Go to a good Azores link!

In July of 1998 I travelled to the Azores to spend a week on Corban, Captain Dan Harper's 42 foot Swan. I was fortunate to travel with friends Beverley and Ralph Rodriguez, as well as my brother Steve. We explored the middle group of the Azores, including Faial, Pico, Graciosa, and finally Terceira. We skipped San Jorge to save time, as we only had a week. As always, it was a great advantage to be lead on this adventure by the capable and expert sailor and Captain of Corban, Dan Harper.

These were some of the most friendly and warm people we have met, with the possible exception of Nova Scotians.

In Faial we climbed down into the Caldeira on Faial and also visited the area of Capelinhos, an almost lunar landscape created by the eruption of a volcano in 1957.

On Pico, we enjoyed the vineyards and a winery where we acquired some very nice wines to enjoy for the remainder of our short trip.

Highlights of Graciosa included eating raw barnacles and roasted goat, two delicacies introduced to us by Joao Linares and his friends at his favorite local restaurant. Joao is a taxi driver who took it upon himself to make sure we enjoyed the island of Graciosa, my favorite of the islands we visited. We also visited a large volcanic cavern with an underground lake in Graciosa.