JOURNEYS
THE AZORES: An adventure through the freshest islands in the Atlantic BY TIM JOHNSON
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STRING OF VOLCANIC ISLANDS sitting in the middle of the Atlantic, this archipelago – pounded by waves, girded by forbidding cliffs, all of it often shrouded in mist – was long a critical way station for explorers seeking the New World, including, most famously, Christopher Columbus, who stopped by a couple of times. But those who settled here, who came here for the long haul to build a life, mostly fell into two categories: farmers, and fishermen. And today? I’m the latter.
Rolling out from Angra do Heroismo on the Big White, the clouds above darkening by the minute, the winds blustering to a stiff 15 knots, I ready my line, hoping for a big catch. Reaching the northwest corner of the tiny island of Terceira, a place exposed to the elements and known for rough weather, I brace myself against the white hull of the boat, casting out into rocky waters, under a watery sun. Given my past experience with a rod and reel, I’m not hopeful, having had little joy (or luck) in the past.
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