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The World Cruise of Veleda IV |
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The Azores and Horta A bitter sweet experience We arrived at Lajes on Flores on June 22, 1999 and left June 26 for Horta on Faial, the yachting Mecca of the Azores. The last night in Lajes was so rolly we had to put out a warp line to orient Veleda into the swells rather than into the wind. It helped, but we were glad to leave. The 25 hour trip to Horta was all motoring. No wind! At Horta we cleared into the marina and were lucky in that we were assigned a slip on C dock. Many of the other boats were rafted alongside the sea wall four and five deep! Then later many, including our friends on RIVER DANCER when they finally arrived, were anchored out in the basin, with up to five boats rafted together off a mooring buoy. (Click on the picture to enlarge)  Horta is an enjoyable haven. All the people in the Azores seem to be friendly and helpful, but especially in Horta. The marina is reasonable pricewise, as are most things in the Azores, and all the facilities (docks, water, electricity, washrooms) are excellent. We replenished our supplies here as we expect things will be more expensive in England. Mid-Atlantic Yacht Services, the chandlery / repair service, is a very competent and helpful outfit. They were even able to fix our autopilot, not only ordering and replacing the gears from Benmar in California, but also identified and replaced a defective slip washer which probably resulted in stripping of the gears a second time, a situation not identified by Benmar when we sent our autopilot to California from Nassau. We hired a taxi for three hours, driven by Tony, a cabbie who lived in Toronto for a few years. He drove us over most of the island, stopping at the main places of interest outside of Horta. We saw the dark volcanic mountains of Capelinhos which erupted in 1957, creating several square kilometers of new land from the sea and covering hundreds of homes in 10 to 20 feet of volcanic ash. We went up to the Caldeira, a massive green moss-covered volcanic crater. We saw houses damaged by the heavy earthquake last year. The eruption at Capelinhos caused about 15,000 Azoreans to emigrate to Canada and the U.S., leaving Faial with a population of about 16,000 at present. The Azores are at an unstable junction of Earth where the African, European, and North American tectonic plates of the earth's crust intersect. This three hour tour for just the two of us still cost only $35.00 U.S. equivalent. Another day we took the ferry across to Pico, the island across the channel with Mount Pico, the largest mountain in Portugal at 2531 metres. We  have a beautiful view of Pico from our slip in Horta, 25 kilometers away, creating a magnificent panorama that rivals Mt. Fuji in Japan. We went to Madalena by the ferry, then by bus to Lajes, a former whaling town where the excellent museum portrayed artifacts and life before the demise of the whaling industry. A gory video showed one of the last whale hunts and kills as well as the slicing and dicing of the whale for rendering into useable oil products. We also saw the many houses constructed of volcanic rock, many with no mortar and no whitewash; just the black volcanic stone walls. Bus and ferry costs are low, about $2.50 each, one way on the ferry and the same for the bus 20 kilometers to Lajes.We have walked around Horta quite a bit to yacht services, post offices, Supermercados, the hospital, beaches, markets, and restaurants. We hope to visit a few museums, churches, and the local beaches over the next couple of days before we leave. I hope we can get off by July 10 for Falmouth.  The unexpected sudden death of Charlie Pfeffer of Piper, a friend and one of the skippers who sailed with us from Bermuda was most unfortunate. Charlie single handed his boat from Bermuda to Horta, where his wife Deborah joined him in late June. We met him in St George's. He was one of our sponsors for our application as Seven Seas Cruising Association Commodores. Piper and Veleda were among the boats going on a Horta - Velas - Horta Nautical Rally last weekend. On Friday night at the registration reception I was approached by a couple of local teenagers who asked if they could go with us to Velas for the race and a music festival being held there. I said O.K. if alright with their parents. They checked and came back asking if a couple of their cousins and their parents could come. We would not have had room for six, so I went over to Charlie and asked if he would like some instant family to take over to Velas with him next day. No problem as long as Deborah was agreeable, which she was. So next day, Saturday, July 3, which also happened to be our anniversary as it was July 3, 1998 we left Toronto for this voyage, we had the kids on our boat and the two parents had gone to Charlie's boat. Start time was 0900. We had taken off the sail cover and disconnected our shore power. Then the Azorean parents came over and informed us Charlie had some kind of heart attack and they would not be sailing. Judy went over to Piper, which was third out on a string of boats rafted on the sea wall to see what the situation was. I stayed on Veleda, not sure how serious the situation was and agreeing to take the parents since Piper was not going. However I went over about five minutes later to find the ambulance on the sea wall, and Deborah devastated, in tears being comforted by another boater. I embraced her, tried to reassure her, then went over to Piper where the ambulance attendants were just lifting Charlie out on a stretcher. I immediately helped out and saw Judy constantly pumping his chest as we hoisted him across the two boats and up onto the sea wall, a difficult task as it was low tide and the wall was about five feet above deck level. As we were bringing Charlie across I was talking at him encouraging him to hang on. We put the stretcher, Judy still doing CPR with two physicians from nearby boats doing the ventilation, and Deborah into the ambulance and off it went. I still had to decide if I would or would not take Veleda with the Azoreans on the race which was just starting. Charlie was my friend. What could I do if I stayed? How serious was it? Deborah was distressed. Judy was involved with a serious medical emergency. Would she be able to get over to Velas if I left? I didn't want to disappoint the family for the trip. However, I felt I should stay around for Judy, Deborah and to see how Charlie was. If he was O.K., we could go over later in the day. I stayed. Judy came back by herself in a taxi a half hour later, badly shaken up. Charlie was dead! We had to get some personal papers from Piper: identification, passports, insurance, etc. We both went back to the hospital with them. I held Deborah while Judy helped with the paperwork. Susan from Glenlyon was also there to try to comfort Deborah. The two lady doctors from Uhani Kai (Hawaii) and Asra (Denmark), adjacent boats, were most helpful and supportive. They confirmed that everything that could have been done was done. Charlie died of a massive heart attack and was probably dead within a couple of minutes of collapsing on Piper. Apparently he had welcomed the Azorean parents and was in the galley getting a Portuguese dictionary to help communications when he collapsed. He did it his way. It would be nice if he could have stayed around for another 20 or 30 years, but he went quickly, after having realized a dream to single hand across the Atlantic, his wife now on board and in a harbour with concerned sailors. It hit many of us hard, as we felt that "There but for the Grace of God go I." It reminded us, me especially, of our own mortality. He was a year younger than me. He had an angioplasty about ten years ago. I had one two years ago. I think I am even writing this now to express my feelings, regrets, and loss of a vital, capable, considerate fellow sailor. Had this occurred two weeks earlier he would have been lost at sea, single handing from Bermuda. Had it occurred two weeks from now Deborah and he would be at sea between here and Europe, and Deborah would have had to cope alone with a death at sea. Here in Horta there was a beautiful dockside service organized by Glenlyon with some local musicians, candles at a white heart painted on the sea wall, the Lord's Prayer said by fellow sailors, and reminiscences about our memories of Charlie. Another moving scene was over 60 boats in the marina turning on their anchor lights at sunset that Saturday night to commemorate his passing. Even now as I think of the marina dotted with those dozens of mast lights shining in the darkness of the night, I can't think of a better tribute to a sailor. The next night we held a wake on the dock to share our grief and feelings with each other and to celebrate Charlie's life. Thanks for sharing your life with us Charlie! Next Log |
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