Abandon Ship!

 

I arrived back from the my short trip to the UK, we stocked the boat up with food and water for the journey, stowed it all away and got ourselves organized. We awoke the next morning, checked the weather, which was once again bad and not as predicted from the weather charts. Whilst Mark was deciding whether we should go or not, he  received the sad news that his step father was ill in hospital. Decision made, no questions, we were going home.

We have therefore not made it to the Canary Islands, instead we motored up the river and left the boat in a much cheaper port in Lisbon. Tom has flown back to the snowy mountains of Val D’Isere, and Mark and I have flown back to brave the cold and snow in the UK.

The boat's home for the next few months

Bye bye Tom, see you in Val!

Thankfully Mark’s stepdad is now slowly on the mend but due to the constant bad weather and difficult sailing conditions, we have decided to wait until the weather warms up and the sea is calmer before continuing on with the trip. I have been assured that sailing is a lot more fun in when you can wear vests and shorts!

Now it’s back to the grind for a few months in London so that we can spend many more months continuing our extended holiday and updating this site with much more interesting stories and pictures of destinations further afield!

Watch this space…

Snowed in down in Somerset

 

How many dogs?!

While the cat's away...

We left the festive Viana Do Costello and continued south to the port of Leixoes, just north of Porto. After a very miserable welcome by the port authorities, Tom finally decided to call his Uncle Peter to let him know we were in town (I don’t think he even knew we were in Portugal) and an hour later we were having drinks and dinner in a local fish restaurant. Having met Tom’s Uncle Peter things became a lot clearer about Tom and his certain mannerisms….

We stayed in Leixoes for a few days and having walked around the town, seen all the famous Portuguese architecture, beaches and parks, we went to the most exciting place on the journey so far… a huge shopping centre and Ikea!!

In actual fact we were very impressed with the shopping centre, managing to cater for all. There was a Zara for Tom, 2 large electrical shops for Mark and Ikea for me! The boys were delighted to find a huge food court, offering every type of food possible and offering a meal with a beer and coffee for only 5euros! This became our obvious meeting and refueling point, so we didn’t end up leaving until 11pm. It’s amazing how exciting these soul destroying places can be when you’ve been deprived for so long. Mark lost his Ikea virginity and we obviously overspent just because it was cheap. I refrained from the tea lights and a plant this time!

We left Leixoes with a new spice rack, grill pan and a carpet in the cabin, and continued to head south. We unfortunately only made it as far as Ria De Aveiro. Having heard and read many bad things about boats being destroyed whilst attempting to head up the tidal river due to the strong currents etc. we braced ourselves and headed in. We were immediately hit by huge breaking waves and powerful swells and managed only a little way up the river before realizing we weren’t moving, so Mark steered us into a canal tributary, dropped anchor and waited for the tide to change. Once the current was in our favour, we moved to an anchorage point further up the river for the night.

The next day we set off for more fun and games with tidal rivers and their currents to Figueiro da Foz. Thankfully the time of our arrival was more favorable to the current but we still nearly got into trouble due to an extension of the sea wall. As it is still in the progress of being built, it was not on our charts and did not have a single light on it. Thankfully as we approached we could see the shadow of a crane and therefore managed to avoid it. We spent the night in the port but set off again for Nazare whilst we still had a window of good weather.

Our navigational ‘bible’ of the Spanish and Portuguese ports raved about the small port of Nazaré. A cute town with sandy beaches, the ports’ protection from bad weather and a quaint marina run by a delightful English couple, you can imagine we were pretty excited to get there. 

We arrived at night and as a result the marina office was closed, to us not unusual.

A strange banging on the boat quickly awoke us the following morning for us to find busybody Michael Hadley. This curious chap of nervous disposition had got up early on his day off to tell us off for not reporting in the previous night.

Over the next few days we had numerous early morning visits from Michael informing us of our wrongdoings. As a result it became very tiresome and put us off having much good to say about Nazaré.

 A welcome suprise was bumping into Sara, Kristina, Lou and Daisy.

A brief break in the weather on Christmas Day took us to the rainy and unfortunately electricity-free marina of Peniche. With no mains electricity and therefore no heating we spent the remainder of the day in a bar playing chess, polishing off numerous bottles of red wine and eventually surrendering to cheese toasties for Christmas dinner.

On Boxing Day with heads still slightly sore we left for Cascais, the holiday destination to the nearby capital of Lisbon.

Cascais is a very attractive town just 10 km from the centre of Lisbon. With many shops, bars and restaurants it makes for one of the best ports we have visited so far. However as we walk through the town in search of food we are bombarded by touts in front of every restaurant trying to pull us in to eat at their traditional Portuguese English pub!? 

Lisbon itself is a very undulating pretty city, a maze of back streets and squares, bars restaurants and shops. There is something for everyone… if you can find your way around the place and not too confused by the curious tram routes. But very nice all the same, for a weekend trip it is well worth a visit.

 

The view across Lisbon

 

 

 Portuguese Christmas decorations

 

Tina has gone back to cold snowy England for New Year and Mark is out with his father who is visiting for a few days. I (Tom) am left alone on the boat with the worst hangover I have had for months after Mark and I being accosted by a group of Norwegians the previous night to have a few “quiet” drinks with them… two bottles of Tequila, two of Vodka, three of Sangria, a bottle of Ferna Branca and a few beers maybe and evidence of a few rounds of Singstar on their PS3. I’m not too sure what happened to me but Mark somehow was persuaded to get a taxi into Lisbon to find a club…. Oh dear! No matter where you go in the world there is always a group of Scandies wanting to get you hideously drunk.

  Tom has a way with the ladies..                                                                      

  and unfortunatly...


Tina is now back at the boat, leaving only with hand luggage she has returned with not one but two suitcases of goodies including cheddar, 126 cup-a-soups, a moon cup  and loads of newspapers and trashy magazines. For a moment I wasn’t sure if she was coming back or not!

We are now preparing the boat and doing some food shopping before leaving tomorrow for the Canary Islands. Bring on the warm sun and sea.

Portugal!

 

I am currently writing this on the way between Viana Do Costello and Leixoes, having finally made it to Portugal. The sun is shining, we have prevailing winds and there is minimal swell – hooray!! It is still very cold and as well as having to wear multiple layers of clothes, I am also sporting my new foam lined wellies – I really do love them!

We left Muros and spent last week in Baiona just north of the Spanish/Portugese border. On arrival, we came into the new port where Tom unfortunately got to know the Atlantic a little better by falling in. One second he had jumped onto the pontoon, then he’s in the water and in the next flash, managed to jump right back out again! It was pretty funny and he was due for a wash anyway!  Having gone to bed knowing we were in for a very noisy, creaky night due to the pontoon & mooring ropes, we were then awoken and kept up hideous um-pah music and partying. Mark got up at 5am to find out who it was and to ask them if they’d mind turning it down but typically, they turned out to be frenchies. Hearing Mark chatting to them, Tom also got up and after hearing offers of rum/vodka/beer/wine, I thought both would be gone for the rest of the night!

The next day we moved the boat to the old port for the rest of the week as it was more sheltered, quieter and cheaper. We were overlooked by fortress walls and a castle and shared the water with a replica of the ‘Pinta’, the boat Christopher Columbus (they say) crossed the Atlantic in, although Wikipedia has some different ideas about this. Who knows?!

Having walked around Baiona  and the sites, we did the usual and found an all day cafe with wifi. This then became our local where we managed to consume numerous cheap glasses of vino tinto and bocatillas awaiting more downloads!

 

With downloading at our disposal, I have now learnt a lot more about the boys of which I am slightly concerned, especially Tom. He seems to know all the words to the songs in the Little Mermaid and Aladdin and both had previously seen and liked Clueless, happy to watch Mean Girls and even suggested 10 Things I Hate About You, of which I, being the only girl, had only seen Mean Girls! Marvin …!

Whilst still in the port, we met some guys having just arrived in Baiona. They were trying to deliver a 60ft sail boat from Lymington to St. Barts. Their stories made me feel so much better about our sailing experiences. It had taken them 3 weeks just to get from Lymington to Falmouth and had then been hit by gusts up to 80knots which had ripped their main sail and the genoa that hadn’t even been unfurled. All having said they’d feared for their lives, I was pretty happy to have stopped and waited for the weather to clear again.

We left Baiona, pulled down the Spanish flag and popped up our Portugese one, and sailed/motor sailed down to Viana Do Costello in the sunshine.

Having only just learnt a few words in Spanish, I am now struggling to understand and convert into my expansive knowledge of the portugese language. This consists of one word, 'obrigada' and the decision that the language is Spanish being spoken by Sean Connery with a cold!

Having spent a beautiful sunny day exploring the town and all the historical sites, and with the old town covered in Christmas decorations and lights, I am really starting to get into a festive mood and now on the search for cheap tinsel. Betsy will not know what’s hit her once I’ve finished! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we had another lovely sunny day and an enjoyable visit from Mark’s father. We went in search of a pretty place to eat and arrived at a lovely little fishing port, Via Pria de Arcona where we went to an excellent fish restaurant and I bravely ate clams, seabass and turbot – very proud of myself!

We have decided not to rush the trip any longer and try to only have enjoyable sailing journeys so we’re hoping to be in Lanzarote for Christmas and Las Palmas for New Year. Bring on the mince pies!

A Little Update...

Not a lot has happened since the Corme but here is a little update of where we are now. 

Having left Corme, we managed to make it to Camaraňas where we stopped for a couple of nights in the port. We all made the most of the hot showers available and being plugged into the electricity, we had the heater on at all times to dry us and the boat out.

Having limited internet available, we were unable to get a detailed weather update and decided to try and head a little further south. We left the port, only to be confronted with huge breaking swells. We were hitting the surf head on and after a wave nearly breaking over the top of us, the decision was made to turn around and head back to safety. I really didn't have much of an idea of how dangerous it was and was actually enjoying hooning down the back of the surf until Mark explained what could have happened if we'd been submerged. Sometimes ignorance is bliss!

We set course to the opposite fishing port of Muxia, where we put the anchor down, prepared the tender and went to explore the town.

Having only ever been to Barcelona for a long weekend, I did not know what to expect from Spain or the Spanish people. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised. Due to our unfortunate weather circumstances, we have stopped at pretty much every port along the north and north west coast of Spain and everyone we have come into contact with has been super friendly and helpful. This is possibly because they are all from fishing backgrounds and think that we are mental for being out at sea at this time of year but never the less, I am very impressed. I have just started trying to learn Spanish and have only just finished the first 2 cds of Michel Thomas basic level but whenever I try and use what I have learnt, I have been pleasantly surprised to find people wanting to understand and help me. Having struggled for years trying to communicate in France and mainly being confronted with a huff and a shrug of the shoulders of not understanding due to not having the perfect pronunciation, being in Spain is very refreshing!

The boys are also loving the Spanish hospitality in the form on Pinchos. Every bar/cafe we have been to, you are given a free bit of tapas with your drink. These range from a bit of tortilla on bread, an oyster, baby crab, slice of bacon and potato on bread or on Sundays, a rank looking bowl of chick peas with pig cheek and stomach. Drinks are super cheap, with coffees under a euro and beer just over, so a place is generally rated on the pinchos, quality, quantity and whether you get another helping with the second drink!

We spent 3 days in Muxia, having moved from our anchor point to against the port wall. A huge gale hit the port so the boat had to be moved or risk it being snapped from the anchor and hitting the rocks on the side of the port. Unfortunately the relays on our windlass (the thing that brings the anchor up) had broken, so the boys had to leave the tender with the anchor rope and bring Vitriol a.k.a. Betsy to safety. Fortunately for me, I was left in the warm, dry cafe, so I watched through the window, the pelting rain and huge gusts of wind blowing the trees down knowing the boys were braving the elements trying to save our little Betsy. Thankfully they did and once the weather cleared again, we were able to go a little further to our current resting place of Muros. With Northerlies and the current in our favour, we were able to sail without the motor all the way, so I was finally able to experience some good sailing. Now all we need are a few more degrees of warmth. Bring on the equator!

Our fishermen friends!

Muxia coastline

 

 

 

The timer works!

 

 

Big Little man!

Corme - Costa Da Morte

We have finally left the Bay of Biscay – HOORAY! Although only just and have had to stop again in the small fishing port of Corme. Unfortunately the forces of nature have been against us for most of the journey hence the reason it has taken us so long to go such a short distance. The whole time we have been heading west, we have been hit in the face by strong westerly winds and now we have started to go south, the wind has changed to southerlies. There have been times when the wind and  current have been so strong, we have travelled at a gentle walking pace with the engine on and backwards without it! We are trying to put up a good fight or maybe more of a long continuous battle.

After leaving Luarca, we motor sailed in the cold and the rain to San Ciprian. Unfortunately I seem to have only a 2 hour threshold for the cold before my fingers, nose and toes all go completely numb.  Even in my 10 layers of clothes, super sailing salopettes and jacket, the only solution is numerous cups of tea with biscuits and an interesting form of sitting running for at least one whole song which can then be changed to sitting rowing to another song. When it is not raining, another solution is to become boat slug and sit in the sleeping bag. I will never win any races with my super non speedy rope pulling etc. But in the slug bag, I am completely useless and therefore I have to leave all the work to the boys, shame!

Having just put anchor down in the industrial port of San Ciprian, the engine decided to start alarming a hideous high pitched beep. More silent panicking for me! Thankfully boys seem to understand things like engines and Mark easily worked out it was due to a split in the impeller. Fortunately he had had the forethought to buy a spare one before we set off and was able to successfully change it with no major dramas. Panic over. Not that I really understood what the thing did anyway but at least no more annoying beeping!

With a window of good weather, we left San Ciprian and decided to continue on overnight to try and make up some time. Thankfully it did not rain and so I spent most of the time in the slug bag. We passed out of the Bay of Biscay playing eye spy and 20 questions until the sun set. We then took turns on getting a few hours kip in between star gazing,  shooting star spotting and not getting mowed down by huge fishing trawlers and tankers!

The next day we arrived in a small ugly fishing port called Lax and put anchor down for the night. We set off again in the morning, only to realise as the waves got bigger and the wind gustier that we had got the wrong day on the weather report and were heading straight into a storm. Back we went into the bay and anchored down again, only this time we were pushed about all over the place due to the increasing waves. Across the bay was another small port called Corme so we decided to move over there in the hope of mooring up against the port wall.

 

Corme, also marvelously named Costa Da Morte, is possibly the friendliest place we have stopped at so far. Most of the village came by the boat to discuss our mooring efforts when we arrived, with lots of 'oohs & ahhs', letting us know we'll be moving back and forth all night and that we should move forward due to the fishing boats returning.

We went for a little wander around the village, returning to the boat to find the fishing trawlers had returned, dwarfing our little bateau in comparison. The fishermen were also extremely helpful and suggested we moor up alongside them for the night to allow them to have more room against the wall. They gave us extra ropes and pulled us alongside them. It was very exciting to see inside the fishing boats, watching them sorting out all the huge nets but it wasn't so fun having to climb onto their boat and then try and jump across onto the wall with the boat constantly moving away from it, especially with Tom laughing at me!

 

 

 

 

The fishermen moved us back against the port wall the next day and after more discussions, they gave us more ropes and even found us extension cables for the electricity. We are once again playing the waiting game hoping for the weather to calm down before we can move on. So back to playing backgammon, biscuit eating, film watching, walks in the rain and even a team jog!