling about being able to dive down to reach the bottom. On my first dive I spotted the cap! (Peter you owe me!)

I proceeded to swim around the boat to brush off accumulated dirt and scrape off some barnacles that inevitably start to grow on a vessel that spends 11 months in the water.

Science inspired dinners begin

I'm not sure that every 13-year old would enjoy exclusive company of 2 adults, one with a PhD in chemistry and another with a PhD in physics. But Peter chose how he will spend his summer vacation, so the Monday night discussion was led by Alice describing the topic of her dissertation on the handedness of organic molecules and how catalysts can affect the 3D geometry of molecules.

We plan to set sail tomorrow and the set of at least 4 lectures will follow over the passage from Ponta Delgada to Madeira.