FRI 09-JUN
It had felt SO GOOD to sleep
through a night without bouncing around in the bunk, and we awoke to windy but
otherwise tolerable conditions. We had a relaxing
morning catching up with nearly two weeks of emails over hot and strong coffee.
By early afternoon rain had ended and skies started to clear.
Horta's Harbor |
James Knight (of
Yacht Tech and Rob Cote (of OceanCurrents Marine) showed up at the
pier as scheduled to address some maintenance issues which the fleet had
documented along the way. They had flown
in from Palm Beach, Florida the day before. The main problem for James to solve
was aboard Relish, and that was to
install two forced-air ventilation fans in the rear bulkhead of the engine room
– the passive vents were proven to be wholly inadequate for keeping engine room
temps within an acceptable range, even in a mild climate. The central issue for Rob was to address Moxie’s inoperative KVH satellite phone
system. Both of those key maintenance items
were completed within the day, as were each vessel’s re-provisioning runs. Aeoli also
got a more permanent fix for its water maker (new PCB control panel).
The Raft Up Just Before All Hell Broke Loose |
There were plenty
of other relatively minor things for each crew to tend to during the day, but
by late afternoon most had caught up with their respective punch lists and were
able to saunter into town to enjoy the local atmosphere and superb hospitality
of our Portuguese hosts.
SAT 10-JUN
Our Saturday started in a relaxing manner
after another good night’s sleep – more email catch-up along with tending to a
few administrative items back home. For
Silvio and Rick aboard Relish it was oil change day on the big
main engine, and that went relatively quickly.
That was a good thing because shortly after that was done, and just as they
were getting ready to change the Racor fuel filters, all hell broke loose.
The wind had shifted and though the big
weather system was far to our north (see related article HERE), it was still generating significant
swells, and they started slamming our boats around – against each other and the
sea wall of the pier. Crews were
scrambling to adjust and reinforce lines and fenders. But a really nasty harmonic motion seemed to
go into high gear, and soon we had five vessels bouncing around like 60 ton
beach balls, lines were snapping and there was the awful sound of crunching
fiberglass against concrete.
The Fleet Back at Anchor....in Horta's Outer Harbor |
We had to get away from that concrete pier
and fast.
But the crew of Aleoli wasn’t aboard their vessel, which meant that Relish and Angela were pinned in the 3-deep raft-up. Bernie jumped aboard Aleoli, James Knight took over the helm
of Angela, and Silvio did the same on
Relish, doing his best to orchestrate
a combination of gear shifts and thrusters to counter the hard rebounds into
the wall. While it seemed to progress in
slow motion – it took 5 to 6 other crew members to untie the boats from each
other, and then Relish from the pier
leaving most of her lines behind – we finally got all the boats free and into
the middle of the harbor.
Anchor Watch on the Salon's Big Screen TV |
After that it took a few hours to find
spacing and get an anchor to set in the hard bottom. Finally we had to give up on a good set and
just let out as much chain as we could, then set two anchor watch alarms. Eventually one of the vessels dispatched a
tender to go pick up all the lines we had left behind and redistributed to the
respective boats.
Damage report: Jura has a good sized hole in her swim platform, and Relish had four nasty looking gelcoat scars fore and aft. All repairable and amazingly nobody got hurt.
Damage report: Jura has a good sized hole in her swim platform, and Relish had four nasty looking gelcoat scars fore and aft. All repairable and amazingly nobody got hurt.
By late afternoon we had all finally settled
into a nervous calm, and while some went ashore for additional relaxation, all
vessels kept at least one soul on board to monitor for anchor drags. Aleoli picked
up her anchor departed the fleet as she wanted to cruise some of the other
islands in the Azores chain.
SUN 11-JUN
We awoke to clear skies, a lighter breeze
and an air temperature in the 60’s, and thankfully no vessel had moved
significantly from their anchored positions.
Once we were certain that all maintenance tasks were done and the
vessels were stable a group of us went ashore to tour the island of Faial.
Our tour was totally enjoyable – we were
treated to stunning views. These
pictures will help tell that story. Left
click any of them for a better viewing.
View of the Harbor From The Hills of Faial |
The Caldeira Volcanic Complex |
Distances From Caldeira |
View From the Northwest Side of Faial |
Closer Look at the Surf on the Northwest Side |
Our Tour Group....Robert, Rob, Chelle, Fernando (Guide), Michele, Thomas, Cameron |
The Rugged Cliffs and Surf Formed by the Capelinhos Volcano on the West Side of Faial |
Difficult to See But There is the Roof of a House Just Barely Visible Under All That Lava Dust from Its Last Eruption 50 Years Ago |
The Lighthouse on Capelhinos |
That's Actually a Boat Ramp Used by the Whalers in the Past |
The Placard at the Whaling Port Ramp |
About the Whaling Port & Ramp |