Leaving Cascais

Cascais - Mohammedia, 319 miles


Friday 9th November

I didn't get a chance to make a proper post to go with the photos of Lisbon. We loved it. A fabulous city, beautiful architecture, cobbled streets, great open squares, museums, eateries, shops and a very friendly atmosphere. If you have a day to spare when moored at Cascais, go. It's 20 minutes by train, and they run every 30 minutes.

A note about motoring. On the trip so far, we've motored a lot. It's clearly possible to sail against the wind, but beating into the 25 knots or so we have encountered, added to the 3-4m swells, would have tired the crew. On other days, with 5 knots of wind, we could have sailed at 2 knots, but often switched on the iron sail and racked up the miles.

The ultimate question is time. With hopefully consistent winds crossing the Atlantic, it should be more predictable. Between the UK and the Canaries, though, how much time can you afford to lose with headwinds and no wind before switching on the power?

We left Cascais Marina at 09:30. John and Ross had tried to 'skype' the marina in Las Palmas to book a berth. With over 250 yachts expected to be there, ready for the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) which leaves in two weeks, our chances looked slim. We may need a fallback plan.

Morrocco in the meantime. Mohamedia marina, and the promise of a train trip to Marrakesh. I'd nearly been there in the mid 1980's, with a very good mate, Pete Jones, but the Uk and US bombed Libya, so we thought better of it. Fingers crossed this time.

A lovely beam reach to start the day. A securite message on the vhf alerted us to some live firing by the Portuguese Navy directly ahead. I suggested to John that we engage them. I reckon we could have taken them with a couple of volleys of rotten vegetables (there is a VERY dodgy tomato in the veg netting), or maybe lay them low by stealth - send them over some of Louise's cooking).

John was right though. What would we do with a Portuguese warship and 200 prisoners?

Ross has been in the galley for two hours now. I'm expecting a masterpiece. He likes garlic. He's gone easy this time though, just 6 cloves. Just passed a 'J' class yacht. Probably Antigua bound. Took some photos.

(Louise) I was on watch this morning from 2-4am. The sky was stunning an absolute mass of stars. We were motoring along with next to no wind, the sea inky blue with barely a ripple. I had to alter course to avoid a fishing boat so I sat in the cockpit making sure we were clear of him. Suddenly there was the familiar sleak grey body and dark fin of a dolphin diving alongside me. I stood up for a better look (obviously with my life jacket and safety harness clipped on).

I began to see the splashes of other dolphins as  they joined in the fun. At night you get whats called phosphorescence, its an algae that becomes luminous so as a wave breaks it looks like flashes of light. As the dolphins jumped their bodies caused this effect and it was amazing. As I looked out from the cockpit I could see silver streaks coming towards the boat from all directions, the ghostly trails of a pod of dolphins coming over to play. By this time I had to cover my mouth to stop myself squeeling, I was like a child at Christmas. The sea was alight with silver streaks, splashes, fins and I could even make out some of their high pitched calling. At one point three dolphins weaved along in a flashing slver trail right next to me, when they jumped I could have touched them.

Should I wake the others? Would I get a grumpy response of "i've seen dolphins before!" I stayed quiet, thinking they'd probably disappear soon anyway. 45 minutes later I was still enjoying the best light show of my life. A truly unforgetable, magical experience.

La Coruna to Cascais

Sunday 4th November
The forecast for Saturday was still for strong Westerlies. One of the problems, I now realise, in not rounding the corner at the Northwest point of Spain, was that it then becomes difficult with any wind with much West in it. We finally got away around 07:30 on Sunday.

John settled the bill at the marina office, but there seemed to be a query over a bill for laundry use. We wheeled out our big guns and sent Louise and Susie up to talk to the young lad in the office. I feared for him, but saw him later, so he was still alive.

We motored into big swells, Chelone slamming into the waves. As we turned the corner by degree, the wind backed and stayed on the nose, so we kept on motoring.

Louise said cheerio to her breakfast, ironically a bowl of Cheerios. A sacrifice to Neptune. Ross and I stayed on watch as the others slept and we approached Cape Finisterre. Within 5 minutes, the wind increased from 17 knots to 29 knots, gusting over 30 as a rain squall hit.

John cooked pasta and Susie served it with pesto and cheese. John then decided that we'd pull into a marina at Muras(Muxia) around 13 miles SE Cape Finisterre. I'd rather have kept going, but by 23:30, We were tied up and had a good night's sleep. I can't comment on the facilities, but there was plenty of depth, shelter and room.

83 miles

We left the marina at 10:45 and resumed our journey. Louise spotted her second sunfish, Susie made lunch and I cooked a vegetable curry and left it to marinade until evening. The sea was now slight, the winds light, and veering around to the North. Bright sunshine filled Chelone as we eased Southwards, the sounds of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours playing, as I enjoyed Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition, imagining myself one of Kon Tiki's crew as they crossed their own ocean 70 odd years ago. I'd probably struggle with the sun bleached hair, bronzed skin and athletic physique of the Norwegians, but I might yet manage the beard.....

Tuesday 6th November
The curry went down well. Mild for myself, John and Susie, hot for Louise and Ross. Not enough salt for Susie and John, plenty for the other three. It averaged out well.

Watches at night start around 20:00 hrs and run until 10:00 the next morning. John, Louise, Ross and myself take 2 hours on, 6 hours off. 2 watches a night, one watch a night every forth night. In terms of shipping, there's far less off Portugal than Biscay, though perhaps more fishing boats. They appear and dissapear on the AIS screen, usually trawling at 3.5 knots. John says they sometimes switch off their AIS to hide the best spots from competitors.

The cargo ships usually steam at around 10-12 knots to Chelone's 5-7 knots. By comparison, Oceana was travelling at 20. A closing speed of around 27 knots would see a 5 mile gap covered in around 11 minutes, so good watchkeeping is essential.

As we sail Southwards down the Portuguese coast, the water gets ever bluer. The thermal clothes have gone - it's t-shirts during the day and fleeces at night. John has a fishing line out, and the three crew on deck eye each other nervously at each brief clicking of the reel. Shaw, Dreyfuss and Schneider-like, Ross and I hear comments such as 'we're gonna need a bigger boat'.

My money is on cup a soup for lunch, rather than seared tuna steaks.......


Wednesday 7th November

We didn't have cup a soup, but we didn't have tuna either. The fishing reel remained eerily silent as John set up the monitor wind vane. He fiddled with it for an hour or so and then, when satisfied, explained its use to Louise, Ross and Myself. It guided us dutifully down the Portuguese coast until after sunset. Susie cooked steaks for the meat eaters and Louise did some lovely fajitas for the two of us.

The watches past without drama until some strong winds, up to 38 knots, caught John around 4am. Louise and I got up and between the three of us we dropped the main and moored Chelone alongside the marina office around 05:00.

After a couple of hours sleep, we split into groups and wandered off. A miserable grey drizzle came and went. Louise and I had some fresh bread, local olives, goat's and sheep's cheese, plum tomatoes, onions and olive oil. Simple Mediterranean fayre that I never tire of.

Marina Cascais was E21 per night for Chelone. Good showers, a mini market open until 18:00, and numerous shops and bars within 2-3 minutes of the pontoons. Wifi was, and there is a pattern emerging here, patchy.

The town is delightful. Cobblestoned streets, fortifications, palm trees, many small shops selling all sorts of things, including cork based goods. It fronts onto a small sandy beach with dozens of moorings, each holding a tiny lobster fishing boat. A beautiful place..

249 miles