It’s an open-air museum of sorts that’s considered to be the largest maritime painting collection in the world—and there’s no entry fee to access it. Just stroll and explore. For sailors arriving in the Azores on their way across the Atlantic, Horta is usually the primary stop. And painting a mural in the town’s marina is a rite of passage as much as a superstitious ritual that’s now intrinsically tied into the fabric of this tiny place that’s the westernmost point of the European tectonic plate and a haven for yachties from all over the world. For the captains and crews of everything from majestic triple-masted expedition yachts to fiberglass monohulls that barely sleep more than two crew, Horta beckons for a break from staid galley rations (one can only eat so many lentils and beans, after all) and the long Transatlantic crossing between the islands of the Caribbean and mainland Europe, among other waypoints.
27
Powered by FlippingBook