4th of July Weekend Where Everyone is Slave to the Wind

Being a type A personality has it's ups and downs. It's what got me here but makes getting things done very trying. For the past three days I have organized my next five days work. I have power on the boat, changed out from 110 v to 220 v. I have a working refer. I have propane (though it will have to be refilled before we go. I have secured freezer space from Petter's Bar (best sailors' bar in Horta) and shopped the one supermarket for groceries. It's tough shopping for food based on the aisle it's in and what it resembles. Everything is in Portuguese but pasta is pasta. What's tough is figuring out if milk (in cartons that don't need refer) is whole, 1%, 2%, etc. Cheeses are a gamble. Bread is mostly bakery type, rolls, etc...nothing like dense whole wheat. Eggs are £4 a dozen, which is about 6 USD. Makes me crazy. But on a long hike yesterday I found a small shop where eggs are £1.75. That news pleased Freya as well. I am using her laptop right now. The boat's computer is charging...I ran it down last night preparing this post and lost it.

I also walked about 6 miles yesterday, over to the next small village, taking pictures along the way. I won't be doing much more of that once I start cooking, bagging, freezing and storing the supplies. There's nothing much else to do...listen to music, read (almost done with Cloud Atlas, so Freya says I can visit her library) and wATch boats in the harbor. There's an unending parade of beautiful boats from all over the world. So many sailors here are from Norway, France, Italy, but also from the US and Africa. The closest analogy to harbors like this one is the space bar in Star Wars...strange creatures with strange languages. Mostly old leathery salts, but lots of dreadlocks and beer swilling youngsters.

Sleeping aboard is getting more normal. I am comfortable, relatively dry considering the humidity, but not used to the long days. The light lasts until 10 p.m., so I am not getting to bed until 2-3 a.m. This means I sleep until 11-noon. Can't do that anymore. Store opens at 8:30 and I will be making chicken soup for 6 times three nights. Then on to a variety of stews, goulashes, other soups, etc. All done on two small propane burners...made a lovely sauce today with spicy pork, onions, mushrooms, whole tomatoes and capers. Freya, (on the double-ender Otahi) and Simon and Kat (from Doris) are eating with me. Kat and Simon due to leave as soon as the wind is not on their nose. They prepped today, just getting to the store before it closed.

I can't get travelog about this. There's not much really going on. I'll leave you with mental image of a scrawny black cat, shreading a lizard for lunch. The lava walls are thick with the things and BLUE BLUE BLUE hydrangas grow everywhere. Azore blue hydrangas as blue as mine are pink. I guess volcanic soil is acidic. I must really be boosting the alkali content of my soil with coffee grounds, which I though was doing the BLUE spell on them. Whatever. BLUE is here.

Day Before Departure 6-30-09

Friends think my summer plans idyllic...sailing conjures blue skies, fresh breezes, white decks awash with salt spray. My adventure starts with a 36 hour flight from San Francisco to the Azores with stops in Philadelphia, Amsterdam and Lisbon. When I arrive in Horta, at the marina on the island of Faial, my to-do list includes setting up shore power (snaking cable and switching on breakers), filling the propane tank, repairing the refrigerator pump (with marina services help!), and oiling the teak companionway, salt-encrusted from the 2000 nautical mile journey from Bermuda just last week.

Then I begin scouting the local markets and restaurants for Azorean cuisine. Over the next week, I'll cook on a two burner propane stove. Bag the meals with a vacuum sealer and freeze them...after convincing a marina bar or cafe to "lease" me some freezer space. When the crew of 5 arrive over the first two weeks of July, we'll continue to provision the C&C 121, 42-foot Grateful Red, for her voyage to Amsterdam.

Packing has been difficult. Sailing in Key West and the Bahamas means plenty of shorts and T-shirts. This adventure will take us to latitudes similar to Seattle. The boat will need to skirt the edge of weather systems for good wind, so that means lots of layers and especially warm clothes at night. My captain suggested several pairs of thermals and "watch" caps. On GR's last leg, the crew got wet, stayed wet, and expects the same this leg.