The archipelago of the Azores is situated two thousand miles from the USA and about nine hundred miles from Europe, precisely on the transatlantic sailing route. For this reason, it offers a great option for sailors in need of a break after a two-week journey. The Azores belong to Portugal – a memory of the times when Portugal ruled on seas and oceans. One must say thought that from the Azorean perspective the country still seems to have something of its power.

The Azores are spread over a great distance. Six hundred miles separate Corvo, the north-westernmost island, from Santa Maria in the south east. The whole archipelago is composed of nine volcanic islands, the most visited of which are Faial with its harbour in Horta and Sao Miguel with the capital Ponta Delgada. However, each and every one of the islands has a good harbour. It takes two to three weeks to visit all the islands. Few sailors headed to Europe across the Atlantic have this much time to spare, hence the popularity of Horta and Ponta Delgada.

Horta is the first major sailing center on you way if you come from the west. You can carry out any necessary repairs, stock up on the essentials, exchange your crew (Horta has a direct air connection with Lisbon). It is a local tradition to have a drink in the world-famous tavern “Café Sport”.

Ponta Delgada is situated a hundred and eighty miles east of Horta. It offers similar options; it too has an air connection to Lisbon. The town itself looks like a real metropolis: it has up-market shops, sky-scrapers and shopping malls, as well as a beautiful botanical garden in the northern part of the town. No traces remain of the disaster of five years ago, when torrential rains washed masses of mud off the volcano, crushing thirty percent of the town’s buildings.

The Azores have a wonderfully gentle climate due to their proximity to the Gulfstream. The temperatures average 27°C in the summer and 21°C in the winter, and the day/night difference is just a few degrees. The prices in shops are a bit lower than in Poland, in restaurants – very similar. It costs about 15 euros per day to rent a small car (no kilometer limit; then again, the road network is rather limited). On Faial you can drive all the way up to the volcano.

Visitors for non-EU countries must go through check-in and check-out in every harbour. The Portuguese clerks, contrary to the stereotype of Southerners, deal with the paperwork in a smooth efficient manner, and if you arrive at night, you will be allowed to disembark immediately and only clear customs and immigration the next morning.

Sailing between the islands you will constantly see dolphins, whales and huge sea turtles, as well as a great number of ships and boats. It is advisable to get out of their way – they tend to be loaded full and traveling at high speed, which makes it difficult for them to maneuver quickly. Especially the entrance to Ponta Delgada, the main commercial harbour of the archipelago, is full of them.