36mmthick

Our next stop was Agra Herosimo inTerceria, the most easterly island ofthe main group. In contrast with Hortathe marina here is very small but iscurrently under construction toimprove and enlarge it. The Hills wereimpressed by the maneuvering abilityof the 56 as we edged side to, into atiny space, between a large Cat and astern to monohull. Berthing in theAzores is very reasonable and evencheaper as we were given a 20%discount in lieu of the absence ofpower and water on our pontoon.given time there is a concert, aparade or the bulls are runningthrough the streets. We watched thewell attended St Jean BaptisteParade in a tiny village in the hillsabove Horta and tried some deliciouslocal home baked foods and nuts.A short distance to the east of Faialis Pico, the next island we visitedwhere we found ourselvessurrounded by Canadians. Wediscovered that our very informativeand entertaining cab driver had livedin Toronto for over 20 years andhappily collected his CanadianGovernment pension to augment hisincome. Another ex Canadian heardthere was a yacht from Vancouver,Canada anchored in MadalenaHarbor and waited patiently on thedock for a whole day for us toreturn. After introductions he askedus if we knew the owner of thecompany he used to work for inVancouver. We hated to disappointhim. Finally, the young lady whotopped up my cell phone was fromWinnipeg!Pico is a truly beautiful island and hasplenty to offer visitors. There is amagnificent mountain, which sports acloud halo at the top, or sometimeshalfway down, with the summit inclear view. All kinds of wonderful fruitand vegetables grow on the islandwith a particular abundance of figs.Although disease swept throughPico’s vineyards several years agonew vines have since been planted.The locals used volcanic rock clearedfrom the terrain to painstakinglyconstruct small squares about 1-meter high and 4/5 meters squarewhich they tend on a kind of cooperative/individualownership basis.The heat from the sun is absorbed bythe black rocks, and reflected backonto the grapes. The result is a largevery sugary grape that forms thebase of the new emerging wineindustry on Pico.We visited a very old brandy distillery,still in occasional use and tasted localliquor made from a peppermint plant.For whale-lovers there is an oldwhaling station that has beenconverted into a museum. The oldboilers and whale packing equipmentis still there as well as small originalwhaling boats used by the localwhalers and lots of other whalingparaphernalia.We were delighted with our eveningentertainment in Angra Herosimo. Itstarted with a horseback paradethrough the streets of the island’scapital, featuring dozens of riders ofall ages wearing colorful periodcostumes of soldiers and matadorscarrying flaming torches. The horseswere incredibly disciplined and welltrained, as the footing on the unevencobblestone streets was difficult withtheir steel shoes.On overhearing our conversation awaiter in one of the very goodrestaurants we ate in went throughgreat pains to explain to us thatunlike the Spanish, they did not killthe bulls that ran in the streets. Wediscovered that loose bulls wouldsoon be charging the streets.Intrigued, Brian and I decided tocheck it out personally.The Running of the Bulls took place ina large square that had several streetsleading from it. Houses and storesalong the streets were barricaded withplywood to prevent the bulls frombreaking inside and destroying theircontents. The end of each street hada chalk mark across it marking thesafe area, which was taken up bystreet vendors selling everything fromlocal food and beer to ice cream to thehundreds of spectators.42 www.oystermarine.com