Back in Horta for 30 Hours & Tall Ships

Happy St. Paddy Day!

This morning, we left Pico. Our wonderful host, Johannes (Joe), got up early to prepare another tasty breakfast for us. Every day it has been different and always presented in a creative way with edible flowers. So much care is put into each part of the breakfast.

The ferry terminal is only 1 km away from the house so we left at 7:40 a.m. for the 7:45 a.m. car loading. The ferry left for Faial Island at 8:15 a.m. a the 7 km trip across the strait takes only 30 minutes but with the winds it was somewhat rocky. We chose an earlier time to cross as the weather was supposed to get worse. We are happy that we did that.

I booked a room with a breakfast in Hotel do Canal that is right on Horta’s harbour, not far from the airport. It is in a good location and has good reviews. Check-in is at 2 p.m. but they said we could move in earlier if we wanted to.

Instead, we went for a drive on the north side of the island where it was a delight to see green grass and flowers as well as grazing cows, horses, goats and sheep. Pico’s pastures had pretty sparse pickings for the livestock. So rugged. We didn’t go that far but took a lot of side roads down to the ocean and checked out the thriving tiny towns on this side.

Returning to Horta we noticed that two Tall Ships were moored in the harbour. They were amazing to see. We decided to checked them out after lunch.

We got back to the hotel at about noon, checked in and went to a Sports Bar for a ribeye steak. It was huge and the price was right! Half of it came back to the hotel with us to eat later.

And then it was time for a little siesta.

But we had to see the Tall Ships!

One of them was called the Thor Heyerdahl and it is actually a German school for 32 high school kids and young adults (15-25 years old) who are learning how to sail. They are on this 50 m triple-masted Topsail-schooner for 6-7 months.

The other Tall Ship was called the Eye of the Wind and what an interesting history this ship has. I copied the following from the Sail Training International website -

“Eye of the Wind, originally called Friedrich, was built in 1911 in Germany for the South American hide trade. In 1923, she was sold to Sweden and carried general cargo under the name Merry. Three years later her first engine was installed and gradually her rig was reduced and altered to a ketch, but after a fire in 1969 when her wheel house and poop deck were destroyed, her old iron hull was sold to square rigger enthusiasts who began rebuilding her.

During the 1970s she was fitted out as a brigantine in Faversham, Kent and circumnavigated the globe as her first voyage as the Eye of the Wind. She has since appeared in many films including Blue Lagoon, Savage Islands, Taipan and as the ill-fated Albatross in White Squall. Eye of the Wind raced in all five races of Tall Ships 2000.”

I enjoyed this article about its history - https://www.eyeofthewind.net/en/ship/history

We spoke to a lady who had been sailing on this ship and she said that it had been hard for her as she got seasick. The waves at times had been 6 m high and we are not sure if the experience was the best for her. She was going to rest for the next 3 weeks in the Azores.

As we were leaving, we noticed a large sailboat the was experiencing difficulty trying to dock. The four member crew seemed to be really young (2 young men and 2 young women) and every time they brought the boat close to the pier the wind would push the nose of the boat away from the pier. They had to circle around and try again and again.

Chris went out to see if he could help and finally was able to catch the rope that the girl threw out to him. By that time several experienced sailors came over to help and after a good half hour, they got the boat tied up securely. I got a bit of the rescue on video.

It was starting to get colder and windier so we walked back to the hotel and just relaxed and watched T.V. Lots of English channels and some golf too! The Players Championship in Florida.

Tomorrow’s flight is at 3 p.m. so we have the morning to do whatever in this great town.Read more