Faial

We sailed overnight from Flores to Faial and anchored inside the port of Horta. There is limited anchorage space but the docks were all full.

Some of us stayed on the boat and others at the Pousada Forte da Horta hotel. The hotel is right by the docks and built into an old fort. It has a small and chilly pool but fantastic food, especially the breakfast buffet. Ask for a room facing the harbor with a balcony.

We had rented a car, which is essential to getting around these larger islands. Horta itself though is super walkable. In particular it's just 10 minutes to the lovely Porto Pim area. It has lots of tiny houses in it and a beautiful bay that the locals swim in. Highly recommend walking there at different times of the day.

We ate a lot of local food. For dinner make sure to get reservations as a lot of places book out. A lovely lunch spot in Porto Pim is Taberna de Pim, which has outdoor tables that overlook the bay (and killer desserts). Of course as sailors we also ate at the storied Cafe Peter.

The indoors are worth seeing for all the burgees but the ventilation was broken and so we ultimately chose to sit outside with views of the harbor. For dinner our favorite was Atletico, which has beautiful outdoor seating under trees. Of course with Azorean weather that can be very hit or miss. On our last night we ate local sushi at the wonderful Mar Sushi Internacional.

A great place to visit on Faial is Capelinhos, the site of a 13 month long eruption in 1957/58. Amazingly the light house near the site was spared and sits today as a well preserved ruin amid an otherwise Martian landscape. There is a museum, which unfortunately closed just as we arrived.

As is customary for sailboats that have voyaged to Horta, we left a painting on the wall surrounding the harbor. There are many amazing paintings there and it is well worth an hour or more to walk around and see them.