Two Steps forward and One step
backwards:
We arrived in Lisbon on 29 March, from Hong
Kong, where we had a wonderful time with our young: Gilbert and his girlfriend,
Pip, and Olivia and her husband, James. We went to the Rugby 7s, together with
Pip’s parents and Consie’s brother Jan.
Keir and his children, and Caitlin’s boyfriend
came to Portugal, and they helped us to put the sails back on ‘Restless’. Keir’s
Portuguese friend Hugo drove us to a supermarket to provision. ‘Restless’ was
back in the water a record 48 hours after our arrival in Lisbon, Tagus boatyard
had antifouled her before we arrived. We left the boatyard with Keir on board, and sailed to Cascais,where
Leonor and Hugo drove us to a restaurant
near Cascais for a lovely Portuguese meal, baculao (cod) and local wine to
celebrate being back in the water. Dutch cousin Maurits joined us the
following day in Cascais, and the next day the four of us set off south. We put
up the spinnaker pole on the brandnew track, and it instantly popped out of the
mast. It was apparent the yard had used rivets that were too short so we decided
to return to Tagus Yacht Centre to have it fixed, and to repair the mainsail,
which had a couple of small holes, where the track had torn it. All the repairs
were completed in a few hours and on 5.04.2011 we set off down the Tagus
river.
We planned to sail south round Cabo de Sao
Vicente, the most southwesterly point of Europe, to see our friends Stephanie
and David in Vilamoura in the Algarve. We had a pleasant sail all night, but at
dawn the next day, after we had sailed some 90 nmiles, we were met with strong
winds of around 45kts on the nose, and large waves, cresting and knocking us
backwards. It seemed senseless to proceed, so we decided to turn back to Sines
harbor, a distance of some 35 nmiles, luckily it was a nice sheltered marina
with a historical town. We stayed there 3
nights, waiting for a better weather forecast. Vasco da Gama was born in Sines,
we took photos of his statue by the fort, and walked round the picturesque
fishing port. Stephanie and David drove to Sines to meet up with us for
lunch.
Early on 9 April (Roland’s birthday) we left Sines for Lagos, this
time we had light winds behind us, and rounded infamous Cabo de Sao Vicente in a
lovely sea-breeze on a glorious day. We could see fishermen dropping their lines
down the cliff-face, and wondered how many fish get off the hook before they are
raised up the hundreds of feet. Maurits is a keen fisherman, and we caught a
nice wahoo. We arrived at Lagos to find the bridge into the marina closed for
the night, so after securing to the reception berth, we walked into town and had
dinner at Gilberto’s to celebrate Roland’s birthday and the rounding of Cabo de
Sao Vicente, into the Algarve. The next day we had a gentle sail to Vilamoura, a
marina of 1,000 boats in a vast tourist complex. With contrary winds forecast,
we hired a car and Maurits drove the four of us up into the hills at Silves to a
Moorish fort, and from there on to Alte and Sao Bras de Alportel, before
returning to the coast at Faro. We drove past citrus orchards, pepper trees,
cork and olive groves in the hot sun, and could understand why so many Europeans
have chosen to buy holiday homes in this part of Portugal, with its hot climate
and gorgeous long beaches. Portuguese is a difficult language, and Obrigada
(thank you) was the only useful word we learned.
We had not yet decided whether the next landfall would be Cadiz in
Spain, or Gibraltar. On the way we would pass Cape Trafalgar, scene of one of
the most famous sea-battles ever, between Admiral Nelson and Napoleon’s Admiral
Villeneuve. The forecast was for light winds and seas as we set off from
Vilamoura for Cadiz, but found that we had winds from ahead and a lumpy
sea. With a new forecast of very strong easterly winds expected within the
next 24 hours we decided to skip Cadiz and head for Gibraltar. We still had 25
knts on the nose as we rounded Cape Trafalgar, but it was warm and sunny with
not a cloud in the sky! We calculated that we could just get into a bay near the
tiny island-fort of Tarifa by nightfall, so we pushed on and with a little help
from the engine made the anchorage in twilight. The twinkling lights of Morocco
beckoned from just 8 miles away. The next morning Roland woke us early with the
options of leaving at dawn in no wind, or waiting till later and receiving the
forecast “levanter”, the famed 30 kts of easterly wind that roars through the
straits. It was an easy decision, and by 10:00 am we were tied up at Queensway
Quay in Gibraltar, alongside yachts from all around the world.
Thanks to internet, a childhood friend of Consie’s in New York
advised us that another ex-HK friend, Anthony, had recently moved to Gibraltar.
Anthony drove us across the border into Spain and along the coast to Marbella,
and we had a great time catching up on 30-odd years. We stayed in Gibraltar
while gales roared through the strait, and explored this tiny rock entrance to
the Mediterranean.
With a 15 mile motor into one of the crossroads of the world and
gateway into the mediterranean, we
hope to leave when the current weather pattern changes, hopefully Monday 18
April. Our next big destination will be Palma, 500 miles away. Scottish friends Fiona and Alan are planning to
join us in early May in Palma. Before they arrive we are hoping to get our
liferaft serviced and our sails checked over by the Doyle loft in Palma, run by
Quinny, who we know from New
Zealand.
