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Dick Posts: 421
21/05/2025
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Hi ?
One gets lots of advice from other cruisers, but the best advice we ever received was not to treat the Azores as a fuel depot and re-provisioning stop. These world travelers said the best most scenic cruising was their first stop on an Atlantic circle and they moved on quickly and regretted it later. We spent 2 months cruising the Azores and spent time on 6 of the 7 islands: all had something great to offer.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Arnd.Wussing wrote:
Greetings! I'm a new member to the OCC and am currently sailing with a friend on a Leopard 4600 catamaran. We are 4 days out enroute from St. Kitts & Nevis to Horta in the Azores. This is my first offshore trip on a catamaran, and it is quite different from sailing my monohull. We had to heave-to for a half day due to a storm and missed our nice weather window for a fast passage, and now it looks like we'll be arriving sometime around the 4th of June.
Neither of us has been to the Azores before and any information would be appreciated.
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Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
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Dick Posts: 421
22/05/2025
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Found the following which I forgot I had done, DickAZORES
Alchemy Harbor notes, Azores, 2006
These notes were written by Dick and Ginger on Alchemy and reflect our personal likes and dislikes. Many reasonable people may differ. Our intention is for these notes to be a supplement to the regular guide books. There is some overlap, but if the guidebook says it all, I may not mention the port/anchorage at all. Please also notice the dates for which we are reporting conditions. The weather/crowds/ambience may be quite different at various times of the year or my notes may be quickly out of date; please send a quick email with changes.
Also, these notes are available to OCC members, but please refer any others to me and please do not share. I would hate to see them on Facebook or the like.
Thanks, Dick & Ginger, s/v Alchemy
The best advice we received when crossing the North Atlantic from W to E was to not treat the Azores as a fuel depot in the middle of the ocean. Those that gave the advice all later regretted that they had given the islands of the Azores so little time as, in hindsight, they were among the most beautiful and interesting destinations of their cruising life.
They were correct. We were there 2 months and so regretted leaving that we considered over-wintering. The following is all written from memory from our visit in 2006.
A couple of general notes. These are delightful islands with delightful people. The Portuguese people do not know how to cook fish badly, from the street vender to the finer restaurants. Wine is often “home brewed” and good. There are frequent religious festivals at seemingly regular, if random to my casual observation, times. These can be a visual masterpiece in designs and pictures done in laboriously collected colored flower petals covering the streets of the community. Then the festival parade majestically tramples them: a potent reminder of life’s impermanence, perhaps. Just amazing and not to be missed. Festivals are always accompanied by local bands/small orchestras which often include traditional dancing.
We visited eight of the islands and were lucky enough to arrive in June at the height of the colorful flowers for which these islands are justly renowned. The hydrangea hedges are by far the most striking. They serve the function of fences carving the islands in dense displays of color contrasting the fields and mountains of brilliant green and the (often) deep black volcanic rock. And approaching these islands from the water on a nice day is an experience that is likely to be a highlight of one’s cruising. When on the islands, the small towns and villages all hold interest and abound in small taverns where an interesting meal awaits. Then there are the calderas that dominate the interior of the islands which are of especial interest. Some are huge and well developed while others remain reminders of the volcanic violence that both created these islands and inflicted indiscriminate damage.
Some of the islands lend themselves to hiring a cab for a day—prices were not unreasonable. Most also offer a “round the island” perimeter bus which can be “hop-on, hop-off” and is a wonderful way to get acquainted with the island and to see some of the towns along the way. On other islands we rented a car or moped to explore.
Azoreans are quite creative in their public recreational opportunities. Pico, for example, has numerous picnic areas along their perimeter road all of which have artistically designed benches, chairs and table made of local materials that are just delightful. Perhaps their best offerings, available on many (perhaps all) islands are swimming areas. Now, this is not easy to do with the almost exclusively boulder-y and rocky shore that always has a good deal of swell to contend with. But they have succeeded. Strategically placed stainless steel ladders are embedded in the rock allowing for safe and easy entrance and exit from the water and the locations are chosen to allow for swimming protected by rock boulders or to go out to more open water. Just great fun and very refreshing and the designers were wise enough to provide fresh water showers.
Our first landfall was Flores (Lajes) and we anchored at night just off the wharf under the cliffs listening to the powerful calls of shearwaters nesting on the cliffs. Officials came to the wharf the next morning and forms were filled out on the hood of their car. The we walked up to “Paula’s” bar for a beer and pizza, which ended up being our “hang out” spot for the week we stayed at anchor there.
We were lucky with our weather as the anchorage is exposed to the east. No vessels stayed on the wharf while we were there; there was just too much movement even in this settled time. There were no pontoons/docks. Word of mouth reports seem to indicate that the pontoons installed in later years were less than successful and that vessels attached to them often chafed lines quickly.
Flores was a delight. With other cruisers we hired a taxi for a tour and set up some wonderful hikes where we were dropped off and picked up at our destination later (the NW quadrant if memory serves). While there we grabbed a “ferry” (small inflatable that also took us to see sperm whales) to Corvo, where we could poke around for a few hours.
Horta, Faial, was our next stop where we stayed a couple of weeks and added our “personal signal” in paint to the collection. For OCC member’s Peter’s café is a must (or for everyone). OCC members get free admission to the excellent upstairs scrimshaw museum. Renting motor scooters got us around. Do not miss the area where the eruption occurred: wild and desolate. The US provided easy emigration to the displaced and many settled in the Boston area.
Sao Jorge was difficult as there was no marina or good anchorage. We anchored just outside Velos under the cliffs and got a taxi to take us to a wonderful hike starting way up high and ending at a small tavern on the water where we had a great lunch and were picked up.
Graciosa was wonderful. I understand there might be a marina now, but we anchored easily (watch for a multitude of VW size boulders strew on the sand bottom). Graciosa’s smallness made it quite workable and they had a terrific “bullfight”: one of the best in the Azorean tradition (not gory or any animal abuse).
Pico we visited by ferry. We kept an eye on climbing, but clouds dominated the peak. We rented a car and found some lower altitude hiking; One involved a cave and a very large bull.
Terceira has 2 marinas, Angra do Heroismo had a lot of boat movement while Praia da Vitoria was a lot more protected. PV had a food festival going on that if you coincide with, consider yourself fortunate.
Sao Miguel had soil and rock in the caldera that you could cook your lunch in and some great hiking and a beautiful major city in Ponta Delgada (also the capital).
All of these islands are quite a delight and well reward poking around if you have time. All are volcanic, some recently active, and a little brushing up on volcano lore will enrich your visit. Finally, for those who are under Schengen visa restrictions, the clock has started.
Dick wrote:
And, by the way, welcome to the OCC! Dick
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Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
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