The tranquil little port of Horta has long played host to transatlantic yachtsmen. It stands on pretty Faial island, one of the nine emerald-green Azores - discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century, and whose volcanic origins have created a beautiful and unspoilt environment of craters, lakes, sheer cliffs and lush valleys, to which man has seemingly added only picturesque whitewashed houses and stately little baroque churches!