Around the bottom left hand corner of Portugal
Tillymint.fortescue
Tue 25 Aug 2009 12:00
|
37:01.487N 008:58.833
Monday 24 August - this is our last full day at sea
heading down the Atlantic coast, around Cabo de Sao
Vicente and onto the Algarve. Last night we anchored off a very
pretty beach with the winds picking up as the evening wore on. By bedtime they
were back up to the attention seeking speeds that we experienced in Cascais
marina. Tilly Mint was rock solid and very cosy down below so we settled into
our annual game of Scrabble (which I always let the skipper win) and spent a
pleasant evening being spun around on the anchor chain (like one of those giant
tea cups at the fun fair). At one point I was heard to yelp - There's a huge
ships going right past us..!!!" Is was in fact the lights along the shoreline
sailing past in the 25 knot wind.
By way of an illustration of this strange night
here's a photo of Tilly Mint's GPS track from the chartplotter. According to the
log we covered 2 miles overnight in this strange wind powered dance around
the anchor.
Needless to say next day, early in the
morning there was no wind so we chugged our way down the coast, on the way
we ran over our first lobster pot which is rather like chucking a yoghurt
pot into a food processor. We left a scattering of plastic bits in our
wake, luckily nothing fouled the propellor and our apologies to the fisherman
but it has been an accident waiting to happen.
A breeze built up near lunchtime, the sun and sails
came out and then the best thing ever happened. We were joined by a multitude of
the very friendly porpoises (or maybe little dolphins) that we had last seen in
Biscay. They swam alongside, raced the boat, dived under the bow, jostled with
each other for the best spot in the bow wave, leapt and played for an hour. We
could hear their squeaks as they talked to each other and watched pods run in
from hundreds of metres distance to join in the fun. It was a wondrous sight and
a beautiful gift from the sea. Then the wind died and sea fell calm. Our friends
swam alongside for a bit but they missed the bow wave, we weren't such good
fun to play with anymore and one by one they wandered off. A few stayed
alongside as we motored on but not in such close quarters. We decided that this
had been our finest hour at sea!
We eventully rounded Cabo de Sao Vicente which is
the most South-Westerly point in Portugal (and Europe). There other places which
are more southerly or more westerly, but this is the nearest will be to The
Canaries in this voyage - still 530 miles away.
We anchored in a magnificent cove named
Enseada do Belixe; sheer cliffs rising above us and watched the last of daylight
disappear behind Cabo de Sao Vincente. We have sailed over 1200 miles and spent
160 hours at sea, the voyage is nearly over and so is our Blog. Maybe just one
more for old times' sake but not before another day on the
beach..........
|
