Cascais to Lagos

DecaDance's Web Diary
Chris White and Jeanna Coleman
Fri 3 Dec 2010 18:07
Position: 37:06.6N 008:40.5W - Lagos Marina

 

We left Cascais in beautiful sunshine and calm, turquoise waters and arrived here in Lagos to much the same just twenty-four hours later - shame we can't say the same about the bit in the middle.

 

The winds were directly behind us again, but as we're not in too much of a rush now we decided to gybe, ie zig-zag along our heading at just enough of an angle to keep the sails full of wind.  This takes longer but saves using the motor and, more importantly, the couple of hundred Euros of diesel it's cost at each marina so far.  We didn't get off to the best of starts when we hoisted the main-sail only to discover the second reefing line had chafed nearly all the way through.  It's happened somewhere inside the boom and it's a bit of a mystery.  Chris is convinced it is because the line is green - an unlucky colour on a boat, my only thought was, "Great, more expense."

 

There were some stronger winds forecast for later North of Cascais, but we were heading South and should have been well out of the way.  Mother Nature had other ideas and sent the winds south to test us.  Gusts of 25-30 knots, squalls full of heavy rain, and such a swell on the sea it was like riding a roller-coaster.  As ever, the forepeak cabin felt the worst of it.  So far we've had slamming directly onto the waves, the sock in a tumble-dryer rotary motion, and this time the waves were on the beam so we had a constant side to side motion like someone trying to erase an Etch-a-Sketch.  It was pretty horrendous so none of the crew managed much sleep.  Even seasoned-sailor Ryan gave up on his bunk and collapsed on a bean-bag under the chart-table.

 

There was a little bit of excitement just after midnight when Matt spied a very large tanker in front of us which slowed from over 13 knots to nearly stationary.  Our AIS told us it was the vessel Natacina and was travelling at 1.1 knot across our path.  It was difficult to know which way to pass the vessel, and whether or not it would suddenly fire up its engines and you don't want to get on the wrong side of something that's 899ft long and wider than you are tall, so Ryan contacted Natacina on the VHF radio and was informed they were drifting without engines.  They were still in view, drifting slowly six hours later.

 

With no chance of sleeping, I joined Chris half way through his watch at 3:30am to keep him company.  He'd been pooped - immersed by a huge wave in the cockpit and he was freezing.  The winds were so strong all the beanbags and cushions had been stowed below decks so we sat on the cold wet teak wondering how long it takes to contract piles.  It was bitterly cold and by the time my shift started I was already frozen to the core.  The walls of waves were so high the coastline of Portugal would disappear for a few seconds before bobbing back into view.  There was just a tiny sliver of a crescent of the moon, and Venus was providing more light, but I wasn't overly keen on seeing what was out there.  I was so tired the rocking motion was sending me to sleep despite the wind howling around my ears and the chattering of my teeth.  I think it was the longest three hours of my life.

 

At sunrise, the full extent of the waves was revealed; angry slate-grey moving mountains tipped with white foam, even the dolphins were staying away.  I spotted a plane high in the sky and wondered if it was on its way to the Canaries (and how much it would be to fly from Faro).  Things started to subside just before I went to bed and when I woke just six hours later we were back to blue skies, light winds and wondering whether it had just been a bit of a nightmare?