Lin..........

CASCAIS

From the moment we arrived in Cascais we were aware of the warmer temperature. We were able to sit out in the cockpit in only shorts enjoying the warm evening air until late into the evening.

However, the extra warmth brought with it the tourists and upon our first walk into the town we were waylaid by waiters outside the some of the cafes and restaurants hoping to gain our custom with 'Full English Breakfasts" advertised. We avoided these like the plague.

Although Cascais was an attractive cosmopolitan town we missed the simple laid back way of life that we had found in the Spanish Rias and even in Povoa de Varzim.

However, we soon adjusted to the change and began to enjoy ourselves. Besides the typical tourist cafes there were also some delightful cafes and bars. Although we do not usually eat out, due to our vegetarian status and a limited budget, we never the less enjoyed coffee, wine and the occasional cake in the side street cafes and bars where we can pass a pleasant hour.

There was a very well stocked supermarket which catered for all our needs including many soya products and tofu, dried, bottled and packeted. We did find a vegetarian restaurant that we intended to visit but sadly in the end we didn't have the time.

The marina was very expensive at 49 euros per night - nearly four times as much as Povoa de Varzim - but on our arrival in the anchorage there were some sixteen or more cruisers of many nationalities anchored off the beach, these included boats from Norway, France, England, Germany, Holland, Finland and Denmark mostly waiting to go South - either into the Mediterranean or Madeira and the Canaries.

We went to see Peter who at sixty five was sailing, single-handed in his 35 year old Nicholson 38 named 'Salara' across the Atlantic via Madeira and the Canaries. We swapped some books with him and invited him aboard for a drink. It was some time before we realised we had seen him whilst we were waiting in the anchorage in Dartmouth. He was also sheltering from the gales in the English channel and was anchored with ourselves and Matt, from 'Milko', who had just returned from the Carribean.

Paul and I were both keen to visit Lisbon. I had spent a day there nineteen years ago whilst holidaying further down the coast in a small fishing village called Ericeira and approximately forty years ago Paul had spent three weeks playing in the orchestra for the Martha Graham Ballet Company from America.




LISBON

Cascais was approximately fifteen miles from the centre of Lisbon and we were impressed with the spotlessly clean and air-conditioned Metro costing us only 1.60 euros (�1.12) to reach the centre.

We had a fantastic day there - we found the theatre where Paul had played - photo in the gallery eventually - and we were awe-struck with the wonderful architecture. The old trams fascinated us - they were everywhere - not designed as a tourist attraction, but real working trams. We were amazed at their ability to climb the very steep hills in the side streets both in and around the centre.

We also ate our first meal out since leaving England - mushroom omelette, potato scallops and salad. Altogether we had a very enjoyable and memorable day.

ERICEIRA

The day before we left Cascais Paul was wanting to do odd jobs on the boat so I caught the bus to Ericeira. I had to change buses at Sintra and the total journey time was approx one and a half hours each way. The bus drivers were so helpful and by using diagrams of where I wished to go, between us we cracked the language barrier.

I was astounded by the rate at which the little fishing village had grown - it was now surrounded by new properties and high rise apartments - it took me a little while to find the old town that I remembered but once there I found the small hotel we had stayed at and the original beach we used - there was another beach that was originally outside the village but was now surrounded by new property.

I had made myself sandwiches for lunch but purchased a soy burger and salad for 3.50 euros (�2.45) at one of the delightful cafes in the square and ate my sandwiches for tea.

It was fascinating returning after so long and seeing the many changes. I was however disappointed that the small restaurants no longer had sardines grilling on makeshift barbeques at their rear - so gone was the tantalising smell I remembered so well.

CASCAIS cont............

The next day we left Cascais for our longest passage so far - 488 nautical miles to Porto Santo - the island off Madeira - Peter from Salara weighed anchor shortly before us and we had to replenish our water tanks and fill up with fuel before we left. At the fuel pontoon we spoke to Mick and Bee, from the boat Hannah, who were interested in our wind-vane steering - they were also headed in the same direction, so we arranged to meet up in Porto Santo.



Paul..........

CASCAIS to PORTO SANTO

We departed from the fuel pontoon in Cascais at 14.00hrs on a bright, sunny afternoon, and, due to a slight haze, were soon out of sight of land and on a course of 230� for the next 500 miles. Thirty miles from the coast there is a large TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) which large commercial ships have to use - effectively one way systems to separate the north bound from the south bound shipping.

Although we didn't cross the actual TSS we did have to cross the very busy shipping lanes leaving and arriving at the TSS and by nightfall we were in the thick of it. There were boats as far as we could see and in fact there were four corridors used by the shipping and this led to some interesting moments for us crossing them at right angles, particularly during the night.

Lin had a particular scare during her watch - her instructions are to wake me in any uncertain circumstances and she copes remarkably well, however, on this occasion she mis-read the lights of a ship believing it to be far away, only to find the ship nearly on top of us in no time at all. She immediately woke me but by this time the ship had changed course and avoided us but was far too close for comfort. Lin, quite understandably, tends to be much more cautious now but it does mean I get woken more often!!

The watch system we use is working well - three hours on/off at night and four hours during the day. We enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner together but spend most of our off watch time sleeping whether during the night or day.

The first two days of this passage were in light winds with a fairly calm sea averaging about 3.5 knots. On day three the wind picked up and we soon had two reefs in the main, staysail and partly furled Yankee (Jib) giving us 5-6 knots but in a much rougher sea. We were visited by two schools of dolphins during the passage - always a delight!!

We were astounded at the colour of the water once offshore. The sea was a deep, deep blue, the like of which we have never seen, even when looking directly into the water from the side of the boat. We have tried to capture this in a photograph taken looking into the water from our stern. This will be put in the gallery.

The rest of the passage was straight forward with only a few ships sighted. Peter on Solara called on the VHF twice a day so it was nice to have the contact and be able to discuss progress, weather and his single handed status.

We arrived in Porto Santo at 1.15pm on the 5th day and watched the anchor go down to the bottom through four metres of crystal clear water. In the beautiful anchorage off the 9km beach there were four yachts of which we knew three - Penguin II with Bob and Jean who we had met in Portosin, Spain, Martin and Roma from Apple, we had met in Cangas, Spain, and Peter in Solara who had arrived ahead of us. The next day we were joined by Mick and Bee in their ferro cement gaffer, Hannah.

We have found in the cruising community that we tend to be divided into two groups (them and us!} There are those who head immediately for the marinas regardless of cost, they tend to be larger and newer boats with a number of people aboard, clearly not restricted by money concerns - then there is our group who not only tend not to be able to afford marinas but positively avoid them using the much more interesting and enjoyable anchorages which are free. Our boats tend to be older and slower, some home built, and we all look after the pennies (euros) and rather than eat out all the time, we enjoy meeting up with each other and socialising on our boats. We have already met so many interesting and likeable people that we are very happy being in the latter group.

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

PORTO SANTO

We arrived in Porto Santo on the 12th September. We were visited on the boat by 'Nelson' one of the marina staff. He was very enthusiastic about 'his' island. He told us he had travelled the world and hadn't found better - I guess there is 'no place like home'.

However, when we went ashore we had to admit that it would take some beating. The 9km beach with its beautiful clear turquoise water was probably the best we had seen so far. Porto Santo was the first port to be used by the Portuguese navigators from 1418 and the first step given by the Europeans in the direction to the Orient and New World.

We were fortunate that when we arrived the following three days were given to the Festival Columbo, a celebration of the arrival of Christopher Columbus so many years ago. The television cameras were on the island recording live many of the celebrations and we were able to participate in these. There were fine singers and dancers both modern and traditional.

The night after we arrived Roma and Martin from Apple came aboard for the evening. We talked until the small hours and our alcohol consumption reached an all time high - we are usually quite conservative, even though wine is so cheap, but when you have convivial company and so much in common to talk about you tend to keep topping up the glasses without noticing total consumption until the following morning!!

The next afternoon we were invited aboard Apple along with Mick and Bee from Hannah, for tea and/or coffee. Hannah, a ferro cement Gaff Ketch of traditional double end design was built by Martin and Roma who had sold her to Mick and Bee some years ago, and although they kept in touch periodically it was a co-incidence that they had met up on this voyage.

Rona and Martin had also built Apple themselves - a steel ketch again of fairly traditional design - actually welding the steel sheets together in their back garden - Roma did the cutting out!! By trade they are cabinet makers so both boats were beautifully fitted out below in natural wood.

The last day we moved from the beach anchorage into the harbour anchorage where for a small charge we were able to use the showers and fill up with water. Although we have our solar shower bag which we use in the cockpit a shower with running water is a luxury. We didn't object to paying for these water facilities as this small island has a very limited water supply and has to rely on their de-salination plant which is costly to run.

We went to se Bob and Jean from Penguin II before we left and were sorry to hear that Jean had trapped her sciatic nerve on passage from Portosin and was in considerable pain, although it had improved since arriving in Porto Santo.

We bid all our friends a fond farewell and although we had decided to miss Madeira as we had been there before, we changed our minds at the last minute and arrived within the day after a passage of 50 miles.

Paul...............

PORTO SANTO - MADEIRA

We weighed anchor at 08.15 and pulled alongside to fill our water tanks. It was a beautiful day and we had a good NE wind to blow us to Madeira. The passage was comfortable and we were able to make 5-6 knots for most of it. At about 10.30 we were visited by a large school of porpoises/small dolphins, there must have been 30-40 of them swimming around the boat, diving under the hull, leaping up in competition with each other and spraying us with their blow holes, on purpose I'm sure. They stayed with us for the best part of an hour. Lin has managed to capture some of these beautiful creatures on film and the small movie clip will appear on the blog - when I have figured out how to do it!!

Nearing Madeira we spotted Mick and Bee in Hannah ahead of us, they had left before us and as we rounded the headland of Madeira it appeared they had stopped. As we drew parallel with them we found that the wind at that point had dropped and headed us so we also could make little headway. After attempting to tack for a short distance we both decided to motor for the final hour to Funchal - capital of Madeira - it felt a little odd to drop anchor in sight of the hotel where we had stayed some years before.

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

MADEIRA

We were so glad we had changed our minds and decided to visit Madeira again. We had enjoyed it so much the last time we were here and I believe we were afraid of being disappointed on returning - often places do not seem to hold the same appeal when re-visited.

Madeira however is still as delightful as before and we are enjoying it even more this time. We have stayed in Funchal and there is a slight regret that our budget will not allow us to hire a car and explore the other villages on the island and the mountains which we so enjoyed last time.

We went to the travel agents to enquire about a flight home at the beginning of October but could not proceed as the marina is fully booked due to yacht races taking place - we suspect that it will be cheaper for us to fly from the Canary Islands and the marina costs should be less.

We looked for the health food shop we discovered last time and found it had expanded and was now a small vegetarian restaurant upstairs, with the shop downstairs. We examined our budget and decided to treat ourselves to lunch! We selected a set lunch of soup, sandwich or quiche with juice for ?'?5 (�3.50) We had a delicious leek soup, quiche and carrot and apple juice. This was very filling so we only had a small salad with the remains of the previous night's risotto in the evening.

We were invited for an evening aboard Hannah with Mick and Bee. It was the cosiest boat we have ever been on. Built by Martin and Roma of Apple it was beautifully fitted with natural wood cupboards, table and overhead beams. As Mick and Bee generally prefer cruising in colder climes they had fitted a cast iron stove complete with chimney in the corner. As they too are on a tight budget they tend to use candles for lighting so the effect is enchanting. They told us many of their stories, having been voyaging for over seven years and having covered over 27,000 nautical miles.

One experience of theirs I did not envy. Whilst returning from Greenland they had set out with a fair weather forecast which turned very nasty and they had to batten down all the hatches, when steering became untenable, and lie on the sole of the cabin together until the Force 11 storm they found themselves in had subsided some 48 hours later!!

Peter from Solara dropped anchor today, Friday 21st September and came aboard for a beer. He is truly remarkable to be undertaking this voyage single handed at 65. He told us his daughter tells everyone "My Dad doesn't do frightened" I don't think Paul or I would be able to sleep with no-one on watch, as, even if you are not in a shipping lane, these huge ships have a habit of coming up on you when you least expect it - you need nerves of steel if you are single handed. The Navtex informs us of 2 yachts missing in Biscay - both single handers!

Today, within the next couple of hours, we shall be leaving Madeira and heading for Graciosa, a small island just above Lanzarote in the Canaries, some 280 nautical miles away - quite a short passage really!!