MV Dirona travel digest for Horta 2021

Position: 53°17.77'N, -6°7.93'W

Tied off at a commercial pier in Dun Laoghaire, where we'll shortly be fueling. It's a challenging place for us to tie off, with widely-spaced pilings and nowhere to put a line except high up on the dock above. Jennifer is climbing back down the ladder after running our two 75-ft lines from the bow and stern to bollards above. To locate the boat more accurately for-and-aft and keep the fenders against the pilings, we've also got a small line looped around the bottom of the ladder.

The whole operation is made more difficult by a heavy surge in today's high winds, and a large tidal exchange. The boat is moving a ton in the water motion, and we have to keep tending the lines as the tide rises. It wasn't our most difficult fueling (Rodrigues and the Marquesas Islands score higher), but aspects of it were challenging.

Position: 53°17.77'N, -6°7.93'W

In this picture taken from the commercial pier where we are fueling you can see how rough it is in the harbour. This sailboat had come free at the stern, pivoted around, and had already done some damage to the bow before it was rescued and pulled back properly against the dock. You can see the waves are breaking over the dock, but what you can't see is the dock itself is bucking and rotating, and it looked quite difficult to walk on.

Conditions aren't ideal locally for our departure, but the winds are with us and the weather should settle down quickly by tomorrow for a reasonable passage to Horta. We expect to hit a patch of rougher weather a couple of days from the Azores as a large weather system approaches, but conditions otherwise should be good.

Position: 53°16.67'N, -6°4.47'W

Running south past Dalkey Island, with its Martello Tower visible. We passed this island on our walk to Killiney Hill Park a couple of weeks ago.

Position: 53°16.67'N, -6°4.47'W

Waves exploding onto the rocks at Muglins Lighthouse just south of Dun Laoghaire. Steady 25-30 knots winds are blowing from the north and generating big waves. Here the tide is running with the waves. We'll bet it gets pretty exciting when that wind runs against them.

Position: 53°2.84'N, -5°58.38'W

We're making 10.5 knots with a fuel economy of 1.38 nm/gallon in positive current as we fly south from Dun Laoghaire en route to Horta.

Position: 52°14.89'N, -6°13.76'W

The lighthouse on Tuskar Rock stands 120 feet (37 metres) high and was completed in 1815.

Position: 52°14.01'N, -6°14.42'W

The freight ferry Ark Diana off the Rosslare Europort, a major port for shipping to continental Europe. This is the fourth ferry that the shipping company DFDS has added to their new Rosslare-Dunkerque route in response to shipping delays from the UK due to Brexit.

Position: 52°12.32'N, -6°15.31'W

The positive current has given way to a strong negative current, and we are crawling along at 2.8 knots with a fuel economy of 0.395 nm/gallon. It's not just the current slowing us down—the seas are huge and tight as the current runs against the steady high winds. Our average roll (bottom left) over the past five minutes is 18.8°. Conditions should settle considerably as we round the corner south of Rosslare, but this isn't comfortable and we won't make Horta at this fuel economy.

Position: 52°9.68'N, -6°17.73'W

Orange sunset over the Carnsore wind farm just south of Rosslare.

Position: 52°1.27'N, -6°37.87'W

Pink near-supermoon rising over the North Atlantic as we pull away from the Irish coast en route to Horta. Our initial plan was to depart Ireland from Kinsale, but we were unable to get approval from the harbourmaster to enter the harbor due to COVID-19 restrictions, even though we were fully and properly cleared into the country. We also tried Dingle, farther to the west, and were refused entry there as well. Fortunately departing from Dublin worked out very well for us instead.

Position: 51°33.73'N, -7°43.85'W

We departed Dublin into 25-30-kt winds, but as predicted they dropped below 10 (right of center) now and and conditions are wonderful on our second day en route to Horta. Boat pitch and roll (lower left) are 2.1° and 2.8° respectively, and we're doing 7.1 knots at 1.33 nm/gallon.

Position: 51°35.61'N, -7°39.29'W

Sunrise over the North Atlantic.

Position: 51°27.72'N, -7°58.40'W

Oil rig in the Seven Head gas field to our southeast.

Position: 51°12.05'N, -8°38.19'W

The fishing vessel Aegir was on course to pass 200 yards in front of us, closer than we like, so we radioed and they agreed to pass astern.

Position: 51°15.68'N, -8°27.48'W

The fishing vessel Aegir passing behind us after adjusting course.

Position: 50°47.10'N, -9°26.78'W

This little bird had been circling the boat quite closely, surveying. It flies well, but when sitting on the boat one of its wings hangs at a weird angle and it doesn't fly away when we get close, suggesting it might be injured. We're not sure what we can do for it, other than not letting Spitfire outside. We put out a small saucer of water in case it's just tired or thirsty.

Position: 50°35.35'N, -9°41.61'W

We just reached 11,800 trouble-free hours on our John Deere 6068AFM75 main engine.

Position: 50°39.79'N, -9°36.02'W

The Rossoren, one of a group of all-French fishing vessels we passed this evening.

Position: 49°55.76'N, -10°39.01'W

Conditions remain excellent with light winds and calm seas.

Position: 49°31.65'N, -11°10.35'W

We now have two birds riding with us—they arrived the previous evening. We're pretty sure one of them is the original one that we fed water to earlier. If we approach the two birds, they will fly away, but if we move away from where they are sitting on the boat deck, they'll fly back and go back to sleep. Because they are flying well and looking healthy, we think they probably are just resting. And later in the day they flew away, not to be seen again.

Position: 48°49.49'N, -12°11.87'W

Smooth seas and sunny skies on our third day en route to Horta.

Position: 48°46.21'N, -12°17.33'W

Our two 300-gallon standard ATL deck fuel bladders. This is the seventh time we've used them in the past decade, and they still are in great shape. The tie-downs, however, have corroded badly and will need to be replaced after this usage. We'll opt for stainless steel this time, rather than galvanized steel.

Position: 48°49.49'N, -12°11.87'W

Our 360-gallon ATL custom forward bladder fills the Portuguese bridge area. The bladder fits tightly and is well secured so, like the cockpit tanks, it just doesn't move, even in rough water. This placement for the tank protects it from wave action and allows us to make the tank very secure. And while we can’t use the Portuguese bridge with the bladder in place, it doesn’t block the door to the foredeck or either pilot house door.

Of course, for the 1,300-nm trip, we don't even need the fuel we have below decks, much less need to carry more above. But the second leg in our trip will be about 3,000nm and we'll need the extra fuel for that. The reason why we're carrying this large volume of fuel on this first short leg is that fuel is twice as expensive in Horta as we were able to get in Dublin.

Position: 48°43.54'N, -12°21.60'W

Jennifer making spaghetti sauce for dinner.

Position: 48°37.84'N, -12°30.74'W

We often see weather buoys on the chart, but rarely do we see one at their marked location. Here's one that was, the K1 Metoffice ODAS Buoy four miles away from us.

Position: 48°14.46'N, -13°8.10'W

We're using PredictWind for the first time to generate and follow a route for the run to Horta. The great circle route to Horta from Ireland is shown in pink, and the PredictWind fastest route in red is the one we're following. The winds and wave heights are slightly less on the PredictWind route, making it a faster choice for a power boat.

We started using PredictWind more seriously earlier this year. In previous tests, we don't think we gave it enough of a chance, or maybe it's just much better now than in the earlier days. But we're now finding it really useful. We initially started using it to help compare the various routes from the Azores to Bermuda. PredictWind produces data for a variety of weather models in both graphical form and in a table form that can be copied into a spreadsheet. We can then use that data to analyze and compare conditions across the routes.

Position: 48°3.13'N, -13°26.21'W

Conditions remain wonderfully calm, with winds averaging less than 10 knots behind us (just right of center), and boat pitch and roll 3.2° and 6.1° respectively (lower left) and we're making 7.1 kts (middle left) with a fuel economy of 1.33 nm/gallon (middle right).

Position: 47°58.51'N, -13°33.56'W

We generally find wave height, period and direction a better predictor of conditions than wind and use that information more heavily when selecting a weather window. The larger the wave period compared to the height, the more comfortable the conditions and the better the fuel economy. 12ft seas on 12 seconds is much more comfortable and fuel efficient than 9ft seas on 7 seconds. Large swell on a long period involves lots of up and down but really doesn’t make the boat at all uncomfortable. And waves from the stern are much more comforable than waves on the bow.

In the screenshot, the two groups of data under the heading ECMWF are the PredictWind wind and wave table data for the ECMWF weather model for the remainder of the passage to Horta. The three columns at right are our colorized interpretations of the data using a spreadsheet. We color wave height green if the waves are less than 4 feet or the wave period is more than 1.2 times the height, orange if the wave height is less than 7 feet or the period is 1-1.2 times the height, and red for everything else. We color wave direction green if they are coming from the direction of 50° on either side of the stern, red for 50° on either side of the bow, and orange otherwise. The final column is wave period divided by height and is colored the same as for wave height, but only using the wave period part of the formula.

These tables allow us to easily consume a lot of date and get a good overall view of the conditions we can expect. For the rest of the run, the waves won't be very large and the trip is expected to be mostly excellent with less than 10 knots and light swell. But we do have a period coming up between May 3rd and 4th where the waves will be on the bow and we expect much more boat motion and less comfort during that period.

Position: 47°53.97'N, -13°40.80'W

A screenshot showing the current North Atlantic weather. Right now we're in the narrow blue section of light winds, about midway between Ireland and the Azores (the island group slightly below center above the letter H in the high pressure system). A 997mb low is moving east and will pass behind us, while another large low pressure system is forming off the US east coast. We likely will encounter the edge of that first system in a couple of days, and the second system as we make landfall in the Azores. Those two lows pack 20ft waves, but we'll be enough out of the core that we won't see close to that.

Position: 47°47.42'N, -13°51.25'W

Fresh berries with our breakfast this morning.

Position: 47°20.89'N, -14°35.14'W

The view from boat deck to the calm conditions behind us. Here we are operating at much higher power levels than we normally use when crossing oceans. We're aiming to arrive Thursday morning and are spending a little more fuel to do that.

Position: 47°6.40'N, -15°5.37'W

The 883ft (269m) cargo ship CMA CGM America about 7 miles away en route to Dunkirk, France. There's not much traffic out here—we're seeing about one ship a day and sometimes less.

Position: 47°2.69'N, -15°13.17'W

Our ditch bags ready to go in the salon should we need to abandon ship. We've put our gear into two dry bags at left and right, with a bag for Spitfire at center. To each we've attached lifejackets and a long tether. And we also have our Mustang exposure suits in the salon, ready to don if necessary.

Position: 46°48.17'N, -15°43.63'W

Spitfire sleeping on a pillow in the off-watch berth.

Position: 46°27.35'N, -16°24.23'W

We're sure lucky so far with the weather for this run. The winds (upper right) right now are blowing an incredibly low 1.9 kts, boat pitch and roll (lower left) are 1.9° and 3.8° respectively, and we're doing 7.2 knots at 1.49 nm/gallon. We are expecting this to last for another two days before the edge of a low pressure system reaches us.

Position: 46°9.46'N, -16°51.72'W

We haven't seen much of anything on this passage. The radar for 32 miles out shows nothing. (The long names on the screen are waypoint names encoded with weather information in the PredictWind-generated GPX route).

Position: 46°0.70'N, -17°7.99'W

The moon setting over the North Atlantic on our fourth night at sea.

Position: 45°58.16'N, -17°13.15'W

Adjusting course to increase the CPA (closest point of approach) between us and the overtaking ship Mistral from 400 yards to a mile and a half. In open ocean, we'll generally aim for two miles of separation and really don't like to see it drop below one mile, especially at night.

Position: 45°52.12'N, -17°25.74'W

Dawn over continued calm conditions in the North Atlantic.

Position: 45°52.54'N, -17°24.74'W

Bright orange sunrise to start day five at sea. We have four more nights to be before we reach Horta.

Position: 45°37.65'N, -17°58.86'W

Whenever we open a locker, Spitfire is inside in a flash to investigate, no matter how many times he's been in there before. He's doing amazingly well for a near-18-year-old kitty.

Position: 45°35.73'N, -18°3.23'W

We've consumed enough fuel now that we can drain the 360-gallon forward bladder. Here we have a fuel hose attached and are pumping it through a filter and into the main tanks (see Fuel for the Crossing for details on this system).

Visible is an important point on how to use bladders: when they are abolutely full, they don't shift around at all and there's no fuel motion inside them in even rough conditions. Here we've pumped off only about 20 gallons and the bladder is starting to get ripples and, as a light swell rolls through, giant waves of fuel roll back and forth across the bladder. Generally bladders are comfortable, and wear well, when they are full or when they are empty, and they take a lot of abuse when only partially full. So we pump them down as quickly as we can in a single operation. We can pump about 100 gallons per hour, so this 360-gallon tank will pump down in about 3.5 hours.

Position: 45°35.73'N, -18°3.23'W

The fuel hose snaking back from the Portuguese bridge fuel bladder to the bulkhead fitting in the cockpit that leads to the fuel manifold (see Fuel for the Crossing for details on this system).

Position: 45°33.07'N, -18°8.01'W

Shrimp-salad pita pockets for lunch.

Position: 45°13.62'N, -18°38.56'W

This afternoon we put the clocks an hour back onto Azores time.

Position: 44°41.84'N, -19°26.64'W

We're into the edge of that low pressure system and the winds and waves have picked up a bit. We're now pitching 11.4° (lower left), and need to take more care moving around the boat. Wind and waves on the bow really degrade fuel economy rapidly. Here we're only getting 1.1 nm/gallon at 6 knots.

Position: 44°37.42'N, -19°33.29'W

We're over halfway now with only 552 miles left of 1,315.

Position: 44°15.26'N, -20°7.70'W

The waves aren't very big, but are tight and right on the bow and we're now pitching up to 14°. This isn't at all dangerous, but we have to use care moving about the boat. We can easily sleep in the centrally-located berth in the master stateroom, but we've learned that in these conditions and worse, if we sleep wedged in the narrow floor space beside the bed, the motion is a lot less annoying and we sleep far better.

Using that trick, we find it takes quite rough conditions before we start having sleep problems. This also avoids the risk that befell James 8 years ago where a bigger wave tossed him out of bed and into the head wall while he was sleeping. Sleeping on the floor looks a bit odd, but it ends up being a remarkably comfortable way of dealing with rough conditions.

Position: 43°40.60'N, -20°59.27'W

That first low has passed behind us and is hitting Ireland now, and the rougher weather we're seeing is from the trailing edge.

Position: 43°43.10'N, -20°55.56'W

Here we have a pressure tester on the furnace heating fluid system—the system has leaked antifreeze today in the lazarette. James has tightened up all the hoses and is now pressure-testing the system to ensure it is fully repaired.

Position: 42°53.29'N, -22°6.93'W

Conditions settled down substantially overnight and boat motion is greatly reduced. The waves still are on the bow, but the period has increased and pitching (lower left) has halved down to 7.4° from a high of 14° last night.

Position: 41°43.64'N, -23°39.14'W

We don't like any of our engines to set around without running for months at a time. So, if an engine hasn't been run for 3 weeks, the control systems light up an indicator light on the dash to remind us that one of the engines needs exercise. We normally never run the generator underway and just run HVAC, oven, and all other draws off the main engine. The control system today signalled that the generator needed a run, so we switched it on to carry the load until it's fully warmed up. Nothing unusual about that, but what was weird is that when we looked down to see how warm it was 10 min later, it wasn't running.

It turns out the autostart system has developed a fault sometime during the last 3 weeks since it was last used. Here James is chasing down the wiring that triggers a start and found the ground wire in the generator request-start circuit was faulty. He was able to find the fault at either end so ended up just installing a new ground wire and it's back to fully operational.

Position: 41°37.05'N, -23°45.17'W

The PredictWind ECMWF weather model data, with our color annotations at right. Looks like we'll have decent conditions for the rest of the run into Horta, with light winds and waves mostly on the beam.

Position: 41°35.27'N, -23°46.75'W

Chart view of our destination of Horta in the Azores. According to the COVID-19 protocols for arriving boaters, we'll anchor out on arrival inside the harbour wall and be tested for COVID-19.. If the results come back negative, we'll be allowed into the marina and ashore.

Position: 41°36.61'N, -23°45.57'W

Our main engine oil level has never fallen between changes, and we've never had to add oil, but we still like to check regularly. The way we do the underway oil level check is to learn where the oil should be when the engine is running. This is a one-time check when the boat is new where we ensure the oil is right on the full line with the engine off. Then we check to see what the oil level is when the engine is hot and under load.

On our John Deere 6068AFM75, the full level when running is the "add" mark on the dipstick so it's easy to remember. As usual, on this check the oil level is fine. Another advantage of the underway oil level check is it allows topping off the oil without shutting down the engine. For example, if we developed a serious oil leak while underway, we could just keep adding oil to keep the level correct and not risk damaging the engine through too much oil (aeration) or too little oil.

Position: 41°34.93'N, -23°47.04'W

Wonderfully calm conditions 400 miles north of Horta.

Position: 41°26.43'N, -23°54.19'W

Jennifer preparing a pizza for dinner. Unless its very rough, we choose to cook on passage and enjoy eating well along the way. But we have some pre-prepared meals for when it is too rough to comfortably cook.

Position: 40°24.86'N, -25°5.76'W

We're exactly 200 miles out from Horta now, and will arrive tomorrow morning.

Position: 39°51.68'N, -26°7.41'W

The captain of the cargo ship Capricorn One, visible in the distance through the pilot house windows, radioed us for a chat.

Position: 39°51.61'N, -26°7.53'W

The cargo ship Capricorn One heading to Baltimore. It's surprising that with so little traffic out there, the few ships we do see pass within a few miles. The captain radioed us, asked us about our trip and told us a little bit about his travels.

Position: 39°40.28'N, -26°26.66'W

An ARPA target is our second boat sighting for the day. Relative to yesterday, it's getting busy out there. :)

Position: 39°27.23'N, -26°53.84'W

We're just under 100 miles from Horta, and should land in 14 hours.

Position: 39°11.67'N, -27°28.71'W

We picked up a solid cellular signal over 30 miles from Horta. The bottom left indicator labeled Pri (for Primary) lights green when connectivity is available.

Position: 39°11.50'N, -27°29.10'W

The cargo ship Isadora passing about seven miles behind us en route to Gibraltar.

Position: 39°8.24'N, -27°35.72'W

We're picking up some rougher weather from the trailing edge of a big storm heading towards the Irish coast behind us, packing 40-knot winds and 25-ft seas. With systems like this forming so frequently along our route, we'll be relieved to complete the passage to Horta from Ireland. The next challenge will be to find a window to depart Horta and then follow the Azores High back to the US.

Position: 38°58.47'N, -27°54.58'W

We can see lights on the island of Graciosa to our north as we pass by at 2am.

Position: 38°51.61'N, -28°11.67'W

We're within four hours of Horta and the trailing edge of that big storm is upon us, kicking up the seas a bit. The winds are steady in the 20s on the bow (upper right) and we're pitching over 11° (bottom left).

Position: 38°42.08'N, -28°27.95'W

Raising a Portuguese courtesy flag, and a yellow quarantine flag indicating that we require clearance on entry to Horta in the Azores.

Position: 38°41.13'N, -28°28.69'W

First view to the island of Faial, where Horta is located.

Position: 38°41.13'N, -28°28.69'W

View south to the island of Pico, with the volcano Pico prominent in the background. The 7,713 ft (2,351 m) mountain is among the highest in the Atlantic Ocean and twice the height of any other in the Azores. The volcano still is active, but last erupted in 1720.

Position: 38°39.32'N, -28°30.23'W

Inter-island ferry departing Horta as we near.

Position: 38°38.13'N, -28°31.23'W

Bringing the fenders down from the boat deck to the starboard side is a bit more work with the forward bladder blocking the Portuguese bridge. Rather than just walk them around, we need to lift them onto the bow area and bring them around through the gate.

Position: 38°38.04'N, -28°31.30'W

Ponta Espalamaca at the entrance to the port of Horta. The cliff contains an old World War II battery and, like most such military installations, has sweeping views to the surrounding area.

Position: 38°37.03'N, -28°32.15'W

The Horta municipal pool (piscina) at the port entrance.

Position: 38°36.65'N, -28°32.47'W

Entering the port of Horta. We'll be berthing at the far end of the wall at left, in front of the cargo ship in the distance.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

View to anchored boat flying a Q (quarantine) flag. The protocol for pleasure-craft arriving into Horta is that vessels must remain at anchor until the results of a COVID-19 test are available (usually within 24 hrs), and if negative they then are allowed to berth in the marina. Our agent, Delcio Silva of Bensaude Shipping Agents, had instead arranged for us to be able to moor against the commercial dock immediately so long as we stayed on board until a negative test result was received. This arrangement worked well, as there wasn't much space for us in the anchoring area.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

The Prince Albert of Monaco Meteorological Observatory on the hilltop above Horta, across the harbour from our berth. Prince Albert funded the construction so scientists could study the atmospheric pressure of the Azores zone and its wide impact on the climate in the Atlantic. The station was completed in 1915 and connected via pre-existing underwater telegraph cables to major European centers and Washington.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

Performing the 45th oil change on the main engine at 11,959 hours. Like our most recent oil change in Dublin, this one at 196 hours was shorter than the 250-hour change interval, but this will take is all the way back to the US. Our 46th oil change will be in Charleston.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

The commercial dock we're on is busy with activity as ships come and go. Here two workers are readying a pallet for shipment.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

A crane lowered a bulldozer ripper into the cargo area of this small truck. You can see the load is far heavier than the truck can carry, with the rear wheels almost touching the cargo deck and the front wheels barely on the ground.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

A reach stacker, used to move shipping containers, heading down the Horta commercial dock with jaws wide.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

All kinds of cargo is passing through the port of Horta, including small boats.

Position: 38°31.30'N, -28°42.94'W

The standard protocol for arriving pleasure craft is that the harbour safety boat picks up the occupants from anchor and transports them to the shore-side testing station. Due to an oversight, we didn't make the pickup list for today (Thursday) and were instead scheduled for Friday, meaning we wouldn't be able to go ashore until Saturday. Since we were planning to depart on Sunday, this wouldn't have given us much time to explore. Our agent, Delcio Silva of Bensaude Shipping Agents, instead received permission from the harbour master to drive us to the airport to get our test done there. And here we are, taking our first COVID-19 test.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

We can't go ashore yet, but we can fuel without doing that. A fuel truck arrived first thing this morning for our scheduled fueling. The driver setup a perimeter around the truck and the police arrived to inspect the site before fueling could begin.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

Hoisting a red 'Bravo' flag to indicate we are fueling.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

Lowering our Q (quarantine) flag. We'd received James' negative test result last night and Jennifer's shortly before we started fueling, so were cleared to come ashore. Because we are coming from Ireland, also in the EU but not a Schengen country, we only needed immigration clearance. The boat was already in the EU customs zone, and Spitfire can enter on his EU Pet Passport.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

The fueling in Horta was super-efficient—we took on 1,113 gallons (4,216 l) of diesel in just over an hour. We hadn't drained the aft bladders on the run from Dublin, so only needed to fill the main tanks and the forward bladder. After the job was done, we received a sample for testing.

Position: 38°31.64'N, -28°37.36'W

Cargo cranes parked at the port of Horta, viewed on a walk through town now that we're cleared to come ashore.

Position: 38°31.65'N, -28°37.49'W

Modern Maritime Police RIB at the port of Horta.

Position: 38°31.66'N, -28°37.49'W

Dirona moored on the commercial dock at the port of Horta. The bollards are spaced widely apart, so we are using our long 75-ft lines to reach them. The stern line is just visible running to the aft bollard.

Position: 38°31.74'N, -28°37.58'W

The Horta Maritime Police building.

Position: 38°31.76'N, -28°37.60'W

Horta has long been a stopover for ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean for centuries. And for the past century, Peter Cafe Sport has been a traditional watering-hole for visiting boaters. The saying goes "If you sail to Horta and you don't visit Peter's, you have not actually been to Horta" (similar to not being able to say you've been to Newfoundland unless you've seen a moose :-) ).

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.60'W

The walls and ceilings of Peter Cafe Sport are packed with memorabilia from visiting boats. The large carved eagle above the bar is from an American whaler. Horta was a major whaling station until the 1980s.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.60'W

Pastel-painted historic buildings facing the harbour along Horta's Rua Vasco da Gama Angustias.

Position: 38°31.90'N, -28°37.55'W

The ruins of the Fort of Santa Cruz, built in the 16th century to protect against attacks by pirates targeting the valuable cargo of ships returning from Africa, India and Brazil.

Position: 38°31.84'N, -28°37.60'W

Looking across the Horta marina to the harbour. Dirona is visible in the distance at center on the commercial dock.

Position: 38°31.87'N, -28°37.52'W

The Horta Marina office building, a welcome sight for weary boaters.

Position: 38°31.92'N, -28°37.49'W

It is a tradition for visiting boaters to paint a mural celebrating their trip, and every flat surface in the vicinity of the marine is covered in them. These are some of the literally thousands of murals we saw.

Position: 38°32.00'N, -28°37.49'W

We were super-excited to spot the mural painted by our friends Matt and Jean Findlay on Superted V. We first met Jean and Matt in 2014 on their Beneteau 57 Superted V on Stewart Island in southern New Zealand and crossed paths an amazing number of times after, including in Cape Town. They now live near Plymouth, UK, where we visited them in 2017 while in Falmouth.

Position: 38°32.06'N, -28°37.51'W

Some of the boat murals in Horta are amazing, such as this one for the boat Semano Do Mar.

Position: 38°32.07'N, -28°37.53'W

Another impressive boat mural at Horta for the boat Zarifa.

Position: 38°32.05'N, -28°37.56'W

The crew of Syllogic was in Horta in 2000, 2004, and 2005, and later in 2008, 2010 and 2015.

Position: 38°32.41'N, -28°37.37'W

Ferry departing the Horta inter-island ferry dock and cruise terminal.

Position: 38°32.48'N, -28°37.30'W

Horta sign outside the ferry dock and cruise terminal. A steady rain has started falling, but we're having a great time touring through town.

Position: 38°32.53'N, -28°37.39'W

Historic stone building along Rua Juiz Macedo in Horta.

Position: 38°32.53'N, -28°37.42'W

Looking north along Rua da Conceicao.

Position: 38°32.50'N, -28°37.56'W

Torre do Relogio (clock tower) was built in the 18th century as part of a 15th-century church and also to function as the town clock.

Position: 38°32.50'N, -28°37.56'W

The beautiful Jardim Florencio Terra, one of the oldest gardens on the island, was created in 1857 as a tribute to the Horta-born writer and poet.

Position: 38°32.51'N, -28°37.57'W

A spectacular Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco) in the Jardim Florencio Terra. The species is protected by law.

Position: 38°32.40'N, -28°37.54'W

The church Imperio dos Nobres, erected in 1760 memory of the 1672 eruption of Cabeco do Fogo on the island of Faial.

Position: 38°32.40'N, -28°37.54'W

This striking Art Deco building was completed in 1934 for the private club Sociedade Amor da Patria, a Masonic society founded in Horta in 1859.

Position: 38°32.31'N, -28°37.62'W

Attractive wood face on a car park in Horta.

Position: 38°32.31'N, -28°37.71'W

The former Convent of Carmo, built in the 17th century, was one of several convents on the island.

Position: 38°32.31'N, -28°37.71'W

The vaulted archways of the cloister of the former Convent of Carmo. The convent and its grounds are scheduled to be renovated into a hotel.

Position: 38°32.31'N, -28°37.71'W

View to the port of Horta from Igreja do Carmo. Dirona is just visible along the far wall in the distance, directly above the chimney in the foreground.

Position: 38°32.24'N, -28°37.70'W

Cobblestones and decorated sidewalk, a common sight in Horta, along Rua Dr. Neves.

Position: 38°32.14'N, -28°37.85'W

The Legislative Assembly of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal, meets in this purpose-built complex completed in 1990.

Position: 38°31.77'N, -28°37.75'W

The Prince Albert of Monaco Meteorological Observatory, that we saw from the water coming into Horta yesterday. Prince Albert funded the construction so scientists could study the atmospheric pressure of the Azores zone and its wide impact on the climate in the Atlantic. The station was completed in 1915 and connected via pre-existing underwater telegraph cables to major European centers and Washington.

Position: 38°31.77'N, -28°37.74'W

Looking back to the port of Horta from the Prince Albert of Monaco Meteorological Observatory grounds. Dirona is roughly at the center of the picture.

Position: 38°31.77'N, -28°37.74'W

View to Horta from the Prince Albert of Monaco Meteorological Observatory grounds.

Position: 38°31.75'N, -28°37.73'W

The peninsula Monte da Guia is accessible on walking trails with fabulous views in all directions. Our agent, Delcio Silva of Bensaude Shipping Agents, took us on a drive up there en route back from the airport yesterday and we plan to hike up there tomorrow.

Position: 38°31.60'N, -28°37.42'W

The port of Horta is a secure area, so we need to be registered with the security office to come and go.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

View at our berth on the commercial dock in Horta (clockwise from top left: forward, aft, starboard, and port). Some boat murals have been painted here too, visible in the bottom right image.

Position: 38°31.82'N, -28°37.31'W

Dusk looking across the harbour to Horta, with the Fort of Santa Cruz visible at right.