Aphrodite in the Azores
June 13th, 2007
We have been in the Azores for 9 days with our biggest news being our additional crew. We have been enjoying each and everyone of them. It is Gideon’s birthday today so we have had several celebrations, starting with a bag of chocolates for him after breakfast (his passion) and will finish with a chocolate cake tonight. Stephanie fancied herself quite handy with the hair clippers so all of the guys got hair cuts this morning. When she was finished she gave me a great cut too. We got a few “freshly sheared” pictures which we will post for you to see.The islands of the Azores are beautiful with warm wonderful people. We have discovered that Portuguese is Not Spanish and we are unable to communicate with them unless they know English. Today we order several mystery lunches, one which was OK, one filled with onion and the other which looked like shriveled up balls! Most of us are currently lying down while we try to digest.
The islands are volcanic so they are hilly with lush green, volcanic rich soil. Dairy farming is the primary crop, yielding an array of cheeses and other dairy products. The two port cities we have visited are European in style, narrow winding streets with all of the roads and sidewalks made of hand laid stones. The cities are built on the hillsides, giving us steep climbing opportunities. The local church rings her bells on the half hour. The country side is steep so the dairy farms are built in tiered, rock lined square plots giving the country side a charming and lush beauty.
Unfortunately the weather has been cool, cloudy and drizzly most of the days. We had one fabulously glorious day on our sail from the first island to the second one, and one afternoon of sun here, but the rest of the time it has been crummy. I haven’t needed long pants like this in years.
Aphrodite feels very cosmopolitan these days with a variety of English accents and word usage being spoken. It is quite hilarious to listen to the 4 of us. We have Stephanie, who is from England, using her proper English with accents on different syllables and expressions which even though they are English I still can’t understand what she is saying! Then there is Luke, South African, also using the Queen’s English, with his own phrases and word usage. And then there is Gideon, English as a second language with a strong Israelian accent. Stephanie is really darling and I hope to master some of her phrases before she departs. Aphrodite is a bit crowded, if not cluttered, with 3 laptops, various cameras, sunglasses and jackets laying about, but she is happy to be so well used and enjoyed.
Tonight we depart for the third island, but will return to this one before departing for mainland Portugal to pick up some parts and have repairs made to our electrical system. We depart for our final leg of the crossing sometime after the 16th. Arrival should be 5-6 days later. Luke fly’s back to South Africa on the 15th or 16th and will be replaced by Pierre, a young French Canadian who was on the boat which dismasted. He joined another boat from the first island to the second, but says he would prefer to sail on Aphrodite if we have room.Well, that’s an update. I hope to work on pictures and composing a web update while sailing tonight.
