STRESS RELIEF Visiting six islands in the Azores FLORES The first island we arrived to in the Azore group, was Flores, and probably the most beautiful island, especially after being on the Atlantic for 20 days. The harbor in Lajes, where we anchored, is not protected at all from northeasterly winds, so for almost one week we did a lot of rocking and rolling. Our chart didn't show the breakwater wall that had been erected towards south, but that harbor is definitely the major port on Flores. That's where all the cargoships come to unload and also where the inter-island cruisingships stop to unload and pick up passengers. Towards the end of our visit to Flores, we found out about another harbor on the west side of the island at Fajazinha, where many boats had anchored to wait out the northeasterly winds. That harbor is open to the ocean, and if you didn't already know you could anchor there, it's nothing to tell you otherwise. You might think that the harbor at Sta. Cruz Das Flores, by the airport, would be the biggest, but I am glad we never tried to enter there. Jagged rocks seemed to be everywhere and the harbor itself was very small and tricky to enter. The town of Lajes sits high up on the volcanic rocks and the roads either go uphill or downhill; nothing is flat along the coastline! Dan did a lot of complaining when we walked up to town, but after being confined to the boat for 20 days, I was ready to flex my legmuscles a bit, and so was Duke, our dog. The people on the island were very friendly and helpful, and soon we had found our way to the post office, bank and grocery store. Before we could buy anything, we had to exchange our dollars to escudo. The first exchange gave us 212.00 escudos to one dollar, but consecutive exchanges varied. Everything seemed to be pretty inexpensive on the island, except diesel fuel, but that was to be expected. When it was time for us to fuel up, Dan had to order the fuel truck, and he had to tell about how much fuel we needed. We took on 311 liters, and that was a harrowing experience to say the least. In a rush we had to pull up anchor, set out our puny fenders and power into the dock, all while it downpoured and high winds blew in from northeast. The main dock in the harbor is set up for the big ships, so our little boat didn't reach all the way up to the edge of the dock. The fuel line had to be lowered down to Dan, who filled our two tanks and two 5 gallon containers, all the while I sat out in front trying to keep our boat away from the wall and tires. Boy, was I ever happy when we could move away from the dock, and even happier when we had anchored again a bit closer to shore, so as to get away from the big rollers coming in. Our friends, Tom and Maria Ferreira flew in to stay with us while at Flores and sail on to other islands with us. After they arrived we took a tour of the island by taxi, and we saw lots of beautiful views. The clouds and rain covered most of the inland of our tour, so some of the Caldeiras we never got to see. Starting on a Friday and continuing for four days was the "Festival of the Immigrants", and we were lucky enough to be there through the whole festival. Somewhere on an island in the Azores there is a festival going every weekend, and if it is big enough people from the other islands will come, as they did to the "Immigrants Festival". Lots of food tents were set up everywhere, and we could walk around drinking beer and wine! There were shows from local bands, entertainers from the mainland, and they even had rides for the children. We enjoyed it all, but the highlight of our visit to the festival was when we listened to a couple of oldtimers sitting around playing their mandolin and guitar and making up songs as they went along. Of course we couldn't understand too much; only what Maria translated for us. Soon it was time to continue, and the island of Faial would be our next port of call. To reach that island it would require an overnight sail, but after being somewhat secure in a harbor for one week, I was reluctant to venture out on the ocean again. |
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