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‘Knock knock knock’ ... at my cabin door ... its 6am ... what the?
Quickly out on deck to realise that we’re about to leave Praia da Vitoria jetty ... direction Horta harbour in Faial island. Several things needed to be done at this early hour and i quickly got my hands occupied to assist the crew to sort out the instrumentation that needed to be boxed and secured inside just in case sea was rough enough to get waves on deck. Additionally other tasks to get the vessel trip ready had to be done, like raising the plank and securing it, releasing the ropes and retrieving them, raising the fenders, and securing all doors and heavy stuff as wave movement can render their dangerous swing similar to a weapon.
The lights at the port during this hour have a strange effect together with the freshness of the breeze and the particular sounds at the marina. The load roar of the Arquepelago echoed around the jetty area as young men dressed in yellow overalls could be seen preparing their fishing vessels to go out at sea.
We briskly move off the jetty and in the middle of the deserted harbour as the town of Praia da Vitoria is now sleepily visible ... we move towards the port’s mouth ...
Sunrise seems faster than usual as all the crew busily tend to their shores ... while others like Marcus just woke up and came on deck ... Rui joins him as well. We’re leving the harbour, the lighthouse accompanies us along its way ... it was a pleasure visiting ...
We’re quickly distancing ourselves from the harbour as the outline of ahrbour town gets dimmer and further ... yet we’re going round Terceira to its south part ... direction Sao Jorge island ... and then Pico and Faial.
Its time for breakfast as the Arquipelago is set on its course and everyone can relax ... and nice cafe con latte is what i needed together with a ham & cheese toast. Some are already off to sleep again while it was evident that Rui was having sea sickness issues ... as he raced to the deck at the back and throw up overboard ... oh well ... some people can’t handle the sea.
I’d rather not go back to sleep and decided to do some reading for a couple of hours, then connected on line to check email, and around an hour later the island of Sao Jorge was already visible as we had just lost site of Terceira.
Still in my bunkbed as i started uploading yesterday’s blog and the amazing events of the evening fiesta ... and started today’s blog ... this is getting a habit.
Its mid morning and as i look outside the porthole to enquire why the sunlight diminished i was faced with a high wall of rock ... wow ... this must be Sao Jorge. Now this island is the biggest island of all 9 islands if you can recall my first blog entry. As you can see in the map below it has an elongated shape measuring a staggering 54 km long by only 6 km wide ... considering that Malta is 45km by 8km in size.
Its one of the most beautiful islands i’m told by Marcus who states that its his favourite. what amazed him most that sometimes the waether on one side is completely different from the other side as the central inland is high and makes a hell of a difference.
I quickly reached for my mobile and switched the video on to capture the moment.
Additionally as were travelling still alongside this magnificent island i could see at least 2 waterfalls which i tried to capture in the photo.
It nearly lunch time and by now i realised that the massive lunches and dinners were’nt in my honour but they simply made a big deal about them ... the table is already set some hour before while captain is setting the auto pilot not to interrupt his lunch ... warning instrumentation would warn him if anything came with a 10km range.
Today we’re having fish ... and wine is running freely as its the last day ... yet they all take this matter very seriously ... its like a procedure
The scenery is becoming incrementally beautiful as we move more along Sao Jorge and start to see the approaching islands of Pico and Faial ... i still look out to the voidness of the Atlantic trying to spot a whale’s tail immersing ... still hoping to have a look at the majestic creatures.
The approach to Faial seemed faster in the afternoon as i returned to my reading and music listening, apart from packing all my stuff into the hand-luggage ensuring that i dont forget anything behind even though it wouldnt be a problem as i now am very close to all of the crew ... so i’m sure if i forgot anything i could come back to retrieve it.
We entered the port and berthed closer to the harbour where Peter’s cafe’ is ... precisely on the deck where the paintings are J ... grabbed a small bottle of water from the fridge, hand-luggage in the other hand ... and got off the boat. Said bye to all the crew and set on my way to the house with Marcus who lived 2 houses down from where i was staying.
Bang into the afternoon heat we both were visibly sweating as we climbed the road up to Coninente supermarket. I was walking behind Marcus to see which route he used to get home ... go trust him ... he stuck to the roads ... typical German ... whihc increased the distance by about 20% ... when using side streets (which are iffy) and going through rough fields gets you there faster.
As i got home i quickly sorted my stuff, showered and had some gums from the freezer ... nobody was around ... so i felt even more comfortable. I grabbed all my dirty clothes and decided to master the washing machine ... pushed in some washing liquid and conditioner which Juan had bottled for me and securely sealed in plastic bags, and chose the program which seemed most reasonable in this case as there wasn’t any particular one that took white t-shirts, dark bermudas, underwear, white socks, and a dark towel ... oh well ... important that they’re clean.
As i waited for the machine to complete the program i rested on the bed to do some reading and continue this blog while thought of what i will be upto tomorrow. Basically i informed all who i had to inform about what i would like to do and achieve while in Faial and now it was up to them to tell me if anything turned up. In the meantime i will go everyday to the department and work from there while i plan some activities for the weekend if nothing is happening ... upto now i thought of going around Faial island to see the rest of the place in a hired motorcycle ... and even visit the inland crater, as well as a visit to Pico has been strongly recommended by several persons.
Machine is buzzing ... clothes are ready ... can’t expect it to SMS you like Charlie Harper was given to believe J Quickly i grab the damp clothes and push on the line in the back yard ... but i dont have any pegs and the wind is quite strong. I notice that the empty house next door where i was supposed to be staying has pegs on its drying lines in the yard ... and technically they’re there for my use ... so i quickly get into the next yard ... and retrieve or borrow some 10 pegs to secure my stuff.
The evening warmed down nicely as i watched some tv, cooked some noodles as i socialised abit with the house mates and briefly described the outcome of the trip, and finally washed my stuff, cleared my room, and prepared to go to sleep ... i was tired ... promising sign of deep sleep.
Cu tomorrow...
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