Leaving Lagos, March 22 2007

Well, February just flew by, taking us a bit by surprise to tell the truth. We had expected to be long gone by the end of February, but the decks just continued to be scraped and caulked, a process that took up much more of our time than anticipated. However it is all done now, and by doing it ourselves we saved at least €4000 so we are well pleased with our efforts, and we hope that the black stuff stays in place when we head into the Med and the decks bake in the summer heat.
Frustratingly the weather sensed that we were ready to leave and moved in with a week of frontal systems trailing down from the UK and destabilizing our lovely spring sunshine. But, eventually we managed to cut the umbilical cord to the pontoon, say goodbye to some friends and hasta luego (see you later) to others. …….
Alvor
Once out of the marina we headed for the nearest anchorage at Alvor (a huge voyage of 3.5miles). Motoring in amongst the huge sand-dunes and hundreds of wading and migratory birds, to the fishing port was beautiful. You could spend weeks here at anchor – some even anchor their boats here for the winter and head back home, it is so well protected. We enjoyed a few days of chilling out here, staying clean by visiting the nearby sports centre for a swim in their fantastic new 25m pool.  Unfortunately the village has sold its soul to the devil and the bars are full of the sort of English and Irish people that you really don’t want to meet on holiday, and the live music was even more terrible than that of Lagos ….. we would never have thought it was possible.

Portimao/Ferragudo
After a few days we said adieu to Pam and Keith on Two Easy – who had also left Lagos for the quiet and calm of Alvor, not to mention a huge saving to the budget of around €20 per day. The disadvantage of Alvor is that the entrance is tidal so we just exited at high water and cruised along to Portimao/Ferragudo to anchor in the river opposite the tacky new marina buildings. The weather kept us there for a couple of days before we could be released to attempt a move to Albufiera or Vilamoura. However cold, strong easterly winds and the combined effects of a southerly and easterly sea drove us back to Portimao to lick our wounds. The following day we were rewarded for our patience with a downwind sail in an offshore force 5-6 over a flat sea that kept us flying along all the way to the Faro/Ohlao lagoon entrance. It was just too good to stop at Vilamoura!!!
Faro/Ohlao
Turning to enter into the lagoon we had 32 knots of wind over the deck, no wonder we had a quick trip. We crept up the narrow channels of the lagoon to Olhao, where we were directed to anchor in the last space in the anchorage next to the marina. The marina was built a few years back, and still is in the process of development. Currently (March 2007) there is electricity on some pontoons, no water ( except by dinghy at the fishing boat marina) and no showers/toilets. The marina is full of local and long-term boats paying very cheap rates, and there is only one slot available for emergencies.
It was no hardship to anchor in this small space though, as we had a fresh fish, meat and veg market 100m from our doorstep and a free internet connection (by  putting the external wifi antenna in a round bottomed cooking pot pointing at the Algarve Digital connection on the wharf!! – this is a technique we learnt from a Dutch couple in Cascais)
We could have anchored in the lagoon off Ilha Culatra, protected from any swell by the sand-spits  all around, but the NW wind was cold and fierce and we were on mission to get to Spain by Easter so we pushed on. It is another anchorage where boats are left for the winter months while their owners go and visit their homelands….  As we were leaving, we met David and Liz on Kjemperjekk on their way into the lagoon – the only Lagos boat that we have seen in 2 weeks despite the number of boats leaving at around the same time, bound east for the Med.
Ayamonte
A short sail / motor found us at Ayamonte in Spain, at the entrance to the Guardiana river. It was fantastic to only pay 13 Euros per night and to go out for tapas again. Although Portugal was delightful, and the cost of living in Spain is higher, it is good to be able to explore another culture again, and to have different choices of food in restaurants, later hours and possibly to enjoy a more independent and thriving economy. Without wanting to knock the Portuguese, even in the smallest Spanish villages the mood seems to be more positive and upbeat.
When we met Portuguese people we were impressed by their calm and tolerant nature, respectful and helpful. They seem to achieve great changes, albeit slowly, by persistent efforts of democratic action. Unfortunately the police state was overturned only 35 years ago, and some unbelievable bureaucracy persists in all areas of government agencies. As long as you do not have to deal with these agencies, Portugal is a heart-warmingly nice place to be, but it was time to move on. We arrived in Spain just 2 days short of spending 6 months in Portugal. After 6 months, you are in theory subject to a boat tax. We were informed that this is rarely enforced, and usually by a raid on a marina. The taxes are subject to a very complicated formula, but would only be around £40 a year. The worst aspect is the inconvenience, as the tax has to be paid on one day of the year, in the post office, on the same day that the annual road tax is due, and most post office officials appear to have gone to post office training camp with the UK PO of the 1970’s. One day we waited over an hour just to post a single letter to the UK and it appears that smiling and courtesy have been banned in post offices throughout the country.
And another thing – spoken Portuguese is the most difficult language to understand and to speak. Despite a lot of effort, we failed miserably to communicate with local people outside of the tourist destinations. Now it’s time to start trying to speak Spanish again, after so many hours spent at night school…….
On paying our fees at the Ayamonte marina office, we discovered that Matador has also been here before, in August 1997, on its previous voyage. Déjà vu of a different sort.
After an overnight stop, we set off up the Guardiana river, which forms the border between Spain and Portugal. This creates endless possibilities for not knowing the correct time ( Spain is 1 hour ahead) and for creating offence by flying the wrong courtesy flag!
San Lucar (Spain) and Alcoutim (Portugal)
At the entrance to the river is a low road bridge, which the pilot book claims has a clearance ‘reported to be 20m at high water’. The top of our mast is 17m high, so this resulted in a few minutes of buttock-clenching as the tide pushed us unrelentingly under the bridge. The view from the cockpit was not for the faint-hearted, and a huge sigh of relief resulted as we emerged unscathed the other side.
We motored up the most un-spoilt, un-developed river that we have ever seen and anchored between the frontier villages 25km upstream at Alcoutim/San Lucar. A few fincas and quintas (small-holdings) scatter the waterfront, many of them taken over by English and Dutch families escaping the rat-race to till the land, replacing the old local families whose children have long-ago gone off to seek their fortunes in the same rat-race in the bigger towns and cities. The local action was between a few dogs patrolling the villages, but once ashore the villages had a quiet, laid-back character and a couple of well disguised bars contained the few locals who ventured out to watch football on the bar telly….
We enjoyed a few beers with Robert, an English guy who bought a finca 15 years ago, before going off to enjoy the Caribbean and beyond in his Trintella 29.  He entrusted us with his DVD collection to entertain us during the evenings in the river – after all, he knows how lively things get around here!
The next day we climbed the Spanish side to the old fort with fantastic views of the river and the surrounding countryside. There is just nothing but rolling hills to see on both sides of the river. At some time hopefully, it will be made a national park on both sides of the river, to preserve the natural beauty of the area in both countries.
There were many live-aboard boats left safely at anchor for months (years?) in the river, and not a single plastic fantastic production boat to be seen.

We then moved upstream to Pomorao (Portugal), a tiny one-bar village left over from the mining of sulphur and manganese, which were exported in large ships in the late 1800’s. The river has silted considerably since then, and we hit several shallow patches approaching the village. We turned back and anchored half a mile below the village, unaware at the time that our attempts had been the subject of considerable amusement to the locals …….o barco azul ?? everyone said as they met us in the bar. Yes, we replied sheepishly as they nodded their heads knowingly. The town marina (pontoon) captain and also captain of the local tourist ferry, of course knew the channel through to the town quay and offered to show us through but we were just as happy at anchor ½ a mile down river in the tranquility of it all.  It is perfectly possible to negotiate the shallows to reach the small pontoon on the village jetty and stay for some time for free.

The single bar was the cheapest yet – €1 for a wine and a beer together. If you want to be a member for the year to enjoy cheap drinking, free showers and hospitality it costs a whole €6 to be a member – very worthwhile we thought, although time-at-the-bar happened at around 8.45pm
Having learned our lessons, we made our next exploration up the tiny Rio Vasco in the dinghy, and found some small native terrapins sunning themselves on the bank. Stuart did a bit of fishing – I was right to be pessimistic, and cooked up leftovers with lentils which was surprisingly yummy, to accompany our DVD-watching marathon before returning Roberts collection the next day.

On returning downstream we dropped off the DVD’s and were greeted on the riverbank by Robert with a gift of a bucket-full of mandarins straight from the trees on his finca. They were heavenly. We can well understand the attraction of owning a small-holding on the riverbank with your yacht moored at the end of the garden, and wonder when we will see a place and people as naturally beautiful and open as this again.

This was really the end of Portugal for us and we had a fast sail under genoa back downstream to Ayamonte. The passing of the bridge was only slightly less worrying the second time around.

The great teak deck refit - What a way to spend Christmas ……and January ….and February…….

Matador in live-aboard mode. The full sun awning that we acquired with the boat served as a useful circus tent and also kept the dew off the decks while we started work.

The decks required renovation, as many of the deck screws had lost their caps, the decks were worn in places, and the black caulking was falling out. We suspected that some of the screws had moved and corroded and were allowing tiny leaks into the lockers below. It would be impossible to trace which ones were troublesome as the water tracks along ribs in the structure of the boat, so the wet lockers may not be underneath the leaky screw. We were lucky as our decks are solid and not balsa core under the teak. Had the decks been a balsa core type this operation would have been more urgent as if water gets into the balsa it must be dried out before being re sealed or rot could develop resulting in spongy decks.

Before – bare screwheads, worn teak and missing and untidy black caulking.

Step 1
First Steph uncapped and withdrew all the screws from the decks. The screws are only there to hold the deck in place when it is first laid – it is glued or epoxied in place so the screws are superfluous. Some screws had been replaced in the past with slightly longer ones that went  down too far and pierced  through the fiberglass decks, creating a pathway for sea-water and rain.
One problem is that due to corrosion, about 10% of the screwheads would break off during this process and could not be withdrawn.  Using a small plug-cutter on the drill it is possible to drill down around the shaft of the screw, leaving the screw standing with a hole around it.  It was then possible to draw the screw using pliers. The really stubborn ones required the screw to be heated up using a small grindstone and a dremel, until the screw smoked.
 This heat softened the fiberglass around the screw, breaking its hold and it could be twisted and pulled out with pliers.
Repeat 1000 times!!!

The screws removed – about 10% of the heads snapped off due to corrosion – these had to be drilled out
There were approximately 1000 screws in the decks!

 

Step 2
The holes were all drilled out to the same diameter to reveal the top of the fiberglass deck beneath the teak. We were relieved to see that the teak was about 8mm thick, so we know that we are OK to sand it. The most successful drill bit for this operation was a spade drill bit which Stuart had to grind down for a perfect fit for the new deck plugs. The pointed tip of the spade drill was placed in the old screw hole, thus centering the drill.

Step 3
Stuart filled the holes with a white thickened epoxy, using a syringe to inject each hole to a level approximately 2mm up the teak, effectively forming an epoxy nail..  Where holes penetrated the fiberglass deck, the epoxy runs into the holes and sets, sealing it from water ingress, Some holes required a further application.

The hole on the left shows that the epoxy has dribbled into the space below the fibreglass decks, indicating that this was one of the potentially leaky screw-holes. After leaving the first dose of epoxy to cure for 30minutes a second dose filled the holes and it looked like all the others.

Step 4
Once the epoxy had cured, the holes were recapped with teak plugs, which were glued or clear- epoxied into position. Stuart tried both techniques and found that, although a bit messy to work with, the epoxy worked better at filling any gaps around the teak plug. Overspill didn’t matter as once set the excess can be chiseled and sanded off. Where the extraction of the screw  had spoiled the edges of the hole, a slightly larger hole was drilled and a larger plug made in order to make a good fit.
The glue used was a one-part expanding polyurethane wood glue. You can find a type of this glue called Balcotan on the Robins timber website (although we used a local equivalent purchased from the local carpenter – we never found this product in chandleries, hardware shops or builders merchants despite them all being very well stocked).

We made our own teak plugs out of a block of solid teak (50cm x 11cm x 6cm), using a plug cutter on the drill. Once the glue or epoxy was thoroughly hardened the plug and excess glue was chiseled level with the surface. Sanding later will remove the last little stains and blemishes.

End of Part 1 – a spotty deck

Next thrilling installment – the removal of the caulking, re-route the grooves and re-fill with new caulking – and Stuart's home-made tools……….and then for the final sanding………

Step 1 Cut through the old caulking with a stanley knife

Step 2 Scrape out the old black stuff

Step 3 , scraping with a home made tool

Step 4 Filing with a homemade file

Step 5 Routing the grooves

Step 6 Cleaned and primed slots

Step7 Filling with DC280

Step 8 Spreading

Step 9 Ready for sanding

 PS I now have a Fein Multi master machine which has attachments for removing caulking and seems to be the choice of many deck repairers. They are magnificent tools on a boat,not just for decks.

Lagos, Algarve - December 2006

They call this the velcro-strip here with good reason. We had a look at some of the other ports on the Algarve, and have spoken to many other live-aboards. The consensus is that Lagos is the best place to winter, close to bus and train stations and supermarkets, chandlery shops etc, so we have signed up to stay until February. It is now 14-18 degrees during the day, and it rains about every 3-4 days, but drys up very quickly after the deluges. The first rains of the winter cleared out the forests further up the mountains. The debris started to fill the marina, which is to the side of the river, as it got caught amongst the outer boats, causing huge rafts which threatened to snap the mooring lines. The ingenious marina staff drove a small boat around with a riot shield on the front, pulling the rafts off the boats using a small anchor and then pushing the rafts downriver out to sea.

Winter storms bring trees downriver

We have a Christmas meal booked in our favourite restaurant with 2 other couples from the marina, and look forward to the Portuguese festivities over New Year.

On dry days we continue to extract and plug all the leaky screws on the teak deck (about 1000 of them) and remove and reset the windows so that we will (hopefully) have dry lockers next year. See the technical bit for how we did it! (Matador – Decks)

We hired a car while we had visitors last week, which enabled us to visit the mountains and the coast – all of which is very beautiful. There are plenty of opportunities for winter walks, cycles, and kayaking for which the mild autumnal weather is just perfect.

The tourists.......Steph’s mum and her friend Allison visit from Suffolk

We finally have (slow) wifi access on board in the marina, so life has improved considerably – how did we ever do without it! Hopefully you will find it much easier to get in touch with us for the time being.

We met a German couple here a few weeks ago, who have cruised the Med for 6 months of the year for 6 years. They showed us lots of photos of places and gave us tips about where to anchor to avoid the expensive marina costs of the Western Med. Greece and Turkey are our intended destination as soon as weather allows in the Med, although the Balearics look really fantastic too. It seems that we were right to try and visit the Eastern Med before going further afield, as they showed us that it is possible to stay safely, sometimes even for free all year in some places in Greece and Turkey – it will certainly be a big help as our budget is really taking a hit in the Algarve, and the Western Med will be even worse with marinas costing more  than a hotel room  - 100 euros per night

Merry Christmas
A few more weeks along and we have been researching our plans for next year - our plans are not fixed in stone as we want to stay able to react to suggestions and information on route but as a general idea we intend to get on the move as soon as the spring weather allows - coast hopping down to the Med via Gibraltar. Then a fairly quick trip along the Spanish coast where the marinas are a fortune and quite full all year but jack up the rates in their high season which starts in some marinas as early as April or May.
From there it will be out to the Balearic Islands where hopefully we can anchor most of the time. From there to Corsica and Sardinia and then possibly some of the Italian islands and on to Sicily . From there we get a bit vague and it will depend on the progress and weather we go on up to Croatia or head south to Malta and possibly Tunisia. We had hoped to get to Greece or even Turkey but looking at the distances and the speed we have started travelling at we’ll be surprised if they don’t have to wait for 2008 and 9 . We now can’t see ourselves getting out of the Med for about 2 to 3 years, there is just so much to see.

Our Christmas day was a marathon meal at ‘Fernandos’ of 6 courses which took 5 hours to consume along with a few bottles of wine. The food was fantastic and only the third serving of roast pork and turkey along with another big dish of veggies defeated us. A doggie bag saw that the cats that live out in little houses near the harbour wall had Christmas as well.
They were very appreciative – despite looking extremely well-fed.

Christmas dinner with friends from ‘Roamer’ and ‘Marlin’

After a walk to the beach and to feed the cats we met more friends in the bar on the marina and socialised till 4am. Boxing Day was to be a cruise to the next port for rum punch on the quay but a brisk wind from the very direction and a lumpy swell put an end to the cruise. We, like many others had spent a day preparing the boat to go to sea. It seems that we all start poking things in places that are fine in harbour but when you decide to go sailing you have to find all the things that will undoubtedly dislodge from their homes and projectile around the boat and either break or hide where you will never find them again.
So after all the preparation it was down to the next pontoon and out with the Rum Punch and a jolly nice afternoon was had none the less.

Next day we had some rain. Not much but it was a bit blowy and overcast. It’s the first clouds we have seen in nearly 3 weeks so we can’t really complain. The sun in the completely blue sky has kept the day temperature around 14 to 17 degrees , T-shirt and shorts most of the day and as the sun goes down the temperature falls very quickly and has actually given a frost on the pontoons a couple of times. We haven’t seen the frost as it is gone by 9.00am and we are never up in time to see that. The marina is a friendly place and we have met lots of interesting people here. Several are buying ruins in the country and rebuilding them as this is the place they choose to settle. They keep telling us that we will be back one day. We can’t say if they are wrong but there is a lot to see first and we can’t believe that this will be the only place that has what you would want to have if you are settling, although it certainly does offer a lot. The mountains are quite spectacular, the beaches beautiful and the climate pretty good. Although the seaside towns are dedicated to the hundreds of tourists and ex pats real Portugal can be found very easily. The standard of living is high and although there is poverty you don’t see it much at all.

Barragem de Bravura

Spot the fishermen......?

 Most of all the people are polite and friendly; they genuinely want to help whenever they can. A couple of days ago Steph was pushing her bike back with the shopping carefully balanced all over the place and a 20ish year old girl walking the opposite direction stopped and asked if she needed help to carry her shopping back. You wouldn’t get that in the UK if you had dropped it all over the ground.


They have their rules and regulations but the Algarvian people seem not to be so hung up about the rules and they just generally sort of follow them. There are some notable exceptions such as if you renovate an old dwelling you must allow the archaeologists in to dig about for relics. This can take as long as they like (they decide) and you pay them for their time. One couple decided enough was enough after two dog skeletons were all they had to show for 2 months digging and 2,000 euros wage bill. They will now be able to start their building work just as soon as they have finished washing and cleaning the bones and passing them back the authorities.

You can get on the spot fines for traffic infringements if caught but you will have to find the correct policeman from one of the 5 or 6 different forces to decide you have done wrong. You will rarely see one after dark unless you know where their office is and they are generally not out looking for work.

Despite the marina being quite expensive, the cost of eating and living is relatively low. You can eat a basic meal accompanied by a drink from about 5.5 euros and a good meal out including wine won’t set you back any more than 15 euros each. Wine is cheaper than beer, as low as about 50 cents a litre although we prefer to pay about 1 euro a litre as we are a bit fussy. Meat in the butcher is very high quality and if you want mince it’s made for you immediately straight from the beef steak in the counter, no extras from the floor, just pure good beef through the mincer and into a bag. There is a wide variety of fish but very little shellfish available which we have been surprised about. The local method for fish is simply to cover it in salt and throw it on the charcoal grill. On still evenings you can see the smoke rising above the town from all the charcoal fires outside the houses in the little back streets. The smell of sardines grilling permeates the air. One couple we know sat down to a delightful meal in a small garden restaurant area on the side of the road. They asked what there was to eat and the little lady pointed to the sardines - no English spoken here. A bit limited, they thought, but the sardines looked good, so they accepted and ate well with a second helping provided with wine. On coming to the end of their meal they offered some money which was accepted with a kind of bewilderment. It then gradually dawned on them that this wasn’t a restaurant at all but a private garden and they had just eaten the family supper. Another example of how the Portuguese people can’t do enough to help you.

We are looking forward to the spring where the already breathtaking scenery will come into flower and it will start to warm up. We also are looking forward to the New Year fireworks on the harbour and a few days later the Dakar rally passes through the next town with a night stage locally. That is the Paris Dakar rally only this year it starts from Lisbon. That should be quite exciting.

Happy New Year !!!
Well, the fireworks were a disappointment, but we could see the fireworks for the next 2 towns in the distance which were spectacular – you win some and lose some.

The glowing champagne flutes are still going strong (a wedding present from Sue) and had another outing to see in the New Year – they glow a weird radioactive-looking blue when liquid is in the glass. Sort of off-putting, but wonderfully tacky!

Back in one of the local English bars a riotous evening was had by all, mostly by the owners of the bar.
The bar staff had to break up a fight between the owner and a (now ex-) member of staff. Later the owner was so pickled that he went outside into the cold air and fell over cutting his top lip wide open. While he was being attended to and waiting for the Bombeiros (firemen with first-aid training in ambulances) his wife toddled out into the night air to see how he was and also fell over bloodying her nose.
It’s the first time we’ve known a bar-manager to consider banning his employers from the bar for drunken behaviour.


New Year’s Day was much calmer  - after a late start we cycled to Porto do Mos – about 8km west of Lagos and out of the easterly breeze. We sat on the beach with all the tourists and sun-bathed – thinking of Old Blighty and the gales and the cancelled New Year fireworks and thought ourselves extremely fortunate!!
The glorious weather continues into 2007……….

Flamingos at nearby Alvor ..... they are white because they do not eat shrimps here...

The Lisbon-Dakar Rally passes through nearby Portimao before crossing to Africa for the tough stuff – some look like they might not get that far...

Stuart’s birthday – another excuse to eat out ..... with friends from Charluce, Marlin, Two Easy, Roamer and Noble Warrior. ...

And to work off the excesses we now have our own beach volleyball club twice a week:

The beautiful beaches of the west coast on one of our regular walks:

Lagos, Algarve. 1st November 2006

Yep we have finally made the Algarve in the south of Portugal. On the whole the trip has been a good one but we have had to duck and dive from un-typical weather systems from across the Atlantic. Cascais saw us holed up for 3 weeks sheltering from 5.5m swells and winds from the south to south west up to force 8 or more. The wind should be North and force 3 but there we go.
The trip from Cascais was a fantastic sail for the first 20 miles but then the wind went through 180 degrees, then another 180 degrees 10 mins later, and then to nothing - meaning a motor in little wind to Sines.

Sines
Sines is a pleasant old, small town with a big port and oil refinery as well as a well set up and very modern , clean marina and comfortable anchorage beside the marina. We stayed only one night as more poor weather was expected to make the marina and anchorage uncomfortable and the trip south impossible, which could result in a reverse trip back to Cascais , some 60 miles and not one we wanted to repeat. We did have time to indulge our favourite pastime and search out a local restaurant for a simple lunch. The menu consisting of BBQ Chicken or Bacalau, a re-hydrated dried cod found all around Portugal. We opted for the chicken, as the smells of it grilling on open coals in the front window had first tickled our taste buds. The restaurant had 3 long benches at which were placed stools and paper place mats. Ordering was by calling over to the owner /cook and saying Frango ( chicken). A delightful and tasty chicken and chips accompanied by a generous green and tomato salad, ¾ l carafe of wine 1 beer , two coffees and a delicious pudim flam. Total cost 17 euros for the two of us, about 12 pounds. We left Sines harbour at 10pm the following night for the trip 75 miles south to the Cabo SaoVicente (Cape St Vincent) and around the corner to Lagos and the Algarve coast. We sailed in the company of an Irish yacht “ Noble Warrior” . This was his 3rd attempt to round the cape as he had twice met 35 and 48 knot headwinds on the headland and been forced to sail the 60 miles back to Sines- all this single handed. The trip was to be a night motor to the cape and a rounding in early morning before the wind could get thermal assistance and hopefully an easier rounding would be had. This is one of the first night trips we have attempted on the Portuguese coast due to the huge numbers of nets and pots encountered along this unforgiving coast. One and a half hours out into the night and we got a call from Paul on Noble Warrior to say his engine had overheated and stopped. We rounded back and stood by ready to tow him back to port but he was able to establish the cause and after about an hour we were back on our way.
The night was completely calm and partially cloudy but the moon had gone down and it was quite dark indeed. This was a bonus as at about 2 am we got dolphins. Dolphins in the day are great but dolphins in the dark are spectacular. Brilliant green underwater torpedoes coming from left and right straight at the boat, then a jump and a green splash and on the bow and along the sides of the boat they play, squeaking and leaping and demonstrating the agility and speed they possess. I think dolphins take to bow riding (playing in the pressure wave of the boat) like humans take to skiing. We had their company for a good hour when suddenly thud, graunch. The engine slams to a stop, alarms buzzing at ear piercing frequency and we are all alone in the black inky Atlantic. A glance with a torch soon identified the problem as a large piece of old discarded trawler net. I know fishermen live a tough and dangerous life but they take life from the sea and leave rubbish in their wake. I am afraid I have yet to see a fishing harbour that is not polluted with polystyrene, plastic bags and of course rope and nets.
It left us in a situation far from perfect, 35 miles south of the nearest port, 7 miles off the Atlantic coast with no engine and no wind to sail even if we could make any way with a large piece of fishing net firmly attached to our prop. We inflated and launched the dingy and using boathook and cutter we attempted to try to cut the net loose but in the dark and from the dingy it was a futile task so we tied the trailing ends of the net to ropes and pulled them as high up the side of the boat as possible to reduce the drag and accepted the kind offer of a tow from Paul on Noble Warrior. Time now 5am and Steph took the helm under tow and I tried to get some rest. I knew I needed to dive as soon as possible as we could only make about 3.5 knots and there was no guarantee that we were not going to see 30 knots of wind on the nose at the cape. I didn’t want to be under tow back north after all this. As soon as it was dawn we dropped the tow and lay out the drogue from the bow to stabilise the boat as much as possible then donned a wetsuit and scuba gear. Safety line attached and bicycle helmet on head I went under the boat armed with the bread knife which I had found was the quickest knife at cutting through the net.
Fortunately the waves were still very small so the boat remained relatively steady and the underwater operations were completed in about 10 minutes. I was pleased to be out though.

The prop free we hauled the dingy back on deck and tentatively fired up the engine, all seemed ok and I could only detect a slight vibration which would hopefully suggest that not too much damage is done but time will tell on the bearings. Another dive will be necessary as a precaution and further check. The rest of the trip was uneventful except for more dolphins and some stunning views of the cape. There was one particular dolphin, we named slapper, as he seemed to enjoy jumping and landing on his side to create the biggest possible splash of water. Either he had something wrong with him, or he was demonstrating his particular trick to impress us.

Fortunately the wind was kind despite our late arrival and we had a very pleasant sail from the cape to Lagos, along a pretty coast, not unlike the Dorset coast around Poole to St Albans head.  Looking at the photos you may wonder what the fuss is about, but a 15m yacht arriving 2 days prior to this was surfing down 2m waves into the narrow harbour entrance!

Cape St Vincent

Lagos
We were met on the pontoon by enthusiastic English liveaboards. Lagos is a large marina with a considerable English liveaboard community. They have their own net, (radio news and assistance session) 3 times a week on the VHF where help finding services, spares or medical assistance is available. Also you can learn about the bridge evenings and card-making lessons – can’t wait!

Day one and a good part of day two have been swallowed by cleaning the boat - outside and inside. The three weeks in Cascais where the spray from the massive waves continually poured over the harbour wall has covered the boat in salt and muck which feels sticky and never really dries. It gets inside the boat and then it feels damp so a good clean is a necessary evil.

After working all day, we had a few beers and a great pizza with a Swedish couple on a similar trip to us, so got up a bit late this morning. Here we are enjoying the rain again. It’s due to get better and despite the squalls it’s still in the early to mid 20s so still in shorts and t shirts. Life’s not so bad really!!

We also celebrated by dumping the fishing net in the commercial waste bins – where it should have gone in the first place!

The net we removed from our prop!

The liveaboards have organised a ‘cruising symposium’ next Wednesday, so we may well hang around here for that. Between all the boats moored in this marina, they have probably covered much of the world, so we can hope to pick up on some advice about where to go and more importantly where not to go………it’s all too easy just to tie up here and not leave until the spring!!! Before we know it we’ll be going to bridge lessons!!!


If anyone would like to come and visit us while we are in the Algarve, it is an ideal time to do so. Flights to Faro are very cheap, and there is a railway line that runs along the coastal resorts with a train every hour. The water here is still 22 degrees and the sun is out today – it’s about 24 degrees. Maybe the perfect antidote to overnight frosts and winter gales.
(November 06)