Lin...........

POVOA de VARZIM cont...........

At the time we last updated the blog we intended to move on the next day.

Unfortunately we received an e-mail from Cheryl, the owner of the residential home who look after my Mum and Dad which changed matters.

Dad had been admitted to Newton Abbot hospital with pneumonia in his left lung. As the next 24 hours were critical we decided to stay in Povoa de Varzim which is in very close proximity to Porto airport should a journey home be necessary. I arranged to ring Cheryl the evening of the next day. However, as I was very worried, I decided to phone Newton Abbot hospital in the morning when I was told that Dad was much improved and was on oral medication having removed his drip twice during the night - he had eaten his breakfast and if the Doctor was happy with him in the afternoon he would soon be returning to Cheryl at 'The Croft'.

When I rang Cheryl in the evening Dad was very much better so we decided to leave Povoa de Varzim the next day..

That night we were invited aboard 'Yallah' again.

It was Josianne's birthday and Paul knew in the morning and hadn't told me!! She baked a delicious onion flan/tart to eat with our drinks. It was a sad evening as 'Yallah' had to wait for another educational package for Marie and Kit and Belinda of 'Quilcene' were having a visit from Belinda's son for a week so as we were heading for Cascais near Lisbon, 172 nautical miles away, it was unlikely we would see either family again as neither of them were going to Madeira or the Canaries.

Before we left 'Yallah', Josianne gave us some nuts they had picked in the Grenadines when they were sailing in the Caribbean. The next night whilst on watch I decided to try one - after shelling and biting into it I realised it was a nutmeg - I shall think of these good friends whenever we grate one!

We left early the next morning and the crews of other boats turned out to wish us 'bon voyage' including Daniel - a Frenchman - heading for Brazil single handed, and Kim and Bob who arrived in Povoa de Varzim to stay a few days and are still there over a year later.

As we left the harbour the GPS registered 1000 nautical miles since we left 'Turf' on the Exeter canal.




Paul.......

We set off from Povoa de Varzim at 8.30am having downloaded the latest weather forecast but sad to leave our many friends and cruising companions. The weather was warm and sunny with a stiff Northerly wind blowing, the Portuguese trades, which we were counting on to move us South.

On the Portuguese coast there are many fishing buoys, presumably marking pots for lobsters, and we sailed offshore for 12 miles to try and avoid these. Having turned South we ran parallel to the coast and the wind picked up to force 4 giving us an exciting and fast passage averaging 5-6 knots while running goose-winged with the genoa poled out to Starboard. We were astounded to find there were still a few fishing buoys this far offshore and we needed to avoid these as they could become entangled in our propeller, even when sailing, and cause us major difficulties.

Nightfall came at 8.30pm and we slipped into 3 hour watches which had worked so well in Biscay. We passed a few large ships at some distance but generally we were on our own. Unfortunately the wind dropped and we were making less than 3 knots so we started the engine at 0400 to keep us moving.

At dawn the wind picked up a little and we were able to switch the engine off, but not for long as the doldrums re-appeared.

Passing Peniche we discussed whether to anchor for the night behind Islas da Berlenga, one of the islands off Peniche, and to wait for wind the next day - the decision was made to keep going in the hope of more wind - the wrong decision! We had to motor the next 35 miles to Cascais where we tentatively entered the River Tejo to Lisbon at 9.30pm but by this time it was dark. We sorted the navigation lights from the many land lights using the chart, almanac and pilot book, and crept into the anchorage at Cascais at 2300 hours - even this was not straightforward as on the first attempt the anchor did not hold and we had to re-anchor, always being aware of the position of other yachts.

Lin kept us well supplied with tea and drinking chocolate during this time and we snuggled into bed at about midnight.

Our decision to anchor at Cascais was due to this being the nearest anchorage to Lisbon which both Lin and I wanted to visit. The anchorage is very pleasant and, most importantly, free! The cost of the many marinas in and around Lisbon averaged about 48 Euros per night - well in excess of our budget. As it turned out the train ride into Lisbon from Cascais was just 1.60 Euros each so we definitely made the right decision.

It is fascinating to wake up in the morning and see ones new environment for the first time in daylight. Once again our navigation had brought us safely into harbour after 172 miles