We woke up after a little sleep in and sprang into action as there was a little bit of wind, we pulled up out anchor and left Wednesday 17^th September at 8:18AM and sailed towards Cascais 38:41.74N 9:24.85W 

We were unsure the night before if we were going to leave but when we woke and felt the breeze we got out in a hurry, we were glad we did and as we left we hoisted the sails and sped out of the place passing several yachts on the way, which is very rare for Silky. I think all this sailing is making her fit and lean like a race horse. Our wind lasted all morning it was a lovely breeze and even though we were sailing close hauled into wind we were on course for our next stop. As the wind does every day here in Portugal it picked up at 2PM which was great however it veered round to the South which meant we had to beat into wind again - something that we both hate. Our 50 mile hop soon increased to 60 which added another few hours to our journey and to top it off there were some strong water currents working against us. Just about all day we were cruising around the 6 Knots mark which is fast however the GPS said we were only doing 4 or 5 which is really disheartening as all you want to do is get in before dark so you can sit back and relax but this day it was not going to let us. One thing we do in wind is sail, we had about 10 yachts behind us but gradually one by one they passed us, not under sail mind you but under motor and before long we were all alone out in the blue. We striked up the engine at about 6PM for the last 14 Miles in.   If we had not it would have been at least another 10 hours for us getting no-where fast!

Each day we sail we have a little routine that we kind of follow.  On a long hop it is up and out ASAP, then tea and coffee, get clean if we are doing big hop’s we usually bird bath and use wet one’s however sometimes it is get up extra early to shower but this adds 30 minute to departure time because the hot water heater takes 20 minutes. Next is breakfast usually something easy, more tea or coffee.   We then plot our course a little more accurately, read about the place we are sailing to and tell each other the highlight’s if any, then we start talking about lunch. Lunch and dinner talk can last hours we imagine things that we can cook up or come up with elaborate ideas of food we could create down stairs. We both take it in turns in no particular order, it is who ever has the most enthusiasm about their culinary ideas. It is always nice, dinner is the same, by the afternoon we are all ready to arrive and normally get a little shitty if the wind is no good at about 3 or 4 PM. This is the time you know pretty much how late you may be sailing in. 

Special comments by Fiona:.  We’ve been a bit unlucky so far cruising down the coast of Portugal with minimal wind, oh except for when we flew into Lexios at a steady 25-28 knots.  But the morning we set off from Peniche with a bit of wind was fantastic!  It made me realized how much I love sailing as opposed to motoring along.  What does annoy me most is when the wind swings and before you know it we are sailing into wind, tacking constantly and making little ground.  What annoys me even more is when a dozen other boats pass us.  I’m discovering the taste for speed!!!  Oh well, we still enjoy ourselves nonetheless.

Day 57

Destination – Cascais

Traveling Direction –South

Wind Direction – South East

Swell – Slight (1mtr)

Average Speed – 4.6 Knots

Top Speed – 6.4 Knots Through the water

Total distance – 59.5 Nautical Miles

Travel Time – 13.02 Hours

Temperature – 26 degrees

Crew     - Fiona (Happy to have some wind back in our sails)

Missing Work – Not Yet

Expenses –€0

Next Destination – Oeiras