Day 19: Anchored in Baleeira
Purple Mist
Skipper: Kate Cope
Tue 4 Oct 2022 21:21
37:00.793N 008:55.554W
Day 19: Anchored in Baleeira
Today we had planned to get as far as Lagos marina but the weather gods were not in agreement. It was a 76NM leg so we would have needed to set off in the dark. Last night thick fog descended and it was clear that leaving in the dark with thick fog was going to be dangerous. Together with S/Y Olliver we decided to head as far as an anchorage just round Cap St Vincent the most SW tip of Portugal . As per previous posts whilst PM is fully compliant with Offshore regs as far as anchoring it’s not really feasible. However we do have a friendly Norwegian with 40kg of Rocna, 100m of chain and a 17t boat that hardly notices another 4t parked alongside so we planned to raft onto S/Y Olliver
We set off in daylight but thick thick fog. We nearly got mown down by a fishing vessel in the harbour but after that we stayed shallow and followed the coast. We could see nothing for the first 2 hrs or so and then slowly the sun poked through and the coast started to appear. The rest of the day was uneventful, it was motoring all day and no wind at all but the scenery was interesting some lovely secluded beaches.
Best of all no orcas though they are now active west of Gibraltar so it feels like the little buggers are following me, I’m so looking forward to sailing without their threat
Rounding Cape St Vincent seems a major milestone …a bit like the Lands End of Portugal. As we came into the final bay a gust of wind blew off Ian’s hat but a swift turnaround and we hooked it back onboard.
We rafted onto Olliver and it was definitely my turn to cook dinner . I thought something typically British …so I rustled up a curry which went down well along with some Red wine.
Tomorrow is a short day to Lagos for some extra provisions and diesel before we head south finally to Lanzarote.
