The day dawned cool, damp and overcast –
not the best weather to head out in, but the forecast was for northwesterlies
and we had to keep going. We had decided
to do a long haul passage to Cascais to gain some ground and try and get south
sooner, so after taking on fuel at the pristine fuel dock of Marina Douro, and
obtaining our fresh bread rolls for breakfast (we had them as sandwiches for
lunch), we headed out to sea.
The winds decided to co-operate today and
we had good 15-20 knot winds to help us along for the first few hours. In fact we were able to sail most of the day
which would have been really pleasant had the sun been out and the sea not a
complete washing-machine! For the first
time since our Bay of Biscay crossing I felt really unwell and spent most of
the day dozing on and off – luckily for me, Tad was able to stand watch (Otto
and Ray, our loyal autopilot and chart plotter do most of the work as long as
you give them the correct instructions) at the helm so I had the luxury of
trying to sleep off my sickness. We saw
very little in the way of other boats, except for the odd fishing vessels, but
lots of fish/crab pots. We are not sure
exactly what they are, but the Spanish and Portuguese have floats with a stick
and a flag (often the flags have blown away making these very difficult to see
until you are on top of them!) on them, indicating some sort of net/pot for
catching some sort of sea life. They can
be as deep as 90m in some places, but are often located in the vicinity of a
fishing port (as much as 5-7Nm out to sea). During the day, one can make an
effort not to drive over the top of them (a problem if your propeller becomes
entangled in the rope), but at night they are virtually impossible to avoid. You just keep your fingers crossed if you go
over them that they come out the other side and keep going!
I had the first watch from sunset to
midnight and was treated to a short visit by common dolphins – our first for
some time. They didn’t stick around very
long but it cheered me up. I caught a
glimpse of the sun as it sank towards the sea through a pocket in the clouds
and then it was gone. It was a very
quiet night with absolutely nothing in sight either visually or on the
radar. Tad took us through a rather challenging
passage between Cabo Carvoeiro and a group of rocks offshore – challenging
because there were a number of fishing boats parked in the area that he had to
avoid – during his watch, but when I awoke for my next watch at 4am all I could
see was a long row of coastal lights until dawn broke.
We arrived in Cascais about 2pm and found a
lovely anchorage off one of the beaches.
There were a few other sailboats already anchored there and the pilot
guide indicated a sandy bottom so it didn’t take long for us to be
secured. There was a good wind blowing
(of course, now that we weren’t going anywere!) and so we waited on board for a
little while to reassure ourselves that we were well dug in.
I have to say that anchoring is a good deal
less stressful than berthing in a marina but I guess it’s just what you get
used to as well. There isn’t much to
crash into when you are anchoring (other than the boats around you and perhaps
a cliff or two, but generally these are at some distance if you are lucky), and
it’s just a matter of making sure that the anchor will hold. In a marina,
everything seems very close and ready to make a big dent in your hull should
you misjudge!
Wanting to do the ‘right thing’ we went
ashore to the marina office with our papers, but the staff could not have been
less interested. We were informed that
unless we were staying at the marina they had no need to see our passports or
paperwork! The attendant suggested that we might like to call the marine police
on VHF 16 so that they could check to see that our anchorage was okay, but we
didn’t bother. We figured that if they
were concerned they would come and find us!
Walking into town was delightful – mainly
because the sun was shining and even though there was a good wind blowing, it was
warm! The cobblestoned pavement was worn
smooth by countless footsteps and the buildings were brightly painted and
decorated. Clearly a tourist
destination, there were a plethora of restaurants, cafes and beach-type shops
with souvenirs. We located a supermarket
to buy a few provisions, a post office to purchase stamps for postcards and
then just wandered. There seemed to be quite a few English people around and of
course Tad had to stop at one of the Irish pubs showing the World Cup soccer!
Having a relaxed BBQ dinner on the boat in
the sun was a treat and after plotting the next day’s course it was time for a
good night’s sleep.
Our anchorage in Cascais
Reading this recap reminded me of crossing to the Bahamas from Florida with Tad. Particularly the part about trying to avoid other boats at night!! Glad to hear you had some dolphin companions - it's a great sight when they swim with the boat - enjoy! Great pictures- thanks for posting!
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