Monday 15th September, We're there!!!!!!

After a quiet night anchored in Sines, we made an early morning get-away for the 80 mile passage south. We set the alarm for 6.15am and by 6.45am it was just light enough to think about getting the anchor up. It came up no problem, no weed, no mud.....easy. So off we headed south. I had calculated that we needed to achieve 6.5 knts all the way to get to Lagos before dark so off we blasted with the engine at 2300 rpm.

The wind started at 8 knts from the north east. Not good! That gave us about 1knt apparant wind which is not good if the main is up. Tactically it was better to have the main up - as if the wind changes then it would be better to have it up rather than have to go into the wind and raise it in 2 metres of swell. So we put it up. We spent the next 5 hours with the wind behind us and the main flogging in the annoying swell. It was wall to wall blue sky but for the first time for months still quite cold.

There were lots of dolphins around, some of whom came to play with us for a while but I must get a book on how to tell the different types. At one stage we saw some very large ones with much smaller "beaks", one of which was very white all over, almost albino. Unfortunately though no whales. 

By 2pm, the wind started to move more westerly which stopped the main flogging but at 12 knts was still not strong enough to keep our boat speed up so we continued to do our share to help global warming (well it does need to be warmer in Scotland) and burn 3 litres of diesel an hour. It then went a bit more westerly (the wind - not the boat silly) and we unfurled half of the jib with then an apparant wind of around 60 degrees and took our mid layer jackets off - the sun was now hot.

By 3.30pm, we were nearing Cabo St Vicente, the southernmost point of Europe with dire warnings in the pilot book about keeping a couple of miles off. The wind got up to 20 Knts and we turned the engine of as we rounded the point and put our mid layer jackets back on!! The waves were not half as bad as we thought they would be but it still was a bit scary given only two of us on the boat. At this point we were about an hour ahead of schedule. After St Vicente it is only 3 miles to Cabo St Sagres (it must be named after the beer) after which it is a turn to the east and out of the ever prevailing Atalantic swell. By this time the wind was up to 25 knts. We had one reef in the main and 60% of the jib and were tanking along at 7.5 knts on a slalom course avoiding the 3 million pot markers. What a sail! The best we have had all trip - and the wettest. Since we left Waterford for the 14 hour sail down to Crosshaven in Ireland, I don't think we have had a wave over the deck! All the Atlantic swell never made it. Turning into the shelter of the Algarve, we now had the customary short chop - broadside on, with a wave hitting the back quater every 15 minutes and soaking the helm (ie Me!!!). The sun dried out the wetness but left a layer of salt everwhere.

From Sagres to Lagos is about 15 miles which we did in 2 hours and then into the harbour before 7pm - making the journey in less than 12 hours. The final 3 hours of the trip were really great sailing rather than the usual motoring we had had to endure.

 

Our first view of Lagos (or at least the cliffs in front of it) with these nasty little waves that kept soaking me!! (no pics of Cabo St Vicente - Pam was too busy hanging on and I was driving!!!)

We turned into the shelter of the bay with the entrance to Lagos and took the sails down in 20 knts of wind - (what shelter?) and headed into the channel leading to the marina.

We moored up on the reception pontoon to register and then moved onto our berth just as it started to get dark. One big problem with Lagos marina is that there is not a lot of room and we were put next to a motorboat with a very high freeboard. That just wasn't going to work so we complained the next morning and were moved to the other side of the pontoon with a bit more room. I'll give a more detailed overview of Lagos in the next blog entry!

So that was it. We made it. Amazing! 2000 miles in 4 months with now 40 places that we have stopped at. There were many times we didn't think we were going to get here but we did. Magic.

As I write this (on Wednesday after 2 days relaxing - and watching Liverpool hammer Marseilles - aren't Liverpool doing well ever since I started to watch them "remotely"?) the trip down seems a long time ago as we seem to be in "holiday" mode. We have a Difficult Jet flight back on Friday (joke copyright Martin Edge) but are back down in October to continue the experience.

I will try and summarise some of our thoughts in the next blog entry and some first impressions of Lagos but one important announcement is the winner of the cheapest round in the world contest (well at least between Dunblane and Lagos contest). .......and the winner is.....

Actually it is very difficult as we now have a wild card in from left field called "happy hour". This just isn't fair as it seems to be only down here in the Algarve so for a moment the rules say happy hour doesn't count, so the winner is .....the British Bar in Rua da Arsenal in Lisbon with wine (for a big glass) and a half litre of beer for 4 Euros. However, a late entry when allowing happy hour pricing is Lazy Jacks in the marina in Lagos where the same (although a slightly smaller glass of wine) was only 3 Euros (and you can watch footy - did I say that Liverpool had hammered Marseilles?). And the Craic was good. For the best craic however, you had to go to Kehoes in Kilmore Quay but the drinks were 3 times the price!

As I said I will try and summarise some stuff and write a bit about Lagos in the next blog entries and although we will be going home for a few weeks, it looks like there is plenty to do down here including learning how to dive (again!) and some interesting sailing - so it looks like we will keep this blog running as long as some of you are reading it (work must be awfully boring? - is it?  I have forgotten).

So where from here? Short term plan is to go home for a few weeks, then come back to the sun. We will winter here and then in the spring look at going east toward the eastern med - or maybe just stay put.

Anyone figured out the book I had been reading in Ireland (you need to look at some of the blog entries around the Arklow / Kilmore Quay times to understand the question if you are confused)?

Comments

[Mike]

Well done. We look forward to hearing more detail back at Port Edgar over the dark winter months!

[Andy]

Mike, that was quick, I haven't finished editing the entry - ie trying to add more humour to it!! Read it again in 10 minutes.

See you next week

[Lu]

Very interresting reading your blog. We're planning a trip from Lossiemouth to the Med this summer ('09)in Escapade, our Van de Stadt 34 (we met on the 2006 Banff-Stavanger race). Good luck on your onward travels.