Dab House & Porto Pim’s Whaling Station

We walked around an ancient volcano on the edge of town to go to two places - the Dabney Summer House and a Whaling Museum.

The first place that we went into was a small museum depicting the history of the Dabney family and the period they lived in. The Dabney family settled on the island in 1806 when John Dabney was appointed US Consul General to the Azores. The position was held successively by his son and grandson in close connection with their business activities as large vineyard owners, ship-owners, and merchants.

The property in Porto Pim was acquired by this family in 1854 and consisted of a summer house that included a dock and shelter for boats and a winery. Wine cellars and greenhouses abounded in 18th-century Horta. They were used to store wine (mostly produced on properties on Pico) and the equipment was used in the wine making process.

These wines were shipped from Horta to the world and became known as “Faial wine”. The collapse of the wine business led to the end of an era. The industry was supplanted by whaling, which resulted in the disappearance of the wineries and greenhouses.

From the house, it was a short walk to the Whale Station Musem.

The whaling station was built during the 1940s and is one of the best preserved examples of the extinct Azorean whaling industry. The exhibit tries to explain the historical, economic, and social aspects of the whale processing business.

What’s interesting about the station is that practically all of the original machinery is still in place. Short films and posters explain how sperm whales were processed to obtain commercial by-products. The collection of memorabilia from the intense whaling activities that took place in Faial in the twentieth century is impressive.

This processing station used to be an important whaling base, until the practice of whaling came to an end in the 1970s. These days whales are fortunately hunted only with cameras by tourists.

Upstairs in the museum there is a 10 m female skeleton of a sperm whale hanging from the ceiling. We watched an excellent documentary about how a dead whale was brought to the factory and then buried for three years in the sand. Even though it hadn’t fully decomposed after this time, the scientists dug it up, cleaned it and then put the bones together for a display. It was quite a job.

Visiting this museum brought back memories of our trip to a whaling station in Red Bay, Newfoundland. We were there on the day that it became a UNESCO National Historic Site.
It was an exciting day for the Red Bay Community!

P.S. Chris bought a pair of polarized sunglasses from an optician in Horta. The sun here is intense, when it is out.Read more