Sao Miquel

Talaria in Ponta Delgada

On June 3rd we left in the evening from Terceira for an overnight passage to the next Azorean island - Sao Miquel.  It was chilly and rough out that evening. The wind was about 20 knots or more and we were sailing well but the waves were hitting us hard on the starboard stern quarter.  At one point it sounded like an explosion as the force of the water collided with the hull.  That brought me out of my berth in a flash to see what in the world was going on.  Were we over canvassed?  Pushing the boat too hard?  Michael and Matt were already rolling in some of the genny hoping to smooth out the ride. All night long the wind stayed in the 20s allowing us to sail the entire way.  In the morning, just as we got into the lee of Sao Miquel our speed dropped off to around 3 knots or less.  I was on watch and decided to start the engine to get us into port as we were very close at this point.  Well when we went to start the engine all we heard was a clicking noise.  That should have been the first clue that something was not quite right.  But... being foolish and tired we continued to try to start the motor a few more times.  Then Michael heard the engine and said to stop!  He thought the engine might be hydrolocked... and it turns out he was right.  Meanwhile the attempts to start the engine only served to burn up the starter which we discovered when the smoke alarm went off.  We called Rally control and were towed into a slip. 

Downtown Ponta Delgada

Of course, we were hoping that it was only the starter that was the problem.  We found a Yanmar mechanic and placed a call.  Emanuel (the mechanic) said he would be over that day.  So... we sent the guys off to do rally things and Michael and I waited...and waited.  Just when we were thinking he would not show - he appeared.  He said it did not look good and that the engine was indeed hydrolocked but that he would be back in the am to look into it further.  Sadly, the next day it was even worse - he told us we would need a new engine.  Yikes!!  

Beautiful Ponta Delgada

Emanuel said he could rebuild the engine but that would take some time figuring out what all was damaged and then ordering all the parts.  And in the end you would have new parts mixed with old parts on a 30 year old engine. We decided to bite the bullet and purchase the new engine.  So the rally was now over for us as we would be in Ponta Delgada for weeks waiting on the new engine to arrive.  With that news we had to start finding a way to get Ben and Matt to Lagos.  Of course, we could easily have just put them on a plane.  However, they wanted to finish what they started.  Even though they had made it to Portugal in everyone's eyes the transatlantic crossing was complete upon reaching mainland Portugal.  Fortunately, Dottie and Will on Amari were willing to take Ben on their boat and Karma Daze took Matt with them.  

Our favorite restaurant - Tasca

After mourning the loss of our engine for a couple of days we decided to just enjoy lovely Sao Miquel.  We quickly found a favorite restaurant - Tasca.  Our mission became trying as much on the menu as possible in the time we had.  We did not even make a dent in the menu but we had some really great meals and tried alot of different foods.  

We also discovered the fantastic "farmers market" in Ponta Delgada.  We walked there at least once a week.  

Tons of really great produce and a wide selection of freshly caught fish.  Heaven!  Since we had weeks of waiting we set out to explore the rest of the island.  Sao Miquel is a beautiful island - there are far worse places to be stuck.