The Sandwich Islands

In 1852 my Grand Grand Father, from my Mother side arrived in what was then once called the Sandwich islands and stayed there for around 45 years.

To get there he caught a whale boat during the night in the sea channel between the islands of São Jorge and Pico, located in Azores.

I am hearing his story since I was very young and one of the things that always fascinated me was the fact that on the other side of the world there were islands called the Sandwich. How?