Connecting the Dots

07/09/2024

Bestselling Portuguese-American author Katherine Vaz is coming to the New Bedford Whaling Museum Sept. 19 to discuss her latest novel 'Above the Salt.'

02/09/2024

Here you can see and hear the Portuguese National Guard Cavalry band …

25/08/2024

17 de Agosto 2024
Lajes do Pico
Açores

25/08/2024

Bom dia, bom dia...

Hoje foi dia de começar bem cedo ;)
Cordas World Music Festival
Novidades em Setembro ♥️♥️

25/08/2024

Beatriz Azevedo shows her humble pride for being the first woman skipper to win the male sailing regatta in the whaling village of Lajes do Pico. She explains that she used her techniques against the mild northeasterly winds to win. But she humbly admits that, though she was always in the thick of the battle for first, her biggest adversary was the ever changing winds in the heart of the Silveira Bay as she headed for the finish line. That is a summery of what she said in Portuguese and not a literal translation.

25/08/2024

Saturday, 24 of August, Beatriz Azevedo became the first woman skipper to win the male sailing regatta of the Nossa Senhora de Lourdes, organized by the Clube Nautico das Lajes do Pico.
The 26-year-old, Bea, as she is widely known locally, valiantly competed for the lead in the first leg against the wind, trading places several times with the closest challenger, also from Clube Nautico das Lajes do Pico. But in the final stretch, Bea, a first time competitor in this regatta, was able to out manoeuvre four of her closest competitors to become the first ever women skipper to win this regatta. Though her crew has only been together for three years, and since the regatta was canceled in the last two years due to weather conditions, this was the first time they raced here.
Filipe Fernandes, the skipper with whom she battled for most of the regatta, ended up finishing fourth, but still taking the Pico island championship for the second straight year. But if a Pico boat had finished second instead of Capelinhos from Faial island, Bea and her crews would have been the Pico island champions.
Bea was obviously delighted with the win and it shows in the pictures and the video interview. But she modestly said that she used her technique as best she could against the northeasterly winds that were quite misleading in the heart of the Silveira bay, as it changed directions without warning and made it very difficult to deal with.
In all, 26 boats fought for the title the boat Maria Celeste won. But it was a hard fought battle the entire course, with Maria Armanda and it changing places several times.

24/08/2024

Chefe Telmo from Uma Casa restaurant in San Francisco, California enjoys cooking at Iguarias Bagaço in Lajes do Pico during the whalers’ week in the village.

24/08/2024

“It has a lot of twists and turns and is tied in with the Portuguese and Cape Verdean cultures,” said first-time author Paul Rooney.

24/08/2024

24/08/2024

1-13 OUT 2024
Madalena - Pico
Cordas World Music Festival
www.festivalcordas.com

24/08/2024

Descendants of Whaling Masters will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special event weekend titled, 'A Whale of a Weekend.'

24/08/2024

Has it really been 20 years?
Who remembers when my hair was dark black?

24/08/2024

24/08/2024

On this sunny 24 of August, it is almost like the whalers of old heading out to hunt.
Though the industry ceased to exist in 1986 here in the Azores, some of those old techniques are still being used today in the whale watching tourist industry. Espaço Talassa, which was established soon after, is the pioneering company in this conversion from hunting whales for their meat and ivory to providing people the opportunity to watch these huge sea mammals frolic in the Atlantic waters along side the tourist vessels.
And it is on this day that a whalers’ legend is celebrated with a variety of activities, religious and non religious, lots a food and beverages, music and more. In this case, it’s a short trip from the harbour to the southeastern end of the Vila that’s profoundly religious to many who live in this small whaling Vila.
The legend is of course hearsay, but it’s a sacred characteristic of faith for many in Lajes do Pico. So it is said that many years ago whalers returning from the hunt in the middle of a storm build up were unable to reach shore due to huge violent waves at the mouth of the harbour. As they struggle against the blistering waves, people on shore went got the statue of Nossa Senhora de Lourdes. They carried it to edge of the southeastern shore of the village and prayed. Soon the waves offered a slight calm that enabled the whalers to come across them and reach land safely.
The pictures show a little bit of the religious ritual recreating that fateful entrance of the whalers of old. On this day about 20 vessels, including old whaling boats and their mother boat, along with local fishing and recreational boats fallowed the statue of Nossa Senhora de Lourdes out to sea and back to the port and to the church where it is housed in the center of Lajes.