Day #1 - Faial

06:45 - Lisbon Airport, five of us join up, and leave for Faial Island. We will meet Ryan (Ribs) there, flying in from the USA.

Our Commander, Mareco, forgot his wallet on the plane, and after a few minutes of panic, he got it back - talk about getting started with a scare.

We were greeted by Nicolau from AzoresSail, who gave us a lift to Horta, and as we waited for the boat to be ready, went in Peter's for G&T's and some local cheese and ham.

It was a glorious sunny day, but forecasts were grim - too much wind, so we just took the opportunity to grab hold of or boat, Insula, and give it a try for two hours, going near Madalena (Pico Island), and back into the harbour. Kaki has found his new hobby: feeding fish mouth-to-mouth.

Now, Insula is a great ship: 3 cabins, a nice room and upper deck. It’s a 12m ship, that can easily do +6 knots with its sails up, and equipped with a upgraded 40hp engine, to outmanoeuvre the treacherous Azorean currents.

After our sailing practice, we went for dinner at a local restaurant and toured the port, going early to bed, as we wanted to leave at first light - albeit there was a party in a ship in front of us. 

I cannot avoid the thought that our group comes from such different places and backgrounds, whose stories cross each other in various contexts, and, in the end, this six guys just converged to a small volcanic archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic to spend some time together, revive old memories and create new ones.