22 Days: Land 0'hoy, The Azores!

After 22 days at sea, on May 22nd, (on Kevin’s 22nd birthday) we see volcanic peaks of The Azores Islands like a misty blue mirage. Land Ahoy!
Out of the blue we are flanked by three other sailboats also heading for Horta. Where have you all been? It seems we're all converging on the same waypoint.

The islands we are closing in on have not just dropped down out of the sky, here, mid-Atlantic. The Azores have exploded out of the seas at this T-joint meeting of the Atlantic Ridge and the Terceira Rift. We approach Faial Island from the North. Where it gained a kilometer of land during a year-long eruption in 1957. As we approach these bluish cut-out conical mountains they grow Ireland-green. The hillsides are terraced, divided into a crazy-quilt of small pastures. Villages of shining white houses, red-tiled roofs appear. The image: neat, tidy, industrious. Welcome to Portugal! We're back in Europe.

We round this NW corner and head for Horta. This is the sailor pit-stop in the Atlantic. The pavement is not gold, but it, and all the seawalls, are covered in paintings. No boat would think of leaving the harbor without painting its name, insignia, a more or less artistic rendition of the boat, on the wall. Bad luck follows the boat that defies this tradition. And sailors are a superstitious lot.
At 17:30 we sail behind the long seawall, drop the main and tie up to the immigration dock. 22 days at sea are over and terra firma is at our feet.

The officials are helpful and cheerful. In a jiffy we're assigned our place, 34 on B-dock. Alongside all our Norwegian sailing friends. "Sedna"s Ragnhild and Svein Hugo, here from 10am today, are the welcoming committee.
Barely time for a long, hot shower before we're all off for a meal at a nearby café. We're 11 hungry Norwegians, all new arrivals today. "Noravind", with their two school-age kiddies and "Vanvara" with their recovering sea-sick Dane, have just arrived from Flores, further north.
"Skoal!" We did it, crossed an ocean.

Again!

(For sailors only: 115n.miles logged, 2667n.miles, totally)