It’s hard to believe we have been in Failal for over 3 days; it has been very nice not to have to spend too much of it fixing things, for a change.   The focus seems to have been on getting to know a little bit about the island and the folks on the other boats, particularly those whom we have heard regularly on the SSB nets each day.  The ARC folks make the latter very easy for us at all the social events they planned.  Heavily featured was Peter’s Bar where there was a happy hour most evenings.  The beer prices, E2 per pint, made everbody happy, in both senses of the word. ARC also laid on a fantastic and very reasonably-priced meal at a local restaurant one evening where we did our own cooking of thin fillets of fish, squid, pork, chicken and steak on very hot lava rocks.  The evening ended up by singing The Wild Rover, amongst other rowdy songs … I think everyone enjoyed themselves!  

Yesterday we had a coach tour of the island.  It is known as the blue island after the blue hydrangeas that flourish almost everywhere on the island, mostly as hedgrows.  Sadly we were about a month too early to see them in their full glory.  We ended up at the western end of the island where the most recent volcanic eruption occurred in about 1958.  Unlike Montserrat in the Caribbean, the volcanic ash on the western end of Failal still has virtually no vegetation on it, just a few little blades of grass.  However, there is a lighthouse and an interesting circular bunker-type of building nearby where the tourist board hosted a reception for us after our leg prize-giving. We were all winners in that we completed the leg successfully but sadly Mazu was not awarded any other recognition.  

The one main task we had to complete before leaving Horta was to leave our mark on the harbor walls ….. I think it is supposed to bring luck.  Anyway, I hope you like our effort.  Maybe one day we will come back to see if it is still there.

Yesterday, Saturday, we enjoyed a great daysail to Terciera.  We had a great view of the volcano on Pico, which claims to be the highest peak in Portugal, and Sao Jorges, on the way past.  Benjy was particularly keen to snap some photos of Pico as he had climbed it and went down into the caldera with a guide yesterday.