Friday, June 20, 2014-
We have started meeting other cruisers in Horta, but fewer than usual. The combination of having friends on board and the language barrier has influenced our reaching out to other boaters. It also explains why almost everyone we have gotten friendly with so far has been British. There are 300-400 yachts here and less than one percent are U.S. flagged. France dominates with Germany and the Netherlands next. We just saw our fiirst Spain flag and were surprised today to see one from Japan. They are a long way from home! On all of our sailing trips we have kept a book of flags on board. We always see countries represented that surprise us. Here we saw a boat flying the flag of Andorra. That one needed a bit of research. It is a tiny country high in the Pyrenees between France and Spain with a population of only 76,000.
Sadly the Andorra yacht had a collision with a British yacht on the high seas about 20 miles from Horta. Both yachts were single-handed. They had seen one another on radar, but at the time of the collision one skipper had gone below to cook and the other did not see him from behind his sails. The impact left both boats with significant damage, but both were able to get safely into Horta. At the time we saw them they were trying, working with separate languages, to work out the insurance information. A reminder of why we always have someone on watch.
The hot spot for yachties in Horta is Peter’s Sport Café, a local café and bar overlooking the marina. By day it is a café with free internet; by night it is more of a pub environment with local food and a band that starts at 11 pm on weekends. What sailor is awake at 11 pm? Certainly not us. Peter’s is written up in all of the blogs and general info on Horta with the point that everyone needs to go there. They are known for their gin and tonics and local beer. We went for dinner and found it to be friendly and full. There are birgies from around the world tacked to the walls and ceilings representing yacht clubs and specific yachts as well. We enjoyed the café and were long gone before the band started. We need to remember that we are now in Europe and the evening and dinners start much later.