Horta, Faial Azores was mental.

A gray day gave way to some blue holes in the sky as we neared the Western most island in the Atlantic archipelago of the Azores. A Portuguese territory, these islands have been home to whaling stations and a provision stop for ships in the atlantic for hundreds of years. The islands are easy seen from great distances in good visibility, as they are volcanic and have considerable elevations. The island of Faial has cliffs that nearly surround it, as do all of the islands in the chain. The green pastures and villages of white painted houses with red tile roofs were a beautiful and welcome sight after our 5 day crossing from Bermuda. The hills, trees, towns, and hillside pastures looked incredibly dramatic with the rays of sunshine beaming through the rain heavy clouds in the sky.
Our berth in Horta was on the concrete quay that created a breakwater for the harbor there. From where the yacht was tied up, we had an amazing view of the city of Horta as the sun set over the historic buildings. I took a good number of photos of the boats in the harbor, our yacht, and the waterfront of the city. The city stretched up on the hills behind the waterfront, and from our distance looked surreal in the early evening lighting. We had arranged for a late night fuel delivery, and during the process four of us went out and picked up some dinner for the crew from the local sailors pub; Peter's Cafe Sport. In a bit of a debate, Kat bartered with the proprietor about what kind of take-away food we could get at 10:30 pm. We left happy with some grilled cheese and chips after a few wines and beers. The establishment was filled with flags, floats, and sailing paraphernalia of all types. The food was good, boat was full of fuel, and I went to bed fast in my then still bed.
The next day, Sunday, I was on watch. Up early to raise the flags, I took advantage of some early day sunshine. I took photos of the town, yacht, and harbor again, this time the light was front lit instead of back lit. I spent the first half of the day reading outside in the sun, and after that grueling morning I was forced to go on a round-the-island tour with three of my crew members. Tony, our driver was an Azorean local, whom had lived in California and learned English there. He knew the ins and outs of the entire island, and was out to show us the best. We saw among other things, a whaling museum, views and vistas to no limit, two volcano's, a black sand beach, forests and fields, and a grip of coastline. In his Mercedes, Toni drove us up, down and around the island of Faeal. Between the four of us, we returned with a 3 pound loaf of sweet bread and around 600 photographs. I spent 2.5 hours today sorting them, and have published them on my Picasa page.
Yesterday, we departed Horta, Eastbound for Gibraltar. Now we are riding the Atlantic, surfing downhill in 25 knot winds and 6 to 8 foot seas. We arrive there tomorrow evening, and it remains to be seen if our next stop will be Palma Myorca..
Today was my crew member Halle's birthday. We celebrated in the bridge, and the decorations were "Hello Kitty". Yes, even us men had the pink hats, napkins, and noise makers. A Portuguese chocolate cake was served, and some hilarious shots were taken of individual and group crew this afternoon.
Check out more photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/TreSnow/HortaAzores# and http://picasaweb.google.com/TreSnow/ArrivingAzores# and http://picasaweb.google.com/TreSnow/HalleSBDaySea# .