Tuesday 15th Oct - Still in Cascais
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Sat 18 Oct 2008 14:56
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Cascais is one of those ports of call that you
don't really relish leaving. It is a major port of call for many
larger yachts heading down or up the coast for that matter that tend to miss out
some of the smaller fishing ports that we have called in to. The only
drawback for us was that the area of the marina we were allocated a berth in was
rather clostrophobic, as we were surrounded by the very high harbour wall and
surrounding dockside area. We decided to delay departure but change the view to
that of the anchorage outside the marina and that it was also time to check
out the underside of the boat as it has remained a unseen mystery since launch
day back on July 31st. Not a great amount of time but as I had personally
stripped down the saildrive legs, installed new seals behind the propellors and
bolted the propellors on as well I felt my handywork may need some
exploration just in case.
It was also an excuse to use the new 12 volt
diving compressor we had bought from the USA 2 years back. Not having the room
for dive bottles and high pressure compression equipment to fill them we opted
for a handy system which links the diver with a plug-in electric compressor via
a 55' air line. So we went out to anchor in some rather dirty looking water
and donned the diving kit. Nikki promised not to unplug the
wires connecting the compressor to the battery whilst I was down below
as I duly dissapeared into the murky and surprisingly cold water. Whilst all the
main components were still in place - 2 propellors, etc it was very
dissapointing to see the gaiters at the top of the saildrive leg peeling away as
I had taken every precaution to ensure they were glued in place before launch.
The port gaiter was the worst so I finished the job the sea had started and
peeled it away before it worked its way down to the propellor and became
chewed to destruction in the prop itself. The starboard gaitor was
starting to peel but decided to leave that for another week as the water was
cold! But the dive gear worked fine.
We stayed at anchor for a very windy
night before leaving Cascais and heading for Sesimbra another fishing port
some 26 miles south of Cascais.
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