Let us situate the Azores. They are in the northwest of the island of Madeira, the nearest land. The Canaries (Spain) are located a little further than Madeira, to their southwest. But we must above all situate this string of Portuguese islands - it has been an autonomous region of Portugal since 1976, therefore a territory of the European Community - in relation to Lisbon, capital of Portugal and in relation to Newfoundland, you will understand why later in this text. Let us count about 1,500 kilometers to connect Lisbon to the Azores and a thousand more to reach Newfoundland in their North - North West.

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This volcanic archipelago is made up of three groups of islands. The eastern group, to the east, is made up of São Miguel, the largest (750 km2) and Santa-Maria. The central group includes Faial, with the famous port of Horta, Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge and Pico, whose peak, often snow-capped, rises to 2350 meters. Finally, to the west, the western group is made up of the eighth island: Flores and the ninth and smaller: Corvo (17 km2), the wildest. In total, the Azores have a surface area of ​​less than 2,500 km2, a tiny lost point on the map of the North Atlantic.

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This archipelago is in what we call the subtropical zone, that is to say, to put it simply, between us and the tropics, more influenced by the tropics. The climate is pleasant. It is mild there all year round. Never too cold, never too hot. Ideal. Nevertheless, this archipelago which gave its name to the immense anticyclone of the North Atlantic Hemisphere, is famous for its precipitation. Because it is also in the southern part of the trajectory of the trains of depressions which run from the American coasts to the European coasts from November to April. The violent breezes sweeping through these resting volcanoes bring powerful rains.

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These islands were famous centuries ago for the luxuriance of their forests. However, the need to breed cattle and sheep as well as the obligation to cultivate cereals to feed its inhabitants made the forests disappear, the trees of which were also used for shipbuilding. Thanks to the perfect cocktail of mild temperatures and heavy rainfall, the flora is particularly developed there, with a multitude of wild flowers and cultivated flowers which are one of the many attractions of these attractive islands.

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The Portuguese were, it seems, the first to land in the Azores. Historians indeed attribute to a man named Diogo de Silves the discovery of the archipelago in 1427 (15th Century). However, it may be that in the 3rd Century other men reached these islands before them. The mystery remains. In reality, it will take more than twenty years and many crews, still Portuguese, to inventory the nine islands and discover their interest and wealth.

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The Portuguese quickly understood the benefit they could derive from this discovery, while these volcanic territories did not conceal any particular wealth in their soil, except then on its surface large trees highly prized for shipbuilding. In their competition to conquer the world and to find new ways to get supplies of precious products in India in particular and in Asia in general, competition with the Spaniards, first, then the Dutch, the English and the French , then, was harsh. Having this stopover about 800 nautical miles from their continental bases gave the Portuguese crews a major advantage. Which helped them to discover Brazil, for example ( Kids Newsletter n ° 23 ).

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Indeed, the departure from the European coasts was often done in tough conditions, with a strong wind and a difficult sea, while the crews, often made up of scraps of the company who had just come out drunk from the taverns of the port, had difficulty in mariner. This resulted in a number of damages from the start of these interminable journeys. Having ports in which to stop over, repair the breakage, or even change a mast, stitch up the sails, redo a damaged hull part, or simply complete refueling, represented an invaluable asset in this large-scale maritime competition.

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Later, it was also an obligatory point of passage for all the Portuguese tall ships fishing for cod, the main natural resource of the North Atlantic for almost a century, from the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. As long as the sailing navy was not dethroned by steam, the Azores were an asset of choice. The prevailing winds, winds contrary to the progression to connect the banks of Newfoundland, forced the tall ships to first plunge south-west, precisely towards the Azores, then to go up again towards the north-east, towards Earth -New and Labrador. For Portuguese cod fishing vessels, leaving their country and stopping over in the Azores, or even leaving the Azores, then returning directly to Portugal, was the key to their domination of the fishing campaigns on the Grand Bank. So much so that cod - salted cod / dried cod, as it returned to the holds of Terre-Neuviers - has established itself as the emblematic national dish of Portugal ... and Brazil too, as I observed during from my recent stopover in Rio de Janeiro (Kids Newsletter n ° 23).

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When steamboats dethroned sailing ships at the start of the 20th Century, they played with the direction of the wind. They could thus shoot straight across the Atlantic, from continental Europe to Newfoundland, without tacking (tacking) against the wind. The Azores were abandoned, deserted and impoverished.

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On land, when the Azores were discovered, the fauna was hardly significant, with rabbits - perhaps even imported by Portuguese settlers ... - weasels, ferrets and hedgehogs. Not enough to feed many people or to trade in meat. Hence the need to cut down forests to raise cows, sheep and goats, which make it possible to produce the excellent cheeses of these islands.

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It is not the same with the sea. The approaches to the Azores have always been rich in cetaceans and tuna. So much so that whaling was for a long time the first and very profitable activity of the island. Between cod fishing and whaling, the Azores experienced years of prosperity at the end of the 19th Century, which have long since passed. If these activities have disappeared, it is still possible today to embark in Horta on large, very fast inflatable boats to go and observe the whales which pass near the islands.

I made a stopover with Boogaloo in Horta, the port of Faial, at the end of winter 2013-2014. Our car had stayed there wisely for a good month before heading for Monaco when spring came. I really enjoyed this port, this island of Faial and I can't wait to return with my family to show it to my children: Quentin, Malo and Léa.

One of the main activities of Horta is the reception of yachts, sailboats and motor-yachts, which return from the Antilles once the Caribbean season is over, to spend the summer in the Mediterranean. Thus, from March to May, Horta sees numerous crews parade on board some of the most beautiful pleasure craft in the world. In fact, without knowing it of course, the one who initiated this practice is none other than Christopher Columbus, back from his first campaign to explore the Caribbean Sea, crowned with his prestigious discoveries. The only drawback at the time, the famous explorer was sailing under the colors of the Kingdom of Spain. One can easily imagine that he did not receive in Portuguese lands such a warm welcome as that which contributes to the excellent reputation of Horta today ...

All these crews in transit frequent THE most famous bar for Atlantic sailors: Peter Cafe Sport , now run by the friendly José Henrique Azevedo. At 57 years old, José represents the third generation who presides over the destinies of this establishment opened on December 25, 1918 by Henrique Lourenço Ávila Azevedo (1895 - 1975), one of the two sons of Ernesto Lourenço S. Azevedo (1859 - 1931) who had developed a renowned trade in products made using whale bones. Henrique had indeed had the idea of ​​opening this tavern in the building adjoining his father's offices and shops. What a good idea !

It is a small establishment where you sometimes have to wait a long time for a crew to regain its edge before finding a place to sit. Once seated, we avoid getting up, we consume! In particular the good local products on the plate and the glass. You don't have to go to Horta for a slimming cure! The walls and the ceiling are adorned with photos of stopover boats and the flags and handlebars that they have given to the various members of the Azevedo family who have taken it in turns with a smile since the beginning of the last century. Entering Chez Peter is entering the authentic world of seafarers. We are comfortable there, as we were there and as we will be there. A sort of eternal bistro that stands the test of time. A haven of peace where sometimes to heal the misfortunes of very agitated Antilles - Azores crossings. The severe bad weather specific to the depressions at the hinge of winter and spring in the north of the North Atlantic is indeed no gift to sailors.

At Peter's , we drink, we eat there, we tell sea stories. We can count on teammates from other sides for a few stopover romances. We are remaking the world there too. You do not always come out walking very straight, probably because of the strong low pressure gusts that so often sweep the port of Horta and its docks ... The life of a seafarer on land, what. And it is a tradition that each boat in stopover leaves on the quay a square of paving stones painted by the members of its crew according to their inspiration, signed with the name of the ship. You can find everything on the quay and sometimes beautiful works that bad weather inexorably erase, leaving the pavement to the inspiration of other passing sailors. So goes life in Horta.

To close this episode about the Azores archipelago, let Albert 1st, Prince of Monaco, feast us on his celebration of the natural assets of these islands that appeared out of nowhere, as he described them on the occasion of the last one. Voyage of the Hirondelle I , during the summer of 1888. I quote Him about Faial where the port of Horta is located (1): " … these Azorean islands sometimes rounded under the pressure of a volcano, sometimes torn apart in the explosion of a crater, abrupt on their edges, crowned with greenery even beyond the clouds; everywhere imbued with a grandeur that the Ocean gave them to hover over the domain of its storms.

Their mountains are eloquent with the harshness of lava cooled in the midst of scorched spaces; with the silent craters in a slumber still disturbed by deep shocks under the green mantle with which the tropical nature seems to have covered them to control their last efforts.

In the midst of splendors caressed by the blue shimmer of the sea, in the circle of an ever wider horizon as one reaches higher, the heart of man expands under the impression, vaguely marked with sadness and joy, which always gives contact with the infinite. "

And The Navigator Prince evokes the highest point of the archipelago (2): " Pico, the great summit of the neighboring island, the dead volcano, whose head whitens under the snow and dominates with the serenity of a silence eternal two hundred miles from the ocean; Pico, somber and majestic under a dress of purple and red tones, whose sharp profiles first descend straight, then stretch out for a long time to the sea; Pico, the extinguished torch of the archipelago, raises its vigorous lines beyond the strait.

The sea struggles, not without difficulty, for grandeur with the giant whose waters, moire by currents bathe the belt, just below the villages which stretch out in long ribbons to mark the domain of men.

Higher than these houses, the dark green of a wild vegetation precedes the desert of the high regions which the fire of the earth once disputed with the clouds. Finally, and as if to affirm human daring in the face of forces capable of shaking the world, a ship appears and anchors quietly in the harbor, during its struggles across the Atlantic. "

This superb text by Albert 1st, Prince of Monaco would make a nice dictation for the use of your masters and mistresses, what do you say?

(1) In "The career of a navigator" - Albert 1st Prince of Monaco - Edition of 1966 - Editions of the Archives of the Prince's Palace - Page 135

(2) In "The career of a navigator" - Pages 136-137

* I wrote this newsletter on Saturday May 13th. It was prepared on Sunday, then published on the association's website ( www.oceanoscientific.org ) and sent to subscribers on Monday, May 15 in the morning.