Tuesday 15th Oct - Still in Cascais

AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Sat 18 Oct 2008 14:56
Cascais is one of those ports of call that you don't really relish leaving.  It is a major port of call for many larger yachts heading down or up the coast for that matter that tend to miss out some of the smaller fishing ports that we have called in to. The only drawback for us was that the area of the marina we were allocated a berth in was rather clostrophobic, as we were surrounded by the very high harbour wall and surrounding dockside area. We decided to delay departure but change the view to that of the anchorage outside the marina and that it was also time to check out the underside of the boat as it has remained a unseen mystery since launch day back on July 31st. Not a great amount of time but as I had personally stripped down the saildrive legs, installed new seals behind the propellors and bolted the propellors on as well I felt my handywork may need some exploration just in case.
 
It was also an excuse to use the new 12 volt diving compressor we had bought from the USA 2 years back. Not having the room for dive bottles and high pressure compression equipment to fill them we opted for a handy system which links the diver with a plug-in electric compressor via a 55' air line. So we went out to anchor in some rather dirty looking water and donned the diving kit. Nikki promised not to unplug the wires connecting the compressor to the battery whilst I was down below as I duly dissapeared into the murky and surprisingly cold water. Whilst all the main components were still in place - 2 propellors, etc it was very dissapointing to see the gaiters at the top of the saildrive leg peeling away as I had taken every precaution to ensure they were glued in place before launch. The port gaiter was the worst so I finished the job the sea had started and peeled it away before it worked its way down to the propellor and became chewed to destruction in the prop itself. The starboard gaitor was starting to peel but decided to leave that for another week as the water was cold!  But the dive gear worked fine.
We stayed at anchor for a very windy night before leaving Cascais and heading for Sesimbra another fishing port some 26 miles south of Cascais.