37:6.49N 8:40.5W A Sting in the Tail!
Niord's Big Adventure
Tony Gratton
Mon 31 Jul 2023 22:48
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Sunday 30/07/2023 Sines to Lagos
Distance covered 83nm,
The alarm goes at 4:45am. We don't need it as we're
awake. In fact Tony has been awake all night, while Karen snatched some sleep
here and there thanks to her blocked ear. The music is still blaring, the crowds
clapping and cheering. It's like being moored in front of the Pyramid at
Glastonbury, as the stages are all on the waterfront! We raise anchor at first
light, the second boat to leave. Everyone else has the same idea, and there is
an armada of 8 boats heading South. A few miles down the coast Niord clocks up a
major milestone as her log passes 20,000nm.
We've been advised not to take the direct route as there
is a group of Orcas last seen in our area, including the most infamous of all,
"White Gladys". There's no wind so we motor following the 30m contour. Only one
other boat is doing the same, the rest are heading there direct. We need to make
the best time we can, as strong wind is forecast at Cabo de Sao Vicente in the
afternoon and evening. After about three hours with Karen on the wheel, she gets
a visit from the local lifeguards on a jet ski, who wave at her and give a
gracious bow! As we head further South the beaches give way to cliffs, the wind
picks up, and we are forced to stand further off for safety, which puts us right
in the Orca's playground. We're constantly scanning the sea for the
telltale fin, so Tony get's a shock when he spots a couple not far off our
starboard bow! Luckily they belong to two enormous dolphins, both well over 2m
long, but blue/grey rather than black. They play around the boat, and give us a
wonderful display of synchronised swimming. The most magical thing is that they
escort us down to the cape, so stay with us for four hours! They are our
guardian angels, as we're sure that if there were Orcas around they wouldn't be
here. King Neptune is looking after us!
By the time we reach the cape, the wind has risen to F6
with seas to match. We would love to sail here, but this forbidding place is
nowhere to be fooling around feathering the prop, and at the speeds we're doing
we don't want to risk any damage to the prop coupling or gearbox by letting it
freewheel as we did across Biscay. Cabo de Sao Vicente is the first of three
capes we have to pass to enter the Algarve. Once past there, the wind shifts 180
degrees, and drops to F3. We pass the next one, and the wind rises, past the
third and bang, suddenly we're in a F8! We're down at the South Western tail of
mainland Europe, and boy does it have a sting! We batter our way towards our
selected anchorage, and we're starting to see wind speeds of 50+ knots
sustained! Our Biscay record is smashed! The anchorage is untenable as the wind
is blowing right across it towards the mole. We decide we need to press on to
Lagos. A quick call to the marina reveals that we can still get in tonight. We
only have the main up, but it's time to put in a reef, which is automatically
our second reef for ocean sailing. This calms things down a bit, and the wind
backs to the North, so blowing offshore. The sea calms down
relatively.
We have one last surprise. There's an area marked out as
a fish farm on the chart just by the headland West of Lagos. Going into Cascais
we had a similar experience, and had to sail round a similar marked area. It was
empty, and put an hour onto our journey time. We figure this one is the same, so
press on. Suddenly we see grey buoys everywhere, and realise that this one is
populated! We crash gybe out, luckily with no damage, and without getting
fouled.
By the time we enter the canal to Lagos marina the wind
drops to just 40 knots. To make matters worse, it's like Piccadilly, and we take
our place in a line of boats going in. On the radio we learn that the reception
pontoon is full, so they tell us to go straight through the bridge and moor up
onto a pontoon just after it. We moor up and finally relax, but only briefly.
After registration, just one more hurdle to go. We have to moor up in a strange
berth in that wind. We get some help from a marinheiro. It's not pretty, but we
make it in without any issues. We're both shattered, again. We pack up the boat,
grab a quick shower, and find somewhere still open to eat at this late hour.
Afterwards, we tumble gratefully into bed.
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