37:57.014N 8:51.963W                                                                            10-14 October 2014

Peniche, Cascais, Sines and new Crew                                              1311 Miles from Ramsgate by Log

Well the weather was permitting and so we decided to leave early on Friday morning for the 45 mile hop down to Cascais. The Capatinaire in Peniche was extremely helpful and did not charge us for the last night which is always nice. Norma and myself had a last day in the town walking around the castle and out to the headland before early to bed and ready for a 7am start in the morning.

            We left Peniche in company with Dave on Wild Beast II as he was also heading down to Cascais and he had rafted up alongside us so he had to move anyway. This is the way on this coast with long day sails and the majority of yachts heading in the same direction, Mediterranean or Canaries. One down side of staying near a fishing fleet was the greasy layer of fish detritus that we had to motor though to get out of the harbour, The fenders and Spectra’s sides were coated with the slimy stuff which was a devil to get off and managed to get all over the decks (yuk).

Norma finds a Peniche castle very funny                                                            A bit of company on the way

Dolphins in the background but look at the shine on that rail

We enjoyed the company of a group of dolphins for a while as we steadily pulled ahead of Dave. The day progressed in a dead calm and we finally arrived at Cascais by 15:30 in the afternoon having gone through a couple of rain showers along the way. Rain was not on our project plan at all when planned this trip but we had a lot more to come. That night we had all of Spectra’s winter covers on as a huge weather front came through with plenty of thunder and lightening to keep us up as the rain lashed the decks. The next day as the sun broke through we had a good walk around Cascais and if I say so myself it is a bit posh. There are lots of really large villas belonging to the rich and famous along the waterfront and we felt right at home amongst the glitterarty.

A bit of sand art in Cascais

The marina is very nice but at a cost which meant a host of yachts were anchored outside keeping their budgets down. As the wind picked up and a second night of thunderstorms passed through the anchorage slowly emptied and the marina slowly filled making quite a nice gathering by the second morning. We met the usual clutch of sailors heading mainly South with a few going North from many different countries and spent the morning swapping stories of our adventures. At lunchtime Peter Duke arrived to help us crew across to Madeira and ultimately the Caribbean.

            It’s great to have Peter aboard and I can catch up on all of the O2 gossip, but he could have left the British weather behind, it is miserable at the moment. Due to the large swell and yet another front coming through we decided to take the train into Lisbon on Monday and do a bit of site seeing. The day started fine but by lunchtime it was raining and we were settled in under a big umbrella at a café in a park to wait for it to pass. It rained and rained and rained at one point you could hardly see 20 meters in front of you the rain was so heavy. Many coffees, a cherry brandy or two and several hours later we were huddling ever closer to the umbrellas central pole trying to keep dry debating on how long it would take before Spectra floated past and we could just step aboard. Needless to say Lisbon was a washout; I haven’t seen rain like that since we last visited Norma’s Mother in Lisburn just outside of Belfast.

Huddled together as the heavens opened up

   All of that rain made Norma feel home sick

            Back in Cascais we paid up for our stay, ouch, the quoted price did not include tax so that was a stinger, and got ready to set of the next morning. It was a glorious departure and after lots of talking and lengthy instructions to help Peter get used to the boat and how we do things we finally managed to leave in style. 10 minutes later we returned in style to pick up the mooring line we had left behind which a nice Dutch man coiled up and passed to Norma as we came alongside. I have booked the crew in for a ritualised flogging later in the week.

            The 55 mile trip to Sines was very lumpy with a 3+ meter swell coming in from Starboard all the way making Spectra roll all over the place and us rattle around inside her like peas in a pod. Oh, and of course the predicted Westerly wind moved South leaving it dead on our nose all day, dare I say, yet again! On a brighter note we did see two large pods of dolphins, but they didn’t come over to play so no pictures I’m afraid and of course my fishing lure was completely ignored. I am beginning to think that the one fish I have managed to catch was a bit depressed and probably suicidal. I did make good use of the time by getting the sail repair kit out and repairing my old deckies. Much to Norma’s disgust with the soles sewn back on they now have at least another thousand sea miles in them. The new deckies that we bought in Porto are far too good for padding around the deck and besides they hurt my feet.

Make and mend                                                                                                Norma manages the galley as we roll along

Cabo Espichel in the swell

We are now moored in Sines which is the last port before Cape St Vincent and will hopefully be our hopping of point for the 500 mile(ish) trip down to Madeira. I say hopefully because the weather is very unsettled and the swell is pretty huge. I am keen, but there is no way I am going head to wind for 4 days with a 4-5 metre swell running so we will have to wait it out. Annoyingly the weather in Madeira looks fine, it’s the bit in between that is just horrible. We are planning to meet up with Tommy and Sue in Madeira and they have a hotel booked up to the 23^rd so we have a few days yet before the time lines become critical. Until the weather breaks the gallant crew of Spectra will just have to be content with the hot spots and highlights of Sines to keep them amused.

As an aside, Dave on Wild Beast II came into Sines a couple of hours after us and the Trawler Western Star is still here awaiting spare parts and a new crew member. I am pretty sure that like all good honest travelling folk we will be gathering around a camp fire (saloon table) soon for story telling, dancing and liquid refreshment (one dry sherry for Norma I think).