Cascais 38:41.65N 9:24.75W

Lotus
Mon 28 Sep 2009 20:52
Cascais is a pretty seaside resort on the mouth of the esturary leading to Lisbon,  a mere 20 minute train ride to the city center.  There is a fancy new marina with berthing for super yachts ( a 100 foot yacht is in residence), however the prices are too steep for us (around 50euros a night), so we've joined most of the other visiting yachts and anchored just 100m off Cascais beach.  
 
    
 It's a brilliant location and the weather is now hot enough for us to venture into the sea and swim ashore.  I've been doing a few back and forths between the boat and shore in a desperate attempt to keep some fitness - spare tyre is growing daily!
 
John accidently dropped a small steel cable over the side so we doned our wetsuits and dive gear and went under.  It was freezing and the visibility was about 2m and that was very murky, we had not a hope in hell of finding anything.  However we did see some gobys, crabs, anenomes and flat fish - non of which we caught for our tea. 
 
We refilled the dive cylinders which meant getting the compressor out of the cockpit locker.  Unfortunately, John burnt his leg on the exhaust.  Typically, we spent a fortune on medical supplies before we set out, but have nothing for burns and both of us have now sustained burn injuries (mine was caused by impatience when using the pressure cooker).  We then decided that the compressor would better fit into the other cockpit locker so the platform that John and Duncan had built just hours before we set out had to be dismantled and refit on the other side.  this took a couple of hours and nearly resulted in a slipped disc lifting the compressor in and out to try varoious stages for fit.  However, a good job well done!
 
We've been into Lisbon, looked at the views, visited the shops and stopped for a beer where we watched all the freaks and fashion victims go by. 
 
 
Having spent 4 days here tomorrow we will set out for Madiera our longest leg so far at 550miles.