Sundowner II log – 2004 update 9 - Figueiro da Foz to Portimao

Saturday 15th October
Fig Foz is a good spot to stop, nice town, friendly people and the bonus of another marina bar the only drawback we had originally paid 11 euros for the berth and 3 euros for a shower which was unnecessary as Johnny had texted us the code earlier having stayed there the previous day. When we went to pay for the extra night the lad said we should not have been charged for the showers and also it was only 10 euros for the length of boat which was confirmed by his mate who also pointed out that as we were a catamaran there was a 50 percent excess making it 15 euros a night - BOLLOCKS.
We left at 8.15 an hour before slack water when the river should have been slowing down, but as we neared the gap between the breakwaters the river was meeting the swell coming in making some pretty large sea and as we rose up and down a pilot boat entered followed by a very large container ship almost filling the entrance, stopping would have been cool but not possible with the fast flowing river so we squeezed through by getting far too close to the rocky wall. At over a good 6 knots we headed out on a westerly course through the pot markers, fishing fleet and anchored ship, most of which we could have avoided had we kept closer to the shore and not gone straight for our 6 miles offshore security. We finally set a southerly course but with the wind directly behind us and a squall approaching, also Dennis feeling totally pooh, all sails were lowered and storm sail hoisted. The cruising chute would have been perfect but the swell at 3 meters and more making just steering difficult it was left in the bag intact instead of in shreds which would have been a high possibility. With Dennis now horizontal Sandra took us to the port of Nazare, which involved another tricky entrance made easier by the arrival of a kind fishing boat that showed us the way in. Status Quo was a welcome sight moored up and the friendly staff directed us to the end of a small bit of pontoon just the right size for Sundowner. They were so pleasant and friendly they only charged us 30 percent for being pussys, which at their rates was still 14 euros - double BOLLOCKS.
Our stay was extended due to the worsening weather with the Navtex showing ports all along the coast being closed and waves up to 7 meters off Finisterre. A fishing boat out of Varzim was lost with all six crewmembers, two only being 24 and 25 years old, they were trying to get home but never made it. It brings back memories of Guernsey and we are grateful for our time spent there and can imagine the weather conditions happening in Beaucette. The difference here being we actually turn off our small heaters at night. We have a few trips ahead of us of over 60 miles the equivalent of Beaucette to Weymouth something we would not have considered a year ago at this time of year, it still feels a bit odd to have got this far and to have met so many like minded new friends in the last couple of months knowing also there is more to come down south but we are not looking too far ahead. Nazare is a really safe port and a lot of the fishing vessels take refuge here, due to its design it never closes and until you look out to the open sea you don’t realise how bad the weather is. A few days were spent with Karl, Julie and Buddy we also took a trip inland and had a pizza and visited a large monastery which was quite amusing as when we left by the front door after taking numerous photos we saw a sign informing us of the 7 euro entrance fee and that no cameras were allowed - you would think they would put one up at the side door. We also made a bus trip a few miles down the coast to St Martinho do Porto a harbour we had always planned to visit and are now more determined as it is perfect a small sandy bay, the entrance can be awkward due to the swell and you can be trapped inside, the entrance being one of the first to close, we were told six weeks is the record so far. We met an English couple that had cycled in 24 years previously and not left we tried to give them our web site but they don’t have electricity yet.
Status Quo left and hopefully will meet up with Balder in Cascais. Buddy made a lot of friends here and has settled on the boat after being rescued in Varzim, we saw the ex-rays of the plate put in his broken leg only a month ago and now he is running full pelt along the beach chasing seagulls. The local strays will miss Julie’s love and affection and small titbits of food - we think they had to go before the crew list increased.

Wednesday 27th October
Everyone left on Monday but with more bad whether coming in we will be here for a least another week and the two day weather window will only take us to Cascais or Lisbon. And as we are pretty settled here with fresh milk and football in the local bar where the marina fees are off set with the obligatory free beers - the record so far five hours at one euro fifty - the only problem all the anti Benfica songs now have to be changed to Porto who we are told are Arabs.

Tuesday October 26th
The weather isn’t improving and another fishing boat was lost but they did manage to rescue 5 of the 6 crew. The boat was tied up here along with a lot of others only a couple of days ago, it’s debris is now a hazard, also in Biscay there are twenty containers adrift. After the others left a couple arrived John and Sara and after chatting we realised they were the boat we had followed out of Sada in those awful conditions and the reason we had lost sight of them was they had turned into Coruna as they had mail to pick up. They rekindled memories of the large container ship that was rolling and crashing up and down in the waves in the early morning half light, we wondered what the captain must have thought when he looked at us just a small speck disappearing between the seas.

Friday October 29th
Scruff and Lady our friendly stray dogs took us for a walk to town today. Now Scruff although only a medium sized rascal is the top dog around here and protected us from the city riff raff taking on all comers, Lady is just a tart and lies down for anyone. We had to sit outside the internet bar/café to have a beer and missed our weather reports don’t know what Scruff had done but he wasn’t allowed in, it would only have confirmed that we were in for a break and the seas were decreasing. Thankfully we won’t be bothered by the locust plague swarming towards Gran Canary or the water spouts in Biscay, it will be with a bit of trepidation though as we’ve gone a bit soft over the last couple of weeks.

Saturday October 30th
A French boat has arrived with a friendly crew of family and friends on their way across to the Caribbean via the Canaries. The weather is improving but the sea is still rough with some huge swells crashing onto the shore. As we had not planned to leave for a couple of days we sort of admired their pluck as they left but they were back within two hours. Three meters does not sound a lot but it is above the height of an average ceiling and a cubic meter of water is heavy and weighs approximately one ton, imagine filling your garage with water then opening the up and over door and repeating it every ten seconds or so . . . . . . .

Monday November 1st
It’s time to move on, we were heading for Peniche 30 miles or eight hours away but after having to pay the extra 60 euros for our berth felt a bit peeved so over a coffee and cake we decided a short trip to St Martinho would brighten things up, after all it was near the top of our wish list of places to stop also we had been told it was a definite no no and we could be trapped inside for weeks. Three hours later Sundowner bobbed at her anchor in the beautiful bay. With a four o’clock rise the next morning a fantastic peaceful evening was spent floating aboard our home.

Tuesday November 2nd
As dawn broke the moon was still shining brightly upon the surf which was now rolling through the harbour bay entrance. So it was a cup of tea and back to bed with “I told you so” ringing in our ears. Later we phoned Captain Mike and his wife Sally who had been so helpful in our stay at Nazare to see whether our post had arrived and as luck would have it the post had just arrived that morning, the previous day being a bank holiday, and they said they could bring it when they returned to their home in St Martino at lunchtime. We rowed ashore early to do some shopping and were hailed by Derek and Kate who we had met when we visited by bus, they were sat in the sun with another English couple outside the café where we were to meet Mike and Sally who were now delayed due to the arrival of another six boats. We have heard that due to the poor summer there are still boats waiting to leave England - we wonder who will turn out the light. As it is was nearly lunchtime a beer seemed a good idea but not so hours later with the light fading when we were still in the same bar on our own with no coats looking across to Sundowner being blown with rain the row back looking unpleasant. Sally and Mike are very interesting people, Mike is actually the harbour master at Nazare and they have some great stories and seem to have lived in a lot of places Crete being one which was were they were headed when they popped in seven years previously.

Wednesday November 3rd - St Denis day.
Happy Birthday to me! Well if someone had said I would be spending my 47th birthday at a time of day when I used to finish my paper round steering a small boat through a rocky entrance out onto the Atlantic off the coast of Portugal I wouldn’t have been surprised just curious as to how I managed to find someone to share it with who had the same spirit, some guys have all the luck. We creamed it down the twenty two miles to Peniche maybe we should have turned Perkins off but when you are doing over 6 knots and eating up the miles its difficult, also the days are getting much shorter now and Man Utd are playing in Europe tonight. It was nice to see the dolphins again and over a particular shallow patch the comical leaping type fish were in abundance. We arrived just after midday, which felt strange giving us all afternoon to chill out and chill out some more. Later after checking in and showering and before dinner we thought it would be a good idea to find a bar, to watch the football later, which we found up a back street the only problem United weren’t being shown until 10 o’clock and it wasn’t even seven we also had an early start for the twelve hour trip to Cascais.

Thursday November 4th
A pleasant day today sight seeing, we even visited the museum and had a nice walk around the walled city which took us to a pizzeria and over a beer discussed what a great evening we had the night before which included Rudd netting four goals for United, the bar owner putting happy birthday on the turntable, the singing, and the phone calls from home, all in all a top day. With perfect conditions for sailing today flat seas, right wind and sunshine but along with the sight seeing and pizza we bought a nice electric kettle, a mini de-humidifier and donated a euro to the druggies in Lisbon.

Friday November 5th
We are sat on a very large pontoon with the super yachts in Cascais, which is in the Baia Cascais situated outside the very wide mouth of the river Tejo, which leads to Lisbon. We managed to arrive just before sundown after a late 7-15 departure. When we woke at five the wind was howling and it was very dark, later as we motor sailed with the aid of a very impressive swell and northerly wind we managed to average 5 knots until the turn into the Baia de Cascais where me met headwinds and current and struggled for a couple of hours, sometimes down to half a knot. There was some excitement as we passed the cape when we were hit by some very strong winds, a glance at the instruments showed 28 knots and rising but to what we are not sure as all hands shortened the sails. Our GPS showed 9.6 knots as our maximum speed, which must have been when we went down one of the waves. Had a great evening with Bud, Karl and Julie. First Guinness since San Sebastian, mega expensive, now found local bar with local beer at a quarter of the price.

Sunday November 7th
Well it’s Sunday night and we have made a decision to move on. We are sure Lisbon is very good but will have to wait along with Troia. Cascais, although beautiful, is one marina too many at 50% extra and with a good forecast for the week it is time to get around the corner in fair weather and to settle for a while and just chill in the knowledge that the next trip will only be a few miles without the swell and hopefully a nice trip up a river or two. As it is so nice here we did enquire about winter rates which quite reasonable until the dreaded 50% making it €1000.00 for 2 months. The wide bay is perfect for sailing and they have been awarded the Olympic sailing. We will stock up tomorrow at the amazing Jumbo supermarket and have lunch on the cheap on the beach with Buddy, Karl and Julie.

Wednesday 10th November. 3 o’clock in the morning as we have a cup of tea and check our position at anchor in the calm sheltered bay of Sines, feeling a little guilty, as we are about 200 metres from the small marina. It feels as if we have started our journey all over again after leaving the hub of humanity behind in Cascais which has everything you need with it’s large English presence but convenience isn’t what we are after so we missed the train to Lisbon and surrounding places to visit maybe another day. We have been lucky to get a break in the weather and hope to be around the corner by the weekend. The swell has decreased down to 1.5 metres and we covered the 58 miles to Sines in just under 12 hours after an early start and for quite a while under cruising chute. It was strange motoring with the large sail with just enough wind to gain an extra half knot or so, this enabled us to enter the harbour as the beautiful red sun touched the surface behind us and after it had disappeared there was still enough light to set the anchor and check our positions. We also had the pleasure of being the only ones in the bay along with our friends on Status Quo who had left at the same time. We will be in company with them as we make our way to turn east. This gives a feeling of security knowing there is someone just a few miles and a quick call away on the radio. We could hear Buddy as he ran on the beach last night, full of the joys of life, maybe he should have been called Lucky. More dolphins paid a couple of visits having fun and Karl radioed us to inform us the square house was in fact a submarine headed our way, it passed us half a mile away before disappearing below the surface. Makes you wonder what the dolphins think as they encounter this strange ship, probably “humans eh – don’t you just love ‘em – they’ll get the hang of it one day!”

Thursday 11th November
We were late in leaving Sines due to having to check the weather forecast at the marina office. It didn’t look too bad, the Navtex had given some bad weather further north with San Martinho de Porto closed and heavy weather west in Madeira so it was 9 o’clock before we set off and after an hour or so with strong winds and heavy seas we made the decision to turn back, particularly as we would be arriving at the anchorage at Punta da Arrifana in the dark or worse still rounding Cabo Sao Vicente with no moon at all. After getting a good deal with Carlos the marina manager we had a restful night in the marina and re-filled the water tanks we also had, after a refreshing walk, a good few hours in the marina bar where once again complimentary drinks were in abundance.

Friday 12th November
After an early start as the sun came up we headed due south. We had decided not to hoist the main as with the wind coming from behind in the north we could try the Genoa on it’s own along with Perkins. This proved an excellent decision as we powered south in the large seas and clear skies once again clocking 10 knots down the largest. As has become the norm just when it starts to become a bit hairy the dolphins arrived to supply some re-assurance and a distraction from the mayhem of the large breaking topped seas. Having made so good time we decided to carry on as we passed Punta da Arrifana where Dennis texted Donna, the landlady in our local pub in Yeovil, to ask if she could give his mates a ‘Westminster top up half’ as that evening he would be the most south-westerly bloke in the corner of Europe – funny the teacher at school always used to stay “go stand in the corner”. He also sent the same message to four other mates so hopefully a few glasses were raised! With perfect timing we approached Cabo Sao Vicente as the sun started it’s dip into the horizon. Possibly a little too close we edged around sometimes heading away when the seas snuck up to try and hit us beam on and with the help and support of the largest pod yet of dolphins the safety of the anchorage at Sagres was secured. After saying goodbye for now to the Atlantic swell as we turned east just to keep us on our toes a large wave came out of the darkness hitting us head on from the east. There are moments and events in your life that you mark or remember but rounding Cabo Sao Vicente in the company of scores of dolphins playing in the half light as the huge seas crashed around is one of those top ones and will be remembered for ever. With no moon the bay was in darkness and we chose a spot to anchor by the use of the c-map on the laptop. We needn’t have worried as when we awoke in the morning the bay was completely empty – not even a lobster pot let alone any buoyed fishing boats or other yachts. I suppose with today’s technology you could darken your windows out in your car and drive home right to your front door.

Saturday November 13th
With a great feeling of achievement tinged with relief we sailed out of Sagres bay and headed for Portimao and had a great sail in the sun, even having breakfast under sail and auto helm. The wind died and Perkins was turned on and when the drive was engaged a great shuddering sound came from the engine compartment and poor Perkins was covered in hydraulic oil. Under one prop we limped into the anchorage. It was so good to see Karl, Julie, Buddy, Johnny, Anna, Ruelof and his new pet from Sweden. A tidy up and wash for Perkins and a swim for Dennis to check the props it was all ashore to the bar at the end of the beautiful bay, the great feeling of sand under shoeless feet. Tigger arrived as we headed back to the boats so it was about turn to the other bar where we enjoyed more beer in the company of Peter and Toni. The settings and the weather were ideal for the beach party the next day with everyone chilled out after their various ordeals over the past few months. It felt strange to be in shorts and T-shirts in the sun in mid November. With phones to top up we all made the long walk to town the next day except for Ruelof who has moved along the coast and Tigger is off to Casablanca tomorrow on the way to the Caribbean. We are making the most of the good weather at anchor but will move into the marina to fuel and stock up and also try to update the website. We have a couple of weeks to cruise the rivers and harbours before settling down into the marina at Albufeira along with Status Quo and Balder for a couple of months. Depending on the weather we also hope to cruise up the river Guadiana in the new year but must be careful because a two week visit can take months with it being so nice – oh well, happy new year.

Monday 29th November
Well so much for cruising the coast with the good weather - it’s been a daily routine of getting together on the beach with volley ball being the staple exercise along with rowing to the various beach fires and boat parties in the evening. Also the obligatory televised Utd games in town up the Disneyland tourist strip. Shopping also takes up a large part of some days and with the large bob squadron at anchor bob radio at 8 each evening has taken off where we all play snippets of music on the VHF – all totally legal of course. A Portuguese fisherman joined in one night and serenaded us on his guitar. On Saturday it was decided that we should all move on up the coast to Albufeira stopping half way for lunch and to dive some caves. So the bob squadron left consisting of 2 English, Norwegian, Dutch and Italian vessels – waved off by the French who were staying, And with a good wind we tore through the unexpected big seas, which made anchoring look doubtful. Balder was the first to turn back due to doing only 3 knots and consuming large quantities of diesel pushing into the wind and sea, Massimo on his fast catamaran was darting from side to side keeping up with Status Quo who was making some progress straight ahead while Abe and ourselves tacked far out to get into a position to tack into Albufeira. Well after a few hours it was clear that although the sailing was exhilarating we were getting nowhere. Having messed up another tack in the large seas we used the engine to position ourselves to refill the sails only for the hydraulic fluid to once again deposit itself into the engine compartment leaving us no alternative but to sail the 8 miles or so back to Portimao. We even joined in with the dozens of small dinghy’s, which were racing as we sailed up onto the anchorage where we had felt so good sailing off nearly 5 hours previously. After a late breakfast it was the evening volleyball and bar then an evening aboard Sundowner. With hangovers all round Sunday was quiet with the large swell breaking on the beach keeping us to the boat making our Christmas cards. Around 7 while we were totally relaxed watching Pirates of the Caribbean Massimo enquired over the VHF whether we would require a tow and share his anchor as he knew of our engine problems. A bit confused we looked out into the darkness to the waves he was concerned about rising and falling around us. Well due to Dennis’ hang over cure of a bit of work the oil had been cleared up and refilled at 7 that morning so the engine was not too much of a concern just not to be trusted. But as we were close to the beach, which our shallow draft allows, the seas rising as it met the ledge below us certainly was a concern. A few minutes were spent warming the engine and attaching a fender to the anchor chain. We then reversed into the waves paying out the chain as we went and with a quick cut on the small plastic cable tie we said goodbye for now to the anchor.