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Beautiful islands on the horizon
20:34 p.m. EDT Oct 19, 2003
Two days worth of dispatches from the Imigrante:
Saturday:
17'th day of sailing, with some better winds last night but taking me straight to the North. By this morning, things were quite slow again. The motor stopped. The filters needed to be changed. I did that and the motor started up again. Boy I am getting excited about starting to see land, oh the Azores with their crystal clean air! The Island of Saint Jorge, with its pastures and cattle grazing the high cliffs. The springs of water running down to the sea, and the small villages, called fajaes, what a paradise...
If you are looking for silence and peace of mind, then you should go to the village where my nephew just finished making a beautiful summer house:
They make the door entrances and all the windows out off hundreds of year old, cut rock from older homes. It is beautiful, all cemented together - my nephews house is at the end of a windy road right in the village. I would love to spend a winter there watching all the elements around me, the rain, the wind, and the raging seas, braking along the coast. If you are a couple that would love to spend a winter in conditions like that, I would highly recommend this place.
As you drive along the island the grass grows right to the black top. It looks very green and tender, and they have a special way to cut the grass too: On the road side and in some places, they actually cut statues into the bushes. I like the Azores for the simple things, the beauty of the nature and the peacefull people. I bet you could walk around with a hundred dollar bill sticking out of your pocket, and nothing would happen!
Sunday:
All is well on Imigrante, in this cloudy day of sailing. The winds more to the North West, doing about 5 Knots at this time, and I am 560 Miles from Calheta, Sao Jorge, in the Azores. Truly there is not much to say, I am just motoring along. Sounds like the the hurricane below me have some high winds, and like its going to track maybe a little more to the North. I hope it stays away from this area.
Well today, just about one hour ago, I had a phone patch, made to KLBS. It was great to talk on the air to every one in the valley! Thank you KLBS, and also to Fred, W3ZU, the Ham Radio Operator! We spoke for quite a while. Fred used to be a sailor for a long time so we understand each other well. Thank you so very much all!
Vessel Speed, 5 Knots
Wind Speed, 15 Knots NE
Swell, 4 Ft
Cloud Cover, 15%
Verometor, 10:23 up 5
Air Temp, 69F/20C
24 Hour Run 112 NM
Distance to Calheta, Sao Jorge 375NM
Odometer 26,857 NM
All is well, on Imigrante,
Joe and Fiel the Great Cat.
Note: A mail reached us from Saldanha (33šS 18šE) in South Africa. Apparently Imigrantes position link doesn't work.
Try http://www.CoastalBrothers.com/imig_i9.htm for his daily log says the mail, as well as a link to a map showing his current position including the positions when he left the Azores 18 November 2002.
Thank you Saldanha!
Joe Fontes was born in the Atlantic ocean. Now he is returning home on his 34-foot sail boat, the Imigrante. The 52-year-old resident of Hilmar was born in the Azores, a group of islands that lies over 1,000 miles west of Portugal.
He immigrated to USA with his family when he was 10. As he landed on the American shores, he earned his living as a tuna boat fisherman off the coast of San Diego. Fontes has never given up the sea, nor his dream of one day sailing into port in the Azores. Joe Fontes took off from Half Moon Bay in June of 2000 and headed west for the Hawaiian Islands.
He has since sailed to Papua New Guinea, Torres Straits, the Timor Sea, the Indian Ocean, South Africa around the Cape of Good Hope, into the Atlantic Ocean and then cut west across the Atlantic to Brazil, a detour needed to avoid a dead area of wind and sea in the Atlantic near Africa. Northeast to Cape Verde he has now turned north for a 1,700-mile run up to the Azores and home.
Image of Sao Jorge courtesy of www.azorers.dk
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