A change of plan.....
Chiscos - Atlantic Cruise
John Simpson
Wed 11 May 2005 17:30
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At 14.30 yesterday,Tuesday, we were a few miles off
Cabo de Roca and realised that if we were going to get to Lagos, we would need
more fuel. This prompted a fuel stop in a place called Cascais about 6 miles
west of Lisbon. We duly fuelled up and then realised this would be a good
jumping off point for Rod to get the airport at Faro (as Cascais is well
connected by the railway system) and then there seemed no point in going to
Lagos. So we will be leaving for Madeira tomorrow, and sailing straight there.
This will increase the distance slightly to about 500 miles, but will save the
120 mile leg to Lagos. The original plan was to go to Lagos to pick up
more crew, but no one wants to join us!
So at 6am this morning (wed) we said fond farewell
to Rod who has been with us since Southampton. He was great company and opened
our eyes to the joys(and benefits) of reading the manuals for all the bits of
tech. equipment we have on the boat.Several times he said how does this or that
work. I replied that I couldn't get it to work! His next question was always -
'Have you read the manual' I am ashamed to say that in almost every case - I
hadn't. However, every bit of kit on the boat now works!! Thanks for coming Rod
- we'll miss you.
Cascais has proved to be a great stopping place.
The marina is right next to the very cosmopolitan town with good shops and
facilities - we have even been able to buy a copy of today's Times! After
the incident with Alfonso IX in Bayona, I am sure you will all be pleased to
hear that Cascais high street is guarded by a fierce looking statue of D Pedro I
( he hasn't got a donkey though!! and I did wonders what the 'D' stood for??
Don, Denis, Delila - I'll leave it to your imagination!!) ) We have also
found an Internet cafe where we can plug the laptop in - so we hope to upload
all the photos which proved too big to do over the Iridium link.
And finally the weather...it was overcast this
morning, then rained heavily over lunchtime and it is now quite sunny and
warm.
L'edition francaise de cette webpage a ete limitee
jusqu'a maintenant, mais devant l'insistance de John, me voici au clavier.
Southampton semble bien loin. Nous avons fait
escale en des endroits aussi differents que l'Aber Wrach et Camaret en Bretagne
et ses fruits de mer, Baiona et ses tapas, Cascais et le Bacahau(?), de la morue
sechee cuisinee a l'huile et a l'ail. Bien que nous avons jusqu'a present
prefere les cuisines locales servies dans des restaurants familiaux, devant
l'experience culinaire indescriptible d'hier soir, fort heureusement compensee
par un enorme petit dejeuner anglais ce matin, nous avons decide de selectioner
un restaurant beaucoup plus conventionel ce soir.
La vie a bord a pris une certaine routine qui
semble convenir a tous (bien que Tim ai debarque a l'Aber Wrach, Rod hier soir
...), les quarts, les longs passages, pas de vent, trop de vent,
tempete, mais il faut bien le dire, devant la persistance du vent de ne pas
rester avec nous, le moteur a bien servi. Notre
experience de la mer s'est enrichie, la lecture des cartes meteos est maintenant
seconde nature, notre confiance dans Chiscos est presque sans limite, et nous
envisageons avec confiance la traversee jusqu'a Madeire. Nous
pensons partir demain apres le passage de la tempete prevue pour cette
nuit. En attendant le depart, la journee d'aujourd'hui s'est passee dans les
boutiques et visites des attractions locales, le cote touriste reviens tres
vite... Regis
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