Strait of Gibraltar

Windmills on the coast of Spain

So sorry that I have not kept up with blogging.  Sadly, work has gotten in the way now that we are back in the US!  I will try to catch up from where I left off.  After Rota we sailed to Barbate (pronounced BAR-BOT-AY) to stage our transit thru the Strait of Gibraltar.  The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean.  Two continents are separated by only a little over 7 nautical miles at the narrowest point.  You can actually see the European continent on one side and the African continent on the other as you pass through which I found to be absolutely amazing!  Of course, you cannot just sail through there without doing a little requisite planning.  There is a significant current flowing through the Strait making it imperative that you time your passage with the tide.  You also must take care to cross with a favorable west wind.  A wind against current situation leads to very big waves and rough water.  Waiting for the wind from the west insures the wind is with rather than against the current. 

Tarifa, Spain

 One of the trickier areas of the passage is going around Tarifa, Spain.  Tarifa sits right at the entrance to the Strait.  The Strait of Gibraltar is the only place in the world where the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters mix and it is notoriously windy - particularly at Tarifa.  It is no surprise then that Tarifa is known as the kite surfing capital of Europe! 

Tarifa

Of course, the wind and current are not the only elements to consider when transiting the Strait.  On any given day there are approximately 300 very large ships that transit the Strait, about one every 5 minutes!  There is a station monitoring all the traffic coming thru the Strait in Tarifa called aptly - Tarifa Traffic.  It is wise to check with Tarifa Traffic regarding the conditions in the Strait before attempting the transit.  Since, we try to be wise (occasionally) we did check with Tarifa Traffic and felt that is was a go.  The wind was about 15 to 20 knots and out of the west which is perfect with the east going current.  We went around Tarifa without issue and then we kept to the west side and out of the shipping lanes!

Ships all lined up in the shipping lane

We had attempted to time the entire transit but it did not quite work out.  For the most part we were moving faster than we had planned.  With the help of the current and the wind we were flying! 

Two continents!!

We made it thru the Strait without incident but as we got near Gibraltar the wind really picked up and there were very, very big ships everywhere!!  

The Rock of Gibraltar

And then there was the Rock looming ahead.  We felt such an amazing sense of accomplishment having finally reached the Mediterranean.  And on our own boat (anyone can get on a plane - right?) no less.  Such a perfect day!  We made it thru the maze of ships at anchor in the Gibraltar harbor to La Linea, Spain where we intended to stay.  Spain and Gibraltar are literally right across the road from each other.  And our friends were staying in La Linea.  Once we got to our slip we made it down to see Steve and Laura.  They had been watching on the AIS (automated information system) for us all day and were not seeing us.  So... that was when we discovered that our AIS had not been transmitting our position all day long.  We were stunned to discover that we transited one of the busiest ship traffic areas in the world blind to the ships the whole time.  We saw them (on the AIS) but they were not seeing us.  Thank goodness there were no issues with low visibility (fog) during the passage.  Time to relax for a bit, enjoy our achievement and spend some time with friends :)!

All the ships around Gibraltar (white triangles)

Lagos to Rota

Virgin Mary guarding the entrance to the Marina

Bill has returned home and it is now just Michael and I.  We left Lagos, Portugal and decided to do an overnight passage to Rota, Spain.  We STILL have not actually made it to the Mediterranean Sea but we are now very close.  It was such a triumph to make it to the mainland - that is when we felt that we had actually crossed the Ocean.  However, making it thru the straits of Gibraltar will be a huge accomplishment as well.  That will mark our arrival into the Med.

Rota

Rota is not a large town but it is an ancient town.  Founded by the Phonecians the town has a very long history.  Eventually falling into Spanish hands Rota is now primarily a play in the sun resort area for Europeans on holiday.  It is also the home of a large US naval base making US servicemen are a common site in town.

From 2:00 to 5:00 everyday the stores in Rota close for "siesta".  Walking around town at that time it seems the whole town has gone for a nap as there is almost no one on the streets.  But at 5:00 pm Rota comes roaring back to life.  They don't even think about dinner until 8:00 pm. Maybe that is why they have to rest up - they have a long second half to the day!!  Just a pretty, quaint little town.  We found a great Pasteleria that we frequented too many times!  Pastry's for breakfast and dessert.  Across the bay from Rota is the ancient town of Cadiz.  After exploring Rota for a day we decided to take the ferry across and spend the day exploring Cadiz.

Could have spent a bit more time hanging out here but as we spent a month in Sao Miquel we needed to make our way to Cartagena,  Cartagena, Spain is where we decided to leave the boat for the winter.  Due to Schengen visa restrictions we are only allowed 90 out of 180 days in "Schengen" countries - which is most of the EU.  So the clock is working against us leaving us with less time to explore all these great little towns along the way.  Next stop Barbate, Spain and then thru the Strait of Gibraltar!

Lisbon Maritime Museum

Entrance to Maritime Museum

The Lisbon Maritime Museum is located in one very large wing of  Jeronimo's Monastery. 
Of course, the Portuguese are and were masters of sailing.  Vasco de Gama completely changed the world when he found that famed route to India after decades of failure.  Long sought, the new spice trade was a huge economic boom for Portugal.  Allowing for one thing the construction of Jeronimos Monastery!

Figurehead on Vasco de Gama's ship

 Being present day sailors we are completely in awe of what it took for those sailors to achieve what they did.  We, of course, have charts, radar, sonar, radio communication, water makers, refrigeration...  the list goes on and on.  They had none of that, only nerves of steel!

Henry the Navigator

When you enter the Maritime Museum the first thing you see is a huge statue of Henry the Navigator.  Another very important person in Portuguese maritime history, Henry is known as the backbone and initiator of the "Age of Discovery". 

The museum did not disappoint.  We were pleasantly surprised by the vastness of the museum - it just went on and on.  Just when we thought we had seen the entire museum we stumbled on this room filled with ancient boats.  What a surprise! 

We could have easily spent the entire day at the Maritime Museum but as we were limited on time we moved on.  I believe we were all in agreement with our friend this is the nicest Maritime Museum we have ever seen.

Lisbon

Jeronimos Monastery

It was clear to us that there was an air leak in the fuel line so after our night at anchor outside of Lagos, Portugal we started thinking about how to get into the marina.  Michael and Bill decided to bypass the main fuel line long enough to get into the marina.  They set to work and once completed we decided it would be best to drive around the anchorage a little bit before heading up the canal to Marina de Lagos.  Everything seemed fine so we headed on up the canal.  We made it but... the engine did still die a few times.  Very stressful!!  Once in the slip we let the engine run for awhile and of course then, it did not die one time!  We got all settled in and made arrangements with the mechanic but then sadly, it was time for Bill to return to the US.  He was flying out of Lisbon so we booked an apartment in the Belem district for a day of touring prior to his flight.  We didn't have much time but we were determined to see as much as possible in the time we had.  Fortunately, the apartment was right down the street from Jeronimos Monastery so that was our first stop.  Jeronimos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built to commemorate Vasco de Gama's return from India.  Ironically, where the monastery was built was once the site of the church where Vasco and his fellow sailors prayed before setting off on their epic journey.  Vasco de Gama came full circle as his tomb now rests in the Monastery's church. 

It took 100 years to complete this monastery which is completely understandable with all the hand carved figures and ornate decoration.  There is a good deal of maritime decoration in addition to all the religious symbolism.  A nice little nod to the sailors which was fitting as it was built in honor of Vasco de Gama's sailing adventures.

 During the Liberal Revolution in Portugal all the convents and monasteries were shut down and the clergy were expelled.  Folks from Jeronimos decided to sell pastries that they had made at the monastery in an attempt to survive. There was a sugar refinery near the monastery and they began baking in the buildings attached to the refinery.  The little custard tarts became known as Pasteis de Belem.  Eventually, the bakery (and recipe) were sold to one family.  

That family still makes the pastry with the same ancient recipe in the same old traditional ways.  After touring, the monastery we walked down the street to try out those little pastries.  The line was down the block!!  A very popular spot it seems. Of course, once we tried the Pasteis de Belem we knew why that line was so long.  

Santa Maria Church - In the Monastery

The monastery just takes your breath away - you just marvel at the skill and dedication required to complete this masterpiece that is Jeronimos.  So grateful that we were all able to visit before Bill had to leave.  One wing of the monastery has been turned in to a maritime museum.  Our friend says it is the nicest maritime museum he has ever seen - a must see when in Lisbon.  So... next stop is definitely the maritime museum.  More on that in the next post.

Our final offshore passage

Big Seas

It was early Sunday and we headed to the fuel dock to fill up.  We had finished the final provisioning and gone over all the safety measures with the crew.  It was a nice and sunny but windless day.  Everything started out fine but there continued to be no wind throughout the day so we were a motor boat.  As we were approaching the tip of Sao Miquel and evening the engine died.  We received an error message that it had gone into "safe mode".  Still within cell phone range I sent a quick text to Emanual.  He said it was a fuel issue so Michael and Bill changed the Raycor filter.  The engine started right back up and we had no more issues so we decided to carry on.  Sadly, we had to motor for a couple more days before picking up the Portuguese trade winds.  All that time the motor ran fine.  On day three we picked up the trades.  The Portuguese trade winds blow consistently from the north but in that area there is also a south setting current.  So... between the north wind and the current we were being pushed south even though we were trying to go east.  By now we had the engine off and the sails up.  The wind was blowing consistently over 20 knots but due to the north wind and the south current we had to sail a course of around 40 degrees in order to actually sail 90 degrees.  That meant we were beating into the wind the whole time and going pretty slow.  The seas were rough and we had quite a few waves breaking in the cockpit.  It wasn't unsafe - just a bit uncomfortable.  And our slow progress was frustrating!  

Bill all harnessed in

 As we got closer to the mainland we did start receiving visits from dolphins which was very nice!

When we got very close to the mainland we approached the shipping lanes.  The wind had died off again and we started the motor.  And it died.  Same message - "safe mode".  Now we found air in fuel line that we bled off and the engine started back up without a problem.  Everything was fine for a bit- then it died again.  We bled off more air... Now the last thing you want is to be crossing a shipping lane with very large cargo ships and oil tankers all around and your engine quits!  Not good at all!  We did manage to get across the lanes but now the engine was dying every fifteen minutes or so.  We needed to make it in and get a mechanic to check things out.  

Mainland Portugal

 To add insult to injury as we were coming up the coast of Portugal there were fishing nets and bouys everywhere.  Great - now we get to bleed the fuel line every few minutes to keep the motor running and dodge fishing nets!  Just when you think it can't get any worse you remember that we have actually reached the mainland.  It could be worse, we could be way offshore still with no wind and no engine.  So... now we just focused on getting to Lagos.  We decided that we would call for a tow yet again to get in to the marina and get a mechanic in the morning.  But when we called the marina several other sailors heard us on the radio and reached out to let us know that we would run aground if we did not wait until high tide.  Thank you fellow sailors because the marina definitely did not give us that information.  Fortunately, there was a designated anchorage right outside of the entrance canal in front of the beach.  So we did the sensible thing and dropped anchor.  Time to pop open the champagne - we did it, we crossed from one side of the Atlantic to the other.  What an amazing sense of accomplishment.  

 

The day we have been waiting for...

There it is... according to Emanual "A thing of beauty".  Its a guy thing!  And there is my guy inspecting that engine with reverence.  For my part so long as it works when we need it to and gives little to no trouble - I am good.  We resolved all of the installation and matching old with new issues. All that was involved were a few interior adaptations so the engine would slide into place and some machining of parts.  Now the installation can proceed.  But first we have to get the engine into the boat!

Emanual has a fancy truck with a lift to pick the engine up, then its just a matter of maneuvering it through the hatch.  Easy, right?  Well, actually Emanual and crew did make it look easy regardless of the tension involved.  I have a video but it is unfortunately too long to post here.  Getting the engine in the boat proved to be a bit easier than the actual installation.  That was a hard day - jiggling the engine this way and that for the alignment.  Lo and behold the engine started right up and we set a departure day... which would be the next day.  Now, one view would be to do a sea trial before heading out on a 6 day passage.  But... we likely would not discover issues on a 30 min to 1 hour sea trial.  So... we will depart for Lagos, Portugal (the mainland) and that will be our sea trial.  By the time we get to the end of the island we will have been out for 4 to 5 hours - that will give us enough time to discover issues and return if need be.  Or that is our reasoning anyway and the decision we have made.  So... that's it, time to leave Sao Miquel and finally finish our transatlantic crossing.  

Hot Spring in the Sea??

Maria Concordia, one of the ARC rally boats finally made it to Sao Miquel.  The skipper had lost his crew in Bermuda and ended up sailing his Catamaran across the Atlantic Ocean solo.  He did manage to pick up crew in Horta so he was no longer alone by the time he reached Sao Miquel.  Bernard and his crew member were telling us tales of a volcanic hot spring in the ocean.  We have seen them inland but never in the ocean.  The yellow bus tour does not visit the ocean hot spring so Bill, Michael and I set off to find it.  Emanual had wanted us off the boat so we rented a car and a house in a little village called Santana. Our plan was to take Bill to see the Island and for Michael and I to see the things that we had missed. That ended up being a mistake as the phone service was poor and Emanual had tried to reach us all day long.  All work had come to an end as there were questions about how to actually get the engine in the boat and we, sadly, could not be reached.  But we found the hot spring and as it was just off the coast in the ocean we had to walk down to the ocean from way up the mountain.  That was not so bad but all the way down we were well aware that we also had to climb back up.  Michael is good with walking all day so long as it is level ground!  All this mountain climbing has ruffled his feathers.

We made it down and sure enough there is a little spring right there on the coast.  They have a ladder to get down into it and there is line run from one side of the spring to the other.  Folks were holding on to the line so they did not get washed out to sea with the tide.  You can see the volcanic rock all around - pretty rugged terrain.  We did not have swim clothes on so again I cannot say how warm the water actually was.  

 I was trying to get down the ladder to just put my feet in and test the temperature but there was such a crowd around the one ladder I couldn't even do that.  

You most certainly know that you are on a volcanic island from the terrain - black volcanic rock all around.  After the long hike back up the mountain we headed back to Ponta Delgada to see how things were coming along with the engine installation- finger crossed that all was going well.

Furnas

Waterwheel

Furnas is one of the larger towns on Sao Miquel.  It is the site of an active volcano.  There are two main calderas and there are several thousand people that live around the volcano.  It is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the Azores. 

These houses are some of the most beautiful homes I have seen in the Azores and they are literally right across the street from the fumaroles.  The fumaroles are in the center of town and as you approach the smell of sulphur is strong.  Fumaroles are openings in the earths crust near a volcano where hot sulphurous gases escape. 

 This is what the folks here see everyday and yet they just go about their business.  We were the only ones ready to run if the ground started to shake!

 The steam and smoke from the fumaroles just envelopes the whole area.  As you walk near them you can actually feel the heat under your feet.

 And there are boiling hot springs.  It is quite an experience to sit and watch the water boil from the volcano underneath.  They actually have a restaurant here where they put a stew in the ground and the heat from the volcano cooks the food.  

 We made this trip to Furnas with our good friend Bill.  He arrived from the US to help us make the final passage.  The engine arrived and Emanual is busy with the installation.  So we rented a car to take Bill to see the island while Emanual worked.

 Bill is holding his breath while I snap a picture.  Trying hard not to breath in all that volcanic gas.

Furnas is a beautiful area also but I do not think I could bring myself to live that close to an active volcano.  Just a little too close for comfort. 

Sete Cidades

The blue and green lakes

Sete Cidades (Seven Cities) lake is where Emanual (the mechanic) says he goes to de-stress.  It is his favorite place and its not hard to figure out why.  There are two lakes separated by a land bridge - one is green,the other blue.  Again, the photos do not do them justice.  They are stunning.  Now, of course, there is an ecological reason for the different colors of the lakes.  

Sete Cidades

But I prefer the legend instead.  The story goes like this: there once was a King whose Queen had died and so now he lived only for his beautiful daughter.  But he kept her isolated in his Castle and only allowed her out into the gardens.  But as he slept after his lunch with the help of her nurse she set out to explore the land around her.  One day she heard some beautiful flute music.  Everyday thereafter she sought out the music and found that is was a shepherd playing the flute.  They fell in love and eventually went to the King so the shepherd could ask for her hand in marriage.  The King of course denied the request and forbade her from seeing the shepherd again.  When the princess told the shepherd they could not see each other again they cried and their tears formed the two lakes.  Her eyes were green and the shepherd had blue eyes.  

Sao Nicholas Church

 The village itself is small, but there are hiking trails all around the lake.  Or you can rent a kayak and enjoy the lakes that way.  

Home in Sete Cidades

 There is a story that goes along with how the village got its name as well.  As there definitely are not seven cities here.  Its actually a historical reference dating all the way back to the Phoenicians nonetheless the Portuguese kept the name - Sete Cidades.  

Many, many cows in the Azores

A truly beautiful place and a perfect day.

Lake and Mountains

Lagoa das Empadadas - another stop on the "yellow bus" tour.  Of course, we jumped off and followed everyone else on a hike to the lake.  It looked like the start of a gentle slope but it ended up being a bit of an uphill climb to the lake.  We made it to the lake - so far, so good.

But once we reached the lake we noticed that most everyone else kept hiking on up the road.  As it turns out nearly everyone was headed to the top of that mountain - for the views!!  We should have paid attention to the warning signs at the entrance regarding the steep grade.  But that was for cars, right - not us we were hiking!

 I am proud to say that although we did not reach the very top we came awfully darn close.  Talk about a climb - Michael was pretty sure that I had a secret plot to do him in!
Needless to say we have been shedding the pounds while here in Sao Miquel - all we do is walk, all day long.

 The views from the almost tip top were phenomenal.  And you would think okay so its all downhill from here - true - but it was such a steep grade it was work going down as well.

 II am actually holding on the the wall here because the grade is so steep.  

 We were pretty happy to get back on the bus for a little rest before the next stop - another lake/lagoon.  Lagoa do Canario.  Pretty place to see but no hiking there!

 The ferns and trees are so large - they love this climate.  I love it as well - 70s most days - not too hot, not too cold.  Nearly everyday there is a breeze and it rains often.  Not for long - it will just rain for an hour or so.  Just enough to keep the plants happy.

And the best part is that the weather is fairly consistent year round.  70s during the day and down to 60s at night.  Perfect sleeping weather.  It is just very, very comfortable.