22-27 Oct at Lanzarote

Early Sunday morning, Chris Chadwick abandoned ship at Puerto Calero for his flight home. Well that was his plan...but he got the time wrong....his flight was in the evening. He returned shortly with a hire car and took charge of a full island tour. Amazing volcanic landscape. Everything built of black lava. Strange moonscapes and huge cacti. Tourist camel trains on the hills in the sunset. Here and there a sprinkle of not very pretty mini-Benidorms. Interesting place but a pretty stark and harsh landscape. Having sated ourselves on the fleshpots of Calero time to move on. Great sail yesterday tacking upwind at 7kts on a flat sparkling sea down the coast to Marina Rubicon where we now lie awaiting the next crew change. Sean flies out tomorrow and my sister Min arrives from Dublin on Monday. Next leg then starts to Fuertaventura en route to Gran Canaria.   Weather here quite warm (25 ish) but a bit changeable. Afternoon showers are common and each volcano wears a little hat of rain cloud. Boat OK apart from the odd sail seam and a slight propshaft rumble.
Went to boatyard yesterday to see what they would charge for a travelhoist lift out to check prop and bottom etc. 185 plus tax for 2 hours, or 285 for overnight. So I won't be doing that then!
Alas I have no new outlandish salty dits to tell, and I've now got a diabolical cold and cough. Probably caused by lack of Guinness. Must try and find some but difficult in this heavily lagerised region.

18th - 22nd Oct. Mainland Europe to Islas Canarias

Hello there to be sure to be sure to be sure.
Departed Lagos, S Portugal, on Tuesday 18th for the 600 odd mile crossing to Lanzarote. After saying goodbye to the luvverly Gill, who took tran for Faro, the crew now consisted of ace wafoo pilot Chris Chadwick, Dublin ARGE (all round good egg) engineer Sean O Toole,  and meself.
Boring first day of many hours motoring followed by 4 or 5 days of fast downwind and rolly sailing. Single reefed preventered main and poled out 4 rolled genoa goose-wung all the way. Longest downwind run since the old king died don't you know. Rolling like buggery with the old Nelsonian bucket close at hand in case the gills went a bit grey, Plenty of 7 and 8 knot watches. All hands practised at being Ebco plastic sun spanner mechanics, but kissing the lower limb on the storm tossed main is a fine art and few of us managed a cocked hat of less than the size of argentina. Good job we had some of these new fangled GP-whatsits on board.
Although I say so myself, the food on this leg was jolly excellent. Each watch trying to outdo each other,,,,why we even had creme brulee and coq au vin for breakfast. Actually that was leftovers, but very nice all the same.
NO denizens of the deep or Cetacians of any sort. Not even any birds. Very sad. Caught one horse macarel, which was instantly devoured by the crew, so I had to wait a few hours before I could grill it.
Dawn on day 5 brought us the dramatic peaks of Lanzarote (I havent told you about Dawn yet. Nice girl. We keep her in the forepeak as a sort of sailor's comforter).
Wind dropped to zilch on last day, Saturday, so we motor along the E Coast of Lanza dropping in on Arecife and other places for a look-see on our way Sarf. Stupidly I've got very little in the way of charts for this neck of the woods, so I drew some pictures of imaginary islands in my school notebook instead and we use those. I've corrected them for GPS use so they should be OK. The heavens opened on us for most of the afternoon. First rain since leaving Brest in early Sep. Warm and wet.
Amazingly, just as the soft mantle of darkness settled on our weary shoulders we slipped into the rather upmarked Riviera-like marina of Puerto Calero. Here, even the binman wears Armani.
Anyway must sign orft as Chris has to get up early to catch his plane home. Busy 4 day maintainance period about to start. Loads of defects and boat not ready for Captings rounds at all at all.
ps,There is a brand new 160 ft Royal Huismann Ketch here in this harbour.........rumour has it that 100 mill of mulah was needed for her purloination. Very beautiful, but can they do porridge, rescue a stricken spithead pheasant, and wield a can spanner like we can? I sink not.
More later.

pps very sorry about disjointed nature of blog but its been difficult to find places where i can post. Also speeds etc have been too slow for photos. Will try to get some photos on ASAP while in this here marina.

Wednesday 12 Oct – Lisbon to Sesimbra and Thursday 13 Oct – Sesimbra to Sines – the day of the sooty shearwater

Wednesday 12 Oct – Lisbon to Sesimbra

Call the Hands at 0645 and away under Alcantara basin swing bridge by 0730. Motor into Tagus (Teijo) at downstream to Fort Bugio (with a name like that I should own it). Great photo opps as we pass under suspension bridge and along waterfront.

Thursday 13 Oct – Sesimbra to Sines – the day of the sooty shearwater

Leave this pleasant port at 1100 and head south along coast towards our last west coast port, Sines. Decided to stream our very tired fishing line. Instant hit by circling big grey bird. Trying to hold him burnt my hand. He didn’t like being towed backwards at 5 knots either. Sooty Shearwaters are very big, the size of a large Christmas goose, and VERY strong. Unable to hold the line against his swim stroke. We back the boat up to him with me hanging off the Self steering gear. Don safety glasses and gloves (I’ve been attacked by these things before and had the scars to prove it). Managed to grab his feet and hoik him up while he squawked loudly and then clamped onto my foot with his huge beak. Managed to work hook free from his thick leathery webbing of one foot. Not too big a hole and no blood. Once released he looked indignant then fluffed himself up and skedaddled. 

Saturday 15 Oct - Sines to Cape St Vincent and Sunday 16 Oct – Cape St Vincent to Lagos (no, not the one in Nigeria)

Saturday 15 Oct - Sines to Cape St Vincent

To bed after our slipway antics at 0030 for a few hours sleep broken by regular hull checks. Up for the tide on the slipway at 0330 and start refloating preps. Heavy fog outside. Attempt to stay alongside wall at first but swell a bit too much. Move out to a finger pontoon for a few hours sleep until fog goes. Leave Sines 0745 for VERY long day of southward plodding with variable winds and sloppy swell. Engine on and off rather a lot and now seems happy giving 5.3Kts at 2Krpm. Swell and wind rise towards evening as we approach the great Cape….the SW-most point of the European mainland. We round the Cape just after darkness and look for a suitable bay or cove to drop a pick beneath the wild and remote cliffs. Eventually we anchor in pitch blackness below and in the lee of towering cliffs within the sound of the pounding surf. Good proving ground for old CQR type anchors!

Sunday 16 Oct – Cape St Vincent to Lagos (no, not the one in Nigeria)

Up at the crack of knackered and rolling gently at anchor just off the frightening surf and craggy cliffs to the East of the Cape. Thank god for GPS and strong anchors. At getting up time, fingers of sunrise stretch over the ……right enough of that cliché ridden stuff. Gobsmacked to see madmen fishing OFF THE TOP OF THE 200FT CLIFFS in high winds. Sheer drop into boiling sea and all that stuff. Like fishing off, well very tall dark cliffs with a sheer drop into the sea (please supply your own simile/cliché). Wonder if their mummies/wives know what they are doing. ..or perhaps they are mummies/wives. Up anchor and course for Lagos along the Algarve coast. Not very Algarvey as overcast and blowing its socks off from the East, the very direction wot we want to go in. This means gut tumbling tacking for severeal (sic) hours over a rolling wave crossed swell. I’m afraid certain of the crew succumbed to what is properly known hereabouts as marmalade of the black bucket, and continued to do so for many hours. Also caught one ginagorous mackerel the size of a small horse. Got into a bouncy Lagos harbour entrance at teatime and were parked in nice big marina type place by friendly staff. Harbour full of other travelling types. 1^st night free courtesy of ARC rally. So that’s .00001% of my entry fee back!

Friday 14 Oct – at Sines – Vasco Da G and Slipway antics.

Visit old Beau-Gest type Fort, and also our navigational hero Vasco da Gama, at least his statue, and old home. Ramble round this quiet fishing village which is within the distant moles of a huge outer commercial harbour. Gill goes for swim off nice beach, while we suss out possibilities of refuelling and then using the slipway to dry out to check prop and make some pitch adjustments. Staff agree for 19E. No dirty work, antifouling or oil as harbour is pristine.

1515 Refuel (110E, cash only, at pontoon, then 1600 drive onto slipway to await settling just after HW. Out fender board and all fenders. Jerrycans, dinghy, sails, and anything heavy laid on port deck. Masthead to shore. Loads of ropes and lines to bollards. She settles at 1630 and by 2000 is pointing bow skyward with bottom exposed. Slipway is as slippy as ice below my feet as, in wetsuit, I get stuck into the delicate task of dismantling the stripper to get at the back of the prop boss to remove the pitch cassette. Lots of tiny split pins and allen keys….just the stuff for a pitch black slippery slipway while knee deep in water. Eventually get new pitch cassette in and prop and stripper reassembled. Next got to re-fill prop with grease. No grease gun! Eventually manage to find someone still in the yard at 2300 prepared to lend one although it has to be emptied and filled with our own ‘Featherstream’ grease. Job eventually done but to sketchy engineering standards.

Tuesday 11 Oct - Raparee’s big day out in Lisbon

Great and satisfyingly tiring day out in sweltering heat. Best for us was the old Castle and its grounds. Great views and tremendous atmosphere. Highly Recommended.  Indifferent tourist lunch in cobbled square by Castle.  The waterfront to the West of the centre is also great, with the Monument of Discoveries and the strangely out of place looking Tower of Belem. Spectacular sunset and moonrise over the huge Tagus suspension bridge. Cruise liners by the score departing. PM light meal in classy waterfront café and old fashioned tram back to boat for hot chocolate with whiskey. Will definitely go back to Lisbon. 

Sunday 9 Oct – at Peniche and Monday 10 Oct – Peniche to Cascais or Lisbon, and new crew joins.

Sunday: Shopping by folding bike. MB amuses market stall holders by eating raw hot pepper and then collapsing in steaming heap. Long walk to opposite coast of peninsular PM. Beers in village. 

Monday AM. Slip away early dawn. Slip keys under HM’s door and climb over fence back to boat. Wind up and down like a yo-yo. Amazing 1^st mates breakfast of salmon, cheddar, and scrambled eggs.

1520 passing Cascais….decision made to continue for Lisbon as its further down out track, and more interesting, and probably cheaper. Enter Tagus estuary 1700. Very picturesque. Fantastic sight of the great red 3-tier Tagus suspension bridge. Pass under bridge as new crew’s Faro train is crossing it.

Finally dock in Doca de Alcantera, Lisbon at 1850. New Crew, Gill Browne, from Carlow, Ireland, finally gets to us at 1900. Quiet curry and whiskey meal aboard.

Saturday 8 Oct – Leixoes to Peniche Day 2

After much rocking and rolling on a moonlit and swelly sea we round up between the headland and offlying island at 0600 and secure alongside the little fishing harbour by 0645. Here we are met by the local night watchkeeper with whom we had a loud and interesting conversation, none of which either of us could understand. I’m pretty certain he told us that our exit and entry passes for the marina security gate were made of seaweed and could be obtained on Wednesdays from Lisbon and that my hat was dirty and that his wife was a weightlifter and had lumbago. He, in turn, understood from us that we were wearing corduroy underpants and ate only lentils. Anyway got to bed after whiskey at 0800. Woken at 1100 by serious looking girl in SAS uniform, with clipboard and Walther PPK in shoulder holster. Chris quickly gets dressed properly to attend the inevitable GNR inquisition in the cockpit. To show my right to be angry if I want to I turn up grimly and grumbling, naked except for my disreputable shreddies. Chris and the girl are embarassed. She’s seen it all before of course and isn’t fazed in the least. I mumble around for a bit and then, realising my folly, retire below to lick my wounds.

Good working day at Peniche followed by gentler run ashore for meal PM.                  

Friday 7th Oct. A rolly trip -Leixoes to Peniche

Intention to depart for Nazare about 60 miles south, or even further to Peniche (about 100Nm). First some jobs.Mike dons skimpy wetsuit and carefully slips beneath the murky mullet laden water beneath the boat on a daring mission to view the prop. Atlantic waters are very cold and the prop only gets a brief look. All appears to be intact but without nerves of steel a detailed inspection is impossible. Very fresh N'ly wind and big seas building. Sounds dreadful from inside marina. Pay our 18E/day and say our farewells. Slip 1230 ish. Once outside we dodge the fishing boats and rig for heavy running with 1 reef, 5 rolls, preventer and genoa pole. The wind and seas build steadily during the day so eventually we are double reefed with a goosewinged scrap of a genoa. Rolling our gunwhales under and thankful I fitted an extra high swan-neck to the engine exhaust outlet. Rough?......don't look behind folks....is that a large block of flats following us? Deafening noise. The aft cabin looks like its been in a washing machine spin cycle. The pain in the ass bit is the wind keeps shifting making us reverse all this poled out and preventered stuff every few hours....right through the night. I can tell you that at the age of 200 crawling on your bum on a heaving deck in the dark to retrieve the flogging wotsitsname thingummy for the n-th time is only funny once and a load of total poo thereafter. On the pos side we passed the 1000 miles from home point at 2300 and boat speed has been good, averaging well over 7.5 knts for the 115 mile to Peniche where we have decides to run to as Nazare looked a bit dodgy with a big sea running.
Easy entrance to well-sheltered harbour at 0630 where we squeeze into the tiny marina. Met instantly by security guard who is helpful but totally incomprehensible......but then so are we to him.

Thursday 6th Oct: Porto visit

Big day out in Porto. Morning bus (no. 507 if ever you need to know) for 40 min drive to Porto central. Great city, bustling with tourists, but very friendly and easy to walk around. Pretty hilly in places with loads of dodgy back alleyways and mazes of laneways. Quite run down in places, but very quaint and chracterful. Port and sherry and trinket shops everywhere. Nice buildings and balconies. The old city is on the banks of the Duoro river gorge and a stroll along both banks is a must. There are several high bridges across the Duoro gorge and all are worth taking a look at. We signed on for ‘The 6 Bridges Cruise’ which was a worthwhile excursion. 2 of the older iron bridges are spectacular and were also Eiffel designed or inspired. The cruise also gives free entry to a tour of the Croft’s/Taylor’s Port/Sherry Distilliery. The walk across the Duoro on the top level of the main steel bridge is spectacular. The top deck carries a fast tramway and 2 footpaths. There are no high safety fences and nothing to stop anyone ending their days by either the ground to air method (300 ft freefall) or ground to ground method (tram squash). A more refreshing approach to ‘Elf n Safety’.

A good supper of sardines and salad and a carafe of local vinho branco in one of the bankside cafes and we were away back on our No 507.to Leixoes port.

Wednesday 5th Oct: Leixoes

Motor into Leixoes inner harbour and marina. Even though the main harbour is absolutely huge, the marina is bijou and rather old-fashioned. Not too many gin palaces and quite a few liveaboards and travellers. Nice atmosphere. Not dirty as has been said in some publications. No management available in the office however because its Republican Day and the whole of Porto is en fete. Bike ashore for 20min bike ride to spar shop in nearest town.

Chris decides to devote WHOLE day to cutting apart the stern anchor warp’s braid to chain splice as this has been subject to UV exposure for many years. Rebuilding the splice was a balls aching job. Good job he wasn’t asked to do HMS Victory’s!

Tuesday 4th Oct. Viana do C southwards to Leixoes

Slow stumbling start. Eventually struggle into town to find the start of the funicular railway to the heights above the town. Visit ginagorous over-the-top basilica at the top of the peak. Very ornate. 200 steps back down into town. Visit old town. Quite pretty squares and churches. Pretty decent lunch in street café. Very warm with sea breeze building. Left at 1630 with a cheery wave from the bridge operator. Out at sea the evening Portuguese Northerly Trades building and its not long before we are reefed again and running wing and wing, keeping up some good hourly averages. Dark fairly early and shipping building up. Viz not great so AIS comes in useful. Commercial traffic getting heavier as we approach Porto area. Good fast eventful night sailing for Chris. Around 2200 we get a wonderful visit from a playful dolphin family. Streaking wakes of phosphorescence. They are clearly showing off to us and trying to catch our eye. Rolling tumbling and snorting and accelerating away. Their sleek muscular bodies are outlined underwater by a ghostly trail of bubbles.

Wind drops as dramatically as it arose and by 2230 we are motoring around the dark outer breakwater of Leixoes ('leashwoes') harbour. Rather than brave the intricacies of the inner harbour and marina we decide to anchor in the outer harbour off the beach in 5m.  Propshaft/Prop making worrying grumbling/rubbing sounds, and so is the skipper. Hope its not too serious

Monday 3rd Oct. Baiona & Atlantic Isles to Viana do Castelo

Calm misty morning at Ria Vigo's Atlantic Islands. Great sunrise at 0800. Set sail southwards at 0930, heading for our first Portuguese town, Viana do Castelo , just over the border. Very little wind to start with, with several hours of motoring down the distant misty coast and dodging lobster pots. Joined by friendly dolphins at mid morning. A strengthening North Westerly sea breeze picks up rapidly in the late afternoon until eventually we are bowling along well preventered up, reefed down, and genoa part rolled. Once we round up into the bay we find the harbour entrance is wide and safe, and is bordered by a popular kite-surfing beach.

Quick radio call to marina. Pedestrian swing bridge across marina entrance is opened for us. Much shouting hollering and jeering from shore and alongside boats. More shouting back from bridge controller. Slanging match with us in the middle. Finally dawned on us that we had left Spanish flag up! Extraordinarily embarassing for this crack team to make such a gaffe. Very helpful and friendly harbour staff help us with fore aft pick-up mooring line bows-to type berth. Evening coffee and beers in little yacht club bar overlooking river and the impressive old 2 storey Eiffel designed road and rail bridge bridge. Chat to friendly French couple on their Jenneau 40

Sunday 2nd Oct. Baiona to Atlantic Isles

Boat preps and jobs. Pay many euro-dollars for our stay (several hundred!) Pay many more euro-dollars for many litres of diesel. Depart early evening for the Atlantic Isles. Beautiful calm sunny evening. Our worries about being able to anchor in the Atlantic Isles National Park were put to rest when we saw the 7 million locals still at anchor, despite it being a Sunday evening. Lovely sunset over the Vigo estuary.Very clear bottom so could see our anchor at depth. It'salways nice to go to bed knowing you have a clear bottom.

Saturday 1st Oct - Harbour full of giant mullet

More mullets here than at a Status Quo convention! More boat jobs and shopping. Chris Chadwick arrives and gets lost. Use bike and mobile to track him down. Scout around harbour looking for a slipway to use to examine prop and perhaps alter its pitch. Not possible to dry out against the wall to 'elf 'n safety' apparently.

29 & 30 Sep at Baiona

Arrived back at Baiona from UK very late PM Thurs 29th after a pretty tacky old trip and not much sleep the night before. Flight was fine, but sadly Vigo airport buses do not serve Vigo's main bus station, and as taxis are expensive, getting to Baiona was a bit of a struggle, to say the least. 3 or 4 buses, much waiting, and a lot of help from innocent bystanders eventually got me back aboard.
Awoke feeling cr*p and tired on30th, so my mega list of jobs for Friday got off to a very slow start. The only answer was to avoid work altogether and assemble my bike for a bit of town exploration and a supermarket visit. Once I'd remembered to keep on the right, it was great to be back on 2 wheels dodging the tourists and juggernauts. I was also cheered up no end by discovering in the supermarket tinned red peppers, and cartons of passable sangria for 96c.