Travel - May 9 – Thursday – Ponta Delgada, Portugal   

             and May 10th at Sea

Ponta Delgada (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpõtɐ ˌðɛɫˈɣaðɐ]) is a city and municipality on the island of São Miguel in the archipelago of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal about 900 miles west of mainland Iberia out in the Atlantic. It includes 44,403 residents in the urban area, and approximately 20,113 inhabitants in the three central parishes that comprise the historical city: São Pedro, São Sebastião, São José.

 Our visit started in the cold and fog; I thought we were back in Seattle.  We waited for a while to get off the ship, hoping the fog would break.  Around 10 o’ clock in the morning, we started to see a sun and ventured out.  We did not arrange for a tour, so were on our own to explore Ponta Delgada. 

 

The primary ship harbor is beautiful.  It is very apparent that the government has put a lot of money in this area to attract the cruise ships.  Tourism is not their main source of income; hot house pineapple production and dairy products are, but when the ship arrives the town is definitely prepared for the tourists.

 We walked along the water front, and John spied an open air double decker bus. We hopped on the bus and toured around the town and countryside for about an hour.  That is always a great way to get to know a new city or town.  We then walked around the shops in the main part of the older town near the ship.  We stumbled across a great store with all kinds of yarn and unusual buttons.  You know I didn’t leave empty handed!    Some of their popular souvenirs here are embroidery and lace. 

Lace, Yarn and Button Shop

John and I love to wander the less traveled streets that no tourists walk.  We walked out back of the old fort and military museum.  We were also near the working, industrial part of the port.  Oh, what fun!  We always get to see the real deal when we get closer to any working port.

Ponta Delgada City Gate view to Ocean

 
There was the smell of food.  And tents were set up down the block. We knew we were getting close to something good!  We were the only tourists around. 

Soon we found ourselves within a large group of people and among many stands and lots of food and local beer.  In fact, it actually looked like a private but very large party.  But, given our love of exploring and adventure, we decided to take our chances and crash it.  We were in luck.  We found an empty table; I sat down, and John went to find beer.  Next thing I know there was a gentleman apologizing as he moved the other end of my bench.  He of course realized I was not from Ponta Delgada.  In perfect English he explained that he was from Rhode Island, but was born in Ponta Delgada.  He was visiting with his former boyhood friends on the island to celebrate the religious festival - the party we were crashing.  He and his friends ate at our table.  We had a delightful time enjoying Portuguese chicken, French fries and local beer.  They tried to teach us a little Portuguese, but I’m not sure that is going to stick.  We did remember how to say thank you as we left.  A quick walk back to the ship and we were ready for the next adventure. 

Here is a little more information about Ponta Delgada.  The municipality of Ponta Delgada is one of the larger administrative divisions in the archipelago, extending from the center of the island to the western coast. Ponta Delgada is bordered on the northeast by the municipality of Riberia Grande, and southeast by relatively new municipality of Lagoa. 

Much like other communities in the archipelago of the Azores, the municipality is shaped by its geography.  Most homes are clustered along the regional road network that circles the island, with many ancillary or agricultural access roads bisecting the central portion of the island (primarily in the Picos Region) along a north-south axis 

The municipality's climate, much like the rest of the Azores, is shaped by the Gulf Stream, allowing a small variation in temperatures, with annual temperatures oscillating between 15 °C and 25 °C, typical to a Mediterranean or humid subtropical climate. The Gulf Stream also contributes to unstable weather that varies greatly during the autumn and spring, making weather forecasting on a daily basis difficult. Levels of humidity are significant enough (usually 90-100%) that temperatures fluctuations feel comparable to those experienced in locations on similar latitudes.

SSSSSSSSSS.....Good night for now!!!  We are at sea 

again tomorrow...and then it's Spain.

The adventures continue....

Travel - May 8, 2013 -  Horta, Portugal

HI there!!!  Here is the picture of the calm sea I promised you the other day.  I've also included a map showing the jagged  line where we went off course to pick up the stranded boat.

Yesterday was to be Horta, but Horta was not to be.  The wind was blowing and the sea was rough.  The town had no dock.  We would have had to be shuttled in by boat.  Instead we roamed around the sea in circles all day.  We waited until early this morning to land in Ponta Delgada.  I'll cover that in another post.

If we had gone to Horta we would have seen a pretty little island.  What we saw was a small foggy shore in the mist.  Horta is on the island of Faial.  Faial is the smallest of the three "Triangle Islands" and an easy island to visit and get around. It has one the main airports in the Azores and there are several ferries every day to Pico from Horta. Ferries to Sao Jorge run daily in summer and three times a week in winter.

The town of Horta has several beautiful old buildings and it was of great importance on account of its sheltered harbor  When the first transatlantic cables were laid, Horta was the central communication station and many cable company offices were located here.There is one main volcanic caldera on the island. The walk around the rim follows rough paths and takes about 2 hours. Lower level walks abound in the event of misty weather and one particularly interesting area to visit is Capelinhos where in 1957 and 1958 several major eruptions occurred creating a volcanic peninsula and half burying a lighthouse.

Horta is a pleasant town to explore with many old shops, cafes and good restaurants. Peter's bar is renowned as a meeting place for travelers and locals alike. Foto Jovial is a small photographic shop in the center of the town where it is possible to purchase copies or just browse many old photographs of the Azores and their history.

Too bad I wasn't able to wander around and take pictures. 

 Instead I've decided to show you more towel animals I've not shown you.  Each night we are welcome by another darling creature.

I'll tell you all about Ponta Delgda next time.  We had a wonderful day!  Stay tuned, there is more adventure to follow.....

Travel - May 6 – Monday and May 7 – Tuesday – At Sea 

The water was so calm yesterday I thought sure we were in the movie “Life of Pi”.  The air was breathless and if in a sail boat, we would have been adrift all day. I’ve taken a picture for those who do not believe that the Atlantic can be peaceful.  I will download tomorrow with other pictures and pass it along.

 Some people saw whales yesterday.  I didn’t happen to be one of them.  John is the one with the eagle eyes.  We did see dolphin and sea birds.  If you want a seat in the boat just call out whale.  Everyone runs to one side of the boat, then you take your choice of seats on the other side.  ;-)

   We are getting close to Horta.  Tomorrow is our first port-of-call.  We will take pictures and report back! John attended the briefing regarding the rescued ship we reported on earlier in the week.  I visited the Acupuncturist…it hurts but it feels so good.  John’s summary is below:

At 9 AM local time this morning, the Nieuw Amsterdam's Captain gave a presentation on the yacht crew rescue of two days ago.

"Rescue Operation"

Details of the rescue of the two-persons crew from the 43 feet yacht "Embla" were presented by the Captain, First Officer and Security Officer. The theater used for the presentation was standing room only, and holds over 700 people. 

The yacht departed St. Martin on April 23, bound for South Hampton via the Azores. The yacht's owner was not aboard and had hired the crew for this delivery voyage. Four days prior to rescue, the yacht had become disabled due to a broken rudder. Multiple steering strategies were tried unsuccessfully by the crew before they asked for help.

On the third day of their difficulties, the crew contacted the yacht owner via satellite phone; in turn, the owner contacted the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) in Norfolk VA. The RCC knew exactly where the Nieuw Amsterdam (NA) was and contacted this ship to ask for assistance. A freighter was also contacted in the vicinity, but the NA was closer and could go to the disabled yacht at a much higher speed.

The rescue occurred without mishap at 31-48N, 52-43W, using one NA tender in the water, with a second tender in standby. Swells that evening at about 9 PM local time were running about 8 to 9 feet, with calm winds. The swells did cause significant hazards for the yacht and rescue tender, and the NA adjusted its position to try to shield both. Yacht luggage was loaded first, and then the two crew members jumped aboard the tender. The RCC was updated on the abandoned yacht's last position, and it was designated a hazard to navigation at that time, with ship warnings broadcast via established RCC protocols. 

The NA Captain has been in his profession for over 30 years, and this is his first sea rescue experience. The First Officer had one previous sea rescue experience when a group of Tunisian refugees was picked up from a disabled fishing vessel in the Med about 3 years ago. 

The Captain indicates that the Holland America web site has an article plus pictures that address the rescue. 

That’s all for now.  The adventure is just about to get interesting!!!

Travel - May 5 – Sunday – At Sea

We had some REAL excitement at sea last evening.  About 6:30 PM, the Captain announces that we were changing course and had been asked by the International Sea Navigation and Safety people in Norfolk VA to help a ship in distress.  Wait…this only happens in the movies, right???  The Captain indicated that it was a sailing yacht with three people from France, and that they were stranded and needed our help.  Boy, were they in luck.  It’s not often a big cruise ship comes floating by!
 

Here we are, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean just floating along, a thousand miles away from any coastline, keeping track of how far away we are from anything; then here is a stranded boat.  Who in their right mind would be out in a small boat that holds three people??  Talk about a bad nightmare; later that evening we were to find out more.

John and I had a late dinner.  The dining room is on the second deck, right above the engines; they were in “warp drive” to get us to the incident scene as soon as possible.  From the back dining room, we could see the ship’s wake, and it was easy to get a sense of our ship’s available power.  We had to be going at least 20 knots, when we usually do a leisurely 14 knots.
 It took us about two hours at top speed to get to the stranded boat; once there, we slowed to a crawl, and it was at that time that you became very aware of the sea.  In spite of the size of this ship – many hundreds of feet long and weighing many tens of thousands of tons – it began to move in the water like a cork in a tub.  And the wave-induced motion was modified and magnified by the ship’s designed flexibility.  

Needless to say, I didn’t stay in the dining room for desert.  I wanted to be as far on top as possible.  Besides, we all wanted to watch the rescue.  Every inch of available railing on the rescue side of our ship was covered with lookie-lous.  Clearly, we were watching high drama. 

 

I’ve scattered pictures throughout this report to give you an idea of the size of the disabled boat and the rescue.  The good news is that the rescue was successful; the bad news is that a sailboat of about 40 feet in length was abandoned and declared a hazard to navigation in this (near-empty) part of the Atlantic.  It’s free for the salvage taker.  But I’m betting that it has already sunk.  Then again, it could be like a note in a bottle and end up on some distant shore.  

 After the rescue drama, we learned that the boat and its crew had been adrift for four days due to a steering issue.  It turns out that they were only half way, if that far, into their (planned?) voyage from St. Martin to South Hampton via the Azores.  As the last recued crew member departed, he turned out the lights, and we all watched as it drifted away like a ghost ship in the night.  Edgar Allen Poe could not have dreamed up a creepier ending. 

There is a briefing tomorrow at 1 o’clock.  We may hear more information then.  In the meantime we are floating along on a fairly mild sea and loving it.

Here is our towel animal from last night! The Adventure will continue….

Travel -  May 3 – Friday and 

               May 4 – Saturday – At Sea

 Yesterday, the internet was intermittent, and so I decided to combine Friday’s and Saturday’s blogs.  It is almost two o’clock in the afternoon Saturday, and we are about to turn our clocks up for the second time on this trip as we enter the next time zone to the east.  Two o’clock seems to be the hour that is favored to skip.  It seems to pass by in an instant.  All of a sudden, by direction of the ship’s PA system, “… it is NOW three o’clock.”  My stomach is the only entity that is really having trouble with this early clock.  We just finished lunch! 

Wednesday morning, for whatever reason, we woke up at 4 AM to a beautiful view of the rising one-quarter new moon out our veranda.  Hope you can see the picture I took.  Such a balmy and beautiful morning.  How nice!

The Nieuw Amsterdam was launched less than three years ago, and just came out of warranty dry dock in Freeport, The Bahamas.  This means the Italian ship builder contracted with the Freeport yard to fix all the little things that needed to be fixed following the ship’s entry into service thirty-three months ago.  Everything is beautiful, and the decorators have spent a lot of time making this ship quite attractive for the guests.  Some of the art on board is noteworthy.  I've taken some time wandering around the ship taking pictures of the art, much of which exhibits a nautical theme.
 

Elevators and Wall Tiles

At night when we come back to our room we have towel animals waiting for us.  Here are a few examples.  The Stewards are really very creative.  There is even a book on how to fold the towels.

While at sea I may skip a posting or two.  But, please check back as the Azores are about 1,000 nautical miles away. Here is the latest map. 

 

 Hope you are enjoying the trip!

Travel - May 2 – Thursday – At Sea We had another beautiful, quiet day at sea.  We spent time reading, I went swimming and continue to knit.  John listened to the Captain talk about the Nieuw Amsterdam ship and then went to a lecture about space.  We also continued to explore the ship.

Here is a map showing our current location.  We are making slow progress at about 14 knots.  We have about five more days at sea. 

I've thought allot about what to write on such a quiet day.  Pictures and videos can sometimes tell a better story.  While on our veranda I took a video of what it is like to look out to sea.  There are no other boats, no fish, no other life, just John and I on our veranda and the sea.  I think the video helps to give you a little of this feeling.  Now…just slowly rock back and forth.  Now isn't that beautiful?   

Well.....maybe words are better than video.  My downloading abilities may not be working well today.  In any case...you get the idea!

I've also included a rain storm at sea, last night’s sunset and a picture of one of the place where the Captain controls the boat when he is maneuvering it during docking procedures. 

We are AT SEA AGAIN TOMORROW…….  Hope you had a great day!

Travel - May 1 – Wednesday – At Sea
 

Before starting today's adventure I wanted to share the sunset from last night.  This is just a small peak.  John was able to get some really nice wide shots.

We are at sea today, and what a beautiful place it is.  Yes, we are spoiled; John and I will be the first to admit it.  We only hope we can share a little of this experience with you through our words and pictures.

The ocean this morning had such an order to it.  Its primary swells were very well organized, well-spaced at about 300 to 400 feet between peaks, and generally three to five feet in amplitude.  There was, however, a secondary flow of quite choppy and much smaller swells from a different direction, creating a chaotic brew within the main swells.  Isn't this just the way the world works?  There is always controlled chaos, whether it be physics, human beings or the roll of the ocean.  Whew…the ocean is having its impact on me already.
 

I've now seen the real color Navy Blue.  I had not appreciated it until I looked out this morning and saw the water in direct sunlight.  I can’t think of anything else in nature that really matches it. 

 Most blue tone flowers contain violet and don’t reflect a Navy Blue hue.  Maybe the closest is sapphire blue, but a sapphire has a depth and shine that the Atlantic Ocean just doesn't have.  The blue of a Navy sailor’s uniform is exactly the color of the sea.  The designers got it right!  I've taken a few pictures just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.  

I've also walked around the ship’s 9th, 10^th and 11^th decks to give you an idea what the ship is like near our cabin.  We are nicely located on the 10^th deck near the ship’s bow.  In one flight of stairs up or down, we are close to everything we’re interested in using.
 

 This is the back deck pool on deck 9.  It is often empty, but was full this evening when we walked out to view the sunset after dinner.

This is the main pool on mid deck 9.  The deck top moves back and forth.  When the weather is cold the cover is closed and the swimming can continue.  Many of the festive activities happen in this area. 

Here is the Lido cafeteria dinning on mid deck 9.   Normally we have breakfast and lunch here.  There are other places on the ship to have breakfast and lunch.  We just like this area because we eat a little less.

Here is the gym.  It is located on the 9th deck.  We have yet to work out there.  John has walked 3 miles around the deck.  I have visited the Spa.  The gym is on our list.

 This is the Coffee Shop, computer and library.  We love sitting in this area.  Here we read, sleep, work on the internet and knit. It is located on the 11th deck.

Our room is on the 10th deck, it has an ocean view and a nice large bed.  See John smiling?  I think he would live on this boat if he could figure out how.  He may have to find out about working for Holland America.

We are AT SEA AGAIN TOMORROW….working our way across the Atlantic.  Working in the reverse direction as our ancestors.

Hope you are enjoying following along on our journey!  We will be back with you tomorrow.