Log Entry: June 16
        
         After we got in touch with some services to check out our Auto Helm, sails and
        to set up our electric system for Europe, we toured the island of Faial (the Blue
        Island) with our rented jeep. I was able to find a sunny day and painted our logo
        on the wall of Horta. (Tradition has it that if you do not paint your sailboat on the
        wall, you will have bad luck!  We were also told we HAD TO HAVE A DRINK
        AT PETER'S CAFE SPORT OR ELSE.  We had no problem with that!!!) That was
        the last day we saw the sun until we left the island for Graciosa (the White Island).
         On June 11th, we took a ferry to the island of Pico which has the highest point
        of all the nine islands and Portugal of 7,356 feet. (The tours that I will be
        discussing have been arranged by the ARC organization for a small charge per
        person) Here we had a tour and visited a cheese factory, wine factory and a whaling
        museum.  We then stopped in Madalena for a traditional Azorian meal.  We were
        stuffed, but we went out to dinner later anyway.  (I have not cooked a meal since
        we made landfall!!)
         On June 12th, we didn't go on the tour of Faial since we had already had our
        own tour.  We did last minute errands and went to our daily HAPPY HOUR for
        our briefing and out to dinner in a country house in the middle of the island. At the
        end of the evening, people were dancing and Cathy from Gitana and I did the
        Charleston!!!
         On June 13th, we sailed from Faial to Graciosa which is about 50 miles. We
        were first to the harbor, but Rudy didn't tell anybody else that we were racing.
         The day started as a cold front went through that caused a slight delay in our
        leaving. At 8:00am we pushed away from our raft of 5 boats to the sea wall. It was
        a significant effort to and from Boundless. With everything sea ready again,  we
        were off in the rain and mist. It wasn't long before the front passed and we had a
        wonderful sail. It was one of the best days we have had. We had 15 kts on our
        beam all the way and  6-9kts of boat speed in a relatively dry/flat environment. We
        did our customs thing, tried out the local bakery and got ready for dinner. A bus
        picked us up at the dock and took us to a small restaurant in Santa Cruz.  
         The following morning, we had a tour around the island.  Some of the sights we
        saw included the volcanic crater on the island's interior and saw the hidden crater
        lake (over 182 steps, but who's counting), hot baths at Guadeloupe, beautiful
        volcanic rock formations and a bakery. Also, we saw a very huge rock formation
        that looked like a huge whale!
         On the 15th, we departed for the island of Sao Jorge and again we were first to
        the harbor and again we didn't tell anyone we were racing!!! The day was beautiful
        with almost no wind so it was mostly a motor sail but it was nice to have the
        weather.  That afternoon we toured the island and stopped along the way for
        picture taking and enjoy the pastries and coffee of the island.
         On our way to our boats after dinner, we heard the singing of the birds.  In fact,
        all night we heard them.  It was very unusual and pleasant all at the same time.
         The 16th found us on the boat going 137 NM to Sao Miguel.  We will arrive
        early tomorrow morning and take another tour. We left the harbor with the wind
        on our nose with 15 to 20 kts across the deck. We were motoring again. It wasn't
        long though before we lost the influence of the islands and the wind moved to our
        beam. We were in for another great day of sailing. We did 8-9kts almost all day!
        We saw a few dolphins but not much else. It is really wonderful when everything
        works! 
         Footnote:  Our Auto Helm now works.  It seems when we were hit by the green
        water on our trip to Bermuda, water got into the remote plug that was in the
        cockpit.  When that was disconnected, the Auto Helm came to life.  Thank
        goodness it was that simple!!