That was Horta

After 4 nights recovering in Horta it is time to move on. The original plan was to visit 1 or 2 more islands, but due to the weather forecast we have decided to head to the UK today. There is an OK window at the moment, and that would appear to close for another week or so. Also, the weather in the Azores is wet for the next few days.

Other than sleep, we have explored the vicinity of Horta, visiting amongst other things the Whaling Museum, Scrimshaw Museum, Porto Pico and of course Peter’s Bar. Alex was more adventurous and took the ferry across to Pico and climbed Mt Pico – at 2,351M (7,713ft) it is the highest peak in Portugal.

The whaling museum is housed in the old processing plant. Whale production ceased in the mid 70’s and the primary product was oil. The oil was used throughout the industrial world for lubricating machinery. The whales were towed into the bay and then dragged up through the arch using steam powered winches. The whales would then be butchered by a team of around 10 people.

We have added Valent to the collage of artwork around the marina – hopefully we will remain in posterity for a good 10 years.

Now we are heading towards Falmouth and expect to arrive around 9 Jun. We will then take a few days to move along the South Coast with the aim of arriving in the Portsmouth area on 13/14 June in time for the RTI.