Cascais and Lisbon
Tillymint.fortescue
Sat 22 Aug 2009 21:27
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Saturday 22 August - busy busy since we arrived in
Cascais. Thursday night was spent out in the bay, it was a blowy night and
we noticed a few hefty tugs on the anchor chain as Tilly Mint swung into
the breeze but we didn't wake up on the beach so all was well. On Friday morning
we moved over to the Marina, one week on from La Coruna and it was time to fill
the tanks, swab the decks, stock the larder and do the laundry; tasks all
executed with the crew's customary ruthless efficiency and hosepipe addiction.
If only the kitchen floor could be mopped by closing the windows and doors and
setting the hosepipe on the room! Needless to say a little more finesse is
required below decks but I find myself oddly lacking in companions as I wield
the loo brush and vacuum, I just doesn't have the kerb appeal of the up
deck pool party. Our labours were interrupted by sea planes buzzing the harbour
and scooping up water to tend the forest fires that we could see smouldering
beyond the distant hills. It was dramatic and alarming for us but we could only
imagine the view from the beach as the planes headed hard for the shore,
skimming the sea and then pulling up and away over the town.
Our photograhers shinned up the mast for a better photo - nothing too much
trouble!
As we pottered through out tasks we noticed that
the wind was building and becoming alarmingly blowy. A boat moored alongside and
had to be helped into the berth by a rib acting as half giant fender and half
tug boat. The marina staff seemed to be taking this hairy parking manoevre in
their stride and announced, with a grin, that these winds are "normal"
for the time of year...ah, so these are the Trade Winds! They are
noticeably different, gusting Force 7, bending palm trees over; for all intents
and purposes there could have been a hurricane inbound as we huddled in our
fleeces on the restaurant terrace later in the evening (all the tables inside
had been reserved, now we know why!) Arriving back at Tilly Mint we found
her being hit broadside on by these fearsome winds, straining on the
pontoon and unable to respond to her natural instinct to turn her elegant bow
head to wind. We had every faith in our lines and ship board cleats but the
pontoon seemed to be straining to lift from the harbour, but hey, this is
normal! On board felt peculiar, the boat was heeling and the gimbled cooker was
at quite a tilt, we were underway and going nowhere. Cascais was going about
it's normal summer stuff throughout, there is a music festival this weekend and
a firework display scheduled for midnight; surely not in these winds we thought.
But yes, it went ahead, the noise drowned out by the wind and trails of
colour heading off across the bay at quite a scoot. Needless to say it wasn't
the best night's sleep/sail ever had but I can begin to understand why the
Portuguese explorers left these shores, if only to seek refuge in a port that
wouldn't blow the froth off the top of their cappucinos!
Bleary eyed we surfaced this morning and set off by train for a day trip to
Lisbon. On a tour that would have made a Japanese tourist proud we ticked off
many of the sights in our guide book and ended the day at the literally
unmissable monument to the great discoverers, life imitating art in the
associated photograph (except we haven't got as many explorers on board).
Tomorrow we head on south, having decided not to go all the way (to
Lanzarote), our destination is now Lagos (not the African one I hasten to add).
The skipper and a yet unpress-ganged relief crew will follow on in a few weeks
to complete the voyage. There has been dissent/mutiny amongst the
existing crew as to whether we could manage the last push of 500 miles from
Lagos to The Canaries in our final week. However I can't disclose any more
details of this saga as we have sold the story exclusively to Hello
magazine........move over Pete & Jordan!
Just a little post script: the winds have abated today so we should sleep
better except that the "music" festival has just kicked off again and, alas, the
"music" is not being carried off to The Orient the way it was last night. You
win some.... |
