Torquay to Portugal

No matter how hard you try to be organised and ready in time, fate takes a hand and there is nothing you can do about it.  At the end of last season the new generator, which we had installed, was supposed to have been thoroughly checked, as it had not worked all summer. It broke down again in February, March and April, so they took it out of the boat and renewed all moving parts.  Success at last!  The sails, which I had asked to be re-cut in October, were not ready until 11th May!  Finally, we were able to leave Torquay on the 12th May; our destination was L’Aber Wrac’h, in North Brittany, 115 miles away.  We departed at midday to take advantage of a favourable tide.

We got a great weather forecast, so we thought, with a north /northeast wind, force 4/5, sea state slight to moderate.  All was well, until we approached Start Point (about 18 miles from Torquay), when the wind died and the sea became like a mirror.  It stayed like that the whole way across the Channel.  There was very little traffic during day light hours but, as soon as it was dark, the big ships all came out of hiding and we had a very busy night avoiding trawlers, car ferries and general shipping. The question I ask myself is, why does traffic increase at night whenever you do a channel crossing???

We arrived in L’Aber Wrac’h at 11o’clock on Thursday morning, tied up in the marina and Glenis noticed the water pump started to prime the system every so often without anyone using the taps.  A quick look in the engine compartment revealed a fine spray of water coming from one of the water pipes.  Just what you need after a long hard night!  Fortunately the leak was very near the pump and I was able to cut out that part of the pipe and re-connect.

We stayed four days in L’Aber Wrac’h.  We had planned only two, but we over slept on the third morning, as we had not set the alarm clock properly.  The fourth morning, the sea was rough and the wind was howling so we turned over and went back to sleep.

Monday 17 May - L’Aber Wrac’h To Camaret 33 miles

Up early today to get the tides right for going through the Chenal du Four.  The wind was blowing from due West F3/4.  We motored out to the Libenter West cardinal and changed course for the next cardinal buoy, but still unable to sail.  If we had tried to sail, by tacking, we would have missed our window for going down the Chenal du Four.  We had read in Yachting Monthly that you do not need to add the hour for French Summer Time, if you have already adjusted your clock to French time.  We were unsure about this but, on checking the tides in the marina office with the tide tables, we found that this was not the case, and the extra hour should be added for FST.  It was all very confusing, and we weren’t sure what was the correct thing to do.  We decided to add the hour, and we arrived at the end of the Chenal du Four at slack water as planned.  We were able to sail for only a short way down the Chenal as the wind died down.  We motor sailed to be sure of reaching St. Mathieu at slack water.  After slack water, the tide runs very hard and fast South.  We changed course for Cameret at St. Mathiew still with no wind, so the engine stayed on until we reached Camaret at 1600 hours.
At last the weather started to warm up.  It was the first evening since we left the UK that we did not have to put the heating on, maybe summer is going to happen after all.
The marina was very quiet with yachts, but we met a very nice couple on their yacht ‘Alphora’, who learnt to sail on the Algarve with the Algarve Sea School on the yacht ‘Navicula’.  We know ‘Navicula’ having sailed on her with Martin in the past.  It certainly is a small world.  We enjoyed three days in this port with good weather and then decided to head for Morgat, as we had missed it out last year.

Thursday 20 May - Camaret to Morgat 17 miles

We woke up this morning to thick fog, so no sailing until it cleared.  We made a quick dash to the supermarket at the far end of town for last minute supplies, and by the time we got back it was clear enough to depart.  No wind again.  We have not been able to sail for more than twenty miles yet, despite having clocked up 180 miles on our journey.  Our first challenge today was negotiating the Chenal du Toulinguet.  The Pointe du Toulinguet is a rocky cliff with several rocks off it.  There is a narrow channel you can go through to make the journey a little shorter when heading South from Camaret.  The visibility was still not great but we were confident and it was high water.  Well, we muddled our way through, and in fact did not realise we had even gone through until we were well out of it!  It was not as we remembered it from last year, maybe because it was high water and so the channel did not seem so narrow.  It certainly unnerved Glenis!  We had to motor all the way to Morgat as the wind was non existent. We were a little apprehensive about going there as people who we had met last year told us that it was not worth visiting. What a lovely surprise to find a delightful place, not over developed with a huge beach of silver sand and the sun shining, in fact the hottest day we have had so far. The nearest town, Crozon is about 1.5 kilometre away, all up hill, but a great cycle back, well worth the effort. It was market day and lots of activity in the main square. The only drawback about Morgat was there was no Internet connection available.  Although one cafe advertised WiFi connection none was available. We stayed two nights at this port and enjoyed probably the lowest marina fees we had ever experienced of 9.2 Euro per night.

Saturday 22 May - Morgat to St Evette 28 miles

Today was the day we had to go through the Raz de Sein which, because of its reputation, we were not looking forward to with any great relish.  Glenis got the tides spot on and it was so calm that we could have stopped for a swim.  The visibility was good and we had good views of La Vieille light and the La Platte West cardinal.  The recommended route through the Raz takes you very close to them.  They are both quite huge, as are most of the French lighthouses and markers.  Once we cleared the Raz we tried using our new cruising chute.  The wind was light and on our aft quarter.  No sooner had we sorted out all the sheets and got it hoisted when the wind shifted and dropped, so we had to take it down again and go back to motoring. Arrived in St Evette/Audierne at about 1515 hours and dropped anchor.  We did not go ashore but enjoyed the beautiful setting and a sunny afternoon.  Later in the evening the wind increased and I added a ‘chum/angel’ to the anchor, this reduced the swing of the yacht considerably.  It is quite an exposed harbour for anchoring, and can only be used in fairly settled weather.

Sunday 23 May - St Evette to Loctudy 32 miles
 
We sailed today with approx 15 knots of wind; it was so good not to have the noise of the engine.  We had decided to visit Guilvinec but when we re-read the pilot book we decided not to enter as it has very limited space for yachts (two spaces I believe) and no entry between 1600 and 1830 due to the return of the fishing fleet.  This would have been the approx time of our arrival.  Instead, we set a course for Loctudy, arriving at 1715.  During our approach to the harbour we saw an abundance of jelly fish the size we have never seen before.  They were about 18 inches long and 12 inches wide.  We were a bit nervous about this marina as it can have cross currents and this is where Glenis crushed her finger last year while I was trying to get into a berth.  This year, mission accomplished without damaging any of Glenis’s fingers!  This weekend is a Bank Holiday in France and almost everything is closed, even the ferry across to the island. The French seem to totally close down on here on bank holidays.  We stayed two days.  On the second day, we got our bikes out and cycled to the nearest town of Pont L’Abbe.  The marina staff told us we could go by the coastal path, but we could not find where it started so we went by the main road for a distance of about five kilometres.  The town was at the head of the river and was worth the effort.  We found the path for our return, as it was well sign posted.  We cycled for about three kilometres and found that the path came to an abrupt end at the end of a small pier.  We then found a very narrow track and carrying the bikes some of the way we got back onto the main road again but still four kilometres back to Loctudy. However the path by the river was delightful and we were glad to have found it, even if it was the long way home.

Tuesday 25 May - Loctudy to Sainte Marine / Benodet 5 miles
 
Set off today in light rain for the short hop of five miles to Ste Marine where we met up with the couple on ‘Alphora’ whom we first met in L’Aber Wrac’h.  We have a problem with our steaming light, as it will not work continually.   When I went up the mast to try fixing it, it came back on!   I changed the bulb twice but still had the problem. I asked our new friends for advice and Dave told me to look very closely at the filament.  Low and behold, it was broken, but when held upright it worked.  Lesson learnt!  It is hard to believe that two new bulbs could have this fault especially at ten Euro a-piece.

Wednesday 26 May – River Odet 4.5miles

We plan to go up the River Odet today.  We have been told that it is quite beautiful. 
We departed about 10.45, at low slack water, after our friends had left.  The tide runs out of the river hard in Spring tides so it is best to do any manoeuvring at slack water.  The river is wide near the marinas, and we had to pass under a long high bridge.  The pilot book stated it was thirty metres high, never the less we were convinced that our mast would crash into it even though we are only nineteen metres high.  We both gave a sigh of relief once we were through.  The river narrowed with some very sharp bends.  We sounded the foghorn when we approached these bends as there were large pleasure boats sailing up and down the river and we certainly had no desire to meet them in such circumstances.  The river is very wooded on both sides, but now and then you see a clearing with a handsome Chateau standing in lovely grounds. We continued for about four miles.  Then the river opens out into a large lake and the water becomes too shallow to continue by boat.  There was an inlet on the starboard side, which we had hoped to enter as it opens out into a secluded pool.  When we saw how narrow it was, about three feet wider than our boat, we chickened out and anchored in the main river where it had become quite open.  We had hoped to continue up the river in our dinghy to Quimper, but the wind was now blowing hard and both wind and tide would have been against us on our return.  Our outboard engine just would not have been powerful enough. The tide ran very hard, so I added a ‘chum’ to our anchor and snubbed the chain to stop it going from side to side in the bow roller and we had a very pleasant evening with only one other yacht in the anchorage.

Thursday 27 May – Back to Benodet 4.5 miles

The next morning we came back down the river and this time stayed in the marina at Benodet.  We were really surprised to see a yacht there we knew called ‘Wombat’.  We had met the owners, John and Trish, last year and as they were on board we spent a few hours reminiscing with them.

We are planning to come back to the UK for a few weeks in mid June and need to find a place to keep our yacht.  Someone had advised us to check out the marina at Port La Foret as he had got a better deal for taking his boat out of the water for the period he was away.  We went over to the marina but found no such deal.  So we asked the Capitainerie in Benodet if they could accommodate us for the period we are thinking of.  This is no problem to them, we can have a proper finger berth rather than the visitor’s pontoon and the price is very reasonable.  The weather turned unpleasant again, with rain and F7 winds predicted through the night, so we moved to the inside of the visitor’s pontoon where there was a space just big enough for us to get in.  Unfortunately, I did not make a very elegant entry as the tide a wind conspired against me at the crucial moment, but some kind people on a Nicholson 31 gave us some help.  We decided to stay for a few days and wait for the weather to improve.

Monday 31 May - Benodet to Concarneau 12 miles

We left at 0745 for the twelve-mile journey to Concarneau, with enough wind to sail at last.  As we approached there was a race in progress just outside the port, with about thirty yachts taking part.  We had to weave our way through them before we were able to enter the port.  To our delight we found that ‘Alphora’ was also berthed there.  I expect we will keep bumping into them on our journey as they are also hoping to get down to the Algarve.

Our bilge pump keeps activating, which is a little worrying.  I decided to investigate and, after going through all the easy options with no success, I decided to take up some floorboards and check if the water in the bilge was salty or fresh.  Unfortunately, the only way this can be done is to taste the bilge water.  It was fresh.  At least we won’t sink!  I eventually found that two jubilee clips were slightly loose on the intake pipe to the water tank.

Internet access can be patchy in port.  We have subscribed to a service called Netabord, but it is not always available.  Concarneau is good in so much that it gives free WiFi access to all overnight stays.  Unfortunately, our Microsoft Word program has locked us out so we cannot access our log at the moment.  I think we have to purchase the program as it was only on trial on our new laptop.  Fortunately, I have the log saved on a memory stick and hope I can retrieve it on our home computer.

Tuesday brought miserable weather, so we had a lazy day.  The weather forecast was for much brighter, sunny weather for Wednesday, so we called on our friends on ‘Alphora’ to say good-bye again as we decided to leave Concarneau for an anchorage at Anse de Stole further down the coast.

Wednesday 2 June - Concarneau to Anse de Stole to Ile de Groix 26 miles

At 0815 on a bright sunny day we set off, wind 11-13 knots then increasing to16-17 knots.  We had good sailing for a couple of hours, then the wind dropped and we were back to motor sailing again.  The forecast came through on the navtex for F5 winds during the night with a change of direction.  This meant it would be blowing directly into the bay where we intended to anchor.  A change of plan was called for, so we diverted to Ile de Groix, which is about 5 miles offshore from Anse de Stole.  We arrived at 1430 in Port Tudy to find a large ship unloading gravel in the very small harbour.  It was very noisy and we were beginning to regret our change of destination, but they finished at 1700 hours and peace was restored.  It was a pleasant warm evening and we ate dinner sitting in the cockpit.

Thursday 3 June – Ile de Groix (Port Tudy) to the Glenans 19 miles

0815 and another sunny day as we set off for these beautiful islands, 19 miles away.  The Glenans lie just South of the Bay of Benodet.  With a favourable wind behind us we had the opportunity to try out our new cruising chute again, on a broad reach.  Two hours later the wind died and we were back to motoring.  It became really warm and very hazy with the sea like a mirror.  On the way a large pod of Dolphins accompanied us for quite some time.  It’s always a delight to see Dolphins swimming alongside and at the bow.   We arrived at the Glenans at 1430, low water, which prevented us from going right in amongst the main islands.  The waters between the islands are very shallow.  Never the less, we were able to go far enough in to anchor off Penfret, the largest outermost island, and enjoyed a very relaxing evening watching the sun going down on this magical setting.  The next day it was back to Benodet to organise our trip home to the UK.

Friday 4 June - Glenans to Benodet 12 miles 

The sea was still smooth this morning as we left, so we had three hours motoring the 10 miles back to Benodet and into a proper berth in the main part of the marina.  Glenis has a friend who lives near to us in Devon and has a holiday home about twenty miles from Benodet, so she called her and they came over for dinner.  They are planning to return to the UK on Sunday 6 June via the Roscoff /Plymouth ferry and offered us a lift home with them.  This must be the best piece of luck we have had so far.  In the end they came to collect us and took us all the way to our front door at home in Devon!

Saturday was spent getting the boat ready for a three-week lay up.  Then the bilge pump went off again.  What have I done to deserve this?   I think all these problems are due to the work I had done on my water tanks during the winter.  While I am back in the UK I will be visiting the engineer who did the work to have a word in his ear.

Tuesday 22nd June - Ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff

Arrived in Roscoff at 0700.  The local bus that was due at 07.30 for Brest did not materialise.  Panic started to develop as the next one was not due for another hour and we would miss all our connections for Benodet.  I heard a French couple phone the bus company and Glenis spoke to them to find out what was the situation.  A bus appeared in about fifteen minutes but too late for us to make all our connections.  Glenis spoke to the same lady again and it turned out that she was going to Benodet also, and a friend was going to meet her at Quimper station to take her the rest of the journey.  We were early for the train, so had coffee together and chatted in both French and English.  We decided to travel together on the train.  She asked us if we would like her friend to give us a lift to our boat.  We were, of course, delighted with the offer.  It seemed that luck was on our side, but it was to get even better.   A little later in our journey, after a phone call, she said her friend had invited us to join them for a late lunch at his house when we reached Benodet.  When we arrived a full three-course lunch had been prepared with two bottles of wine.  Madeleine and her friend Jean then insisted on driving us to the marina.  What lovely, generous people!!

The next day I tackled the problem with the water tanks and, after about six hours of investigation, I discovered that one of the tanks has a slight leak. Then disaster struck and I did my back in when I was lifting the tank back into position.  I found it very difficult to stand up straight without it causing major pain.  Glenis had to reconnect the water tank and secure it into the correct position, then replace the floorboards and the saloon table.  The next day was spent with me sitting very still, feeling sorry for myself.  In the evening we went for a very short slow walk.  I returned to the yacht and Glenis went on up to the office where she bumped into Madeleine and Jean.  They had a friend with them who just happened to be an osteopath!  Although he said he was fully booked, as a favour, he would see me if we phoned next morning.  Although he did not cure me he helped a great deal, and now at least I can walk, after a fashion.  The kindness and generosity shown by these people to us has put our faith back into folk, long may it last.

Saturday 26 June - Benodet to Concarneau

We decided to do a short trip from Benodet to judge if it would give my back any aggravation.  Since we arrived back in France, the weather has been very hot and sunny but there has been very little wind to sail.  We arrived in Concarneau just after 1400 hours and got the last berth on the visitor’s pontoon.  We met up with our friend Dave from Alphora.  He had just fitted a new composting toilet in place of his old, more traditional one.  We had never heard of such a model and apparently it only needs emptying once a month!!  Doesn’t appeal to us!  We stayed for a second night in the hope that the rest would improve my back.  By now, Glenis had taken over all the maintenance jobs and it looks like the ‘Kingston Maintenance Department’ now has a new member of staff, and very capable she is too!

Monday 28 June - Concarneau to Port Manec’h

Port Manec’h is a small port at the mouth of the River Aven, which looks very pretty in the cruising guide.  Glenis was determined to be a bit more adventurous and try out places we had not been to before.  We set off at 10 am and arrived at Port Manec’h 13 miles down the coast at 13.15, about half an hour before low water.  We were on a neap tide.  The pilot book stated that there was minimum of 2.5 meters of water, which, I think is not the case now, as we went aground for the first time in our lives.  The problem was compounded because our depth gauge had been incorrectly set by point three of a metre.  We did not re-float until the reading was .5 of a metre.  We draw 1.9 meters, so it would seem that there is only 1.5 metres at low water!  Fortunately we were on a rising tide and as there was nothing to do but wait it out, we had lunch.  We only had to wait an hour for the tide to float us again.  We guessed that all the mooring buoys were in the same depth of water, and so decided we could not stay there.  We decided to head for Port Tudy on Ile de Groix.  On the way, it was suggested that we might try Doelan, also on the mainland, as it sounded another nice place.  It was our second mistake of the day.  The pilot book says that there are two large buoys, one outside the harbour and one inside, where up to eight yachts could tie up.  Alas, they had taken away the inside buoy and replaced it with fore and aft buoys, but they were all occupied.   Although we did tie up to the outside buoy, it was soon apparent that it was untenable to stay the night.  So off we set again for Port Tudy.  We arrived at 1800 hours and had to raft up on a buoy, as the marina was full.  We both agreed that it was best to forget today, as all we had wanted was a short sail, not one of eight hours.  We stayed in Port Tudy just for the one night.

Tuesday 29 June - Port Tudy to Sauzon (Belle Ile)

No wind as we set off this morning.  It really is becoming tiresome as we seem to motor most of the days and we are burning a lot of diesel.  Sauzon is on the NorthWest corner of Belle Ile and, has a small harbour with some moorings inside and many more just outside.  As the weather seemed really settled and was protected from the prevailing wind we chose an outside buoy.  We went ashore in the afternoon and did some exploring.  For such a small village they have an enormous church.  We went inside and a very pleasant elderly lady gave the background of its history in French.  I think Glenis understood most of the conversation, I just nodded and smiled in the right places and tried to look like I understood.  The next day we would go to Le Palais, the principle town on the island.

Wednesday 30 June – Sauzon to Le Palais

We had great concerns about going into this harbour, as the previous visit was a nightmare with far to many boats for the number of fore and aft buoys available.  However we were very pleasantly surprised, as there was plenty of space and a harbour boat to help us to moor up between a buoy and the harbour wall.  Although my back was still giving me trouble it was slowly getting back to normal.  I think it will be about another week before it will be back to full use.  Le Palais was well worth the visit.  It has an amazing Citadel, built by the famous French architect Vauban, as a defence against the English.  Even though it is an enormous size, it fell to the English in the next war with the French.  We decided to dine out and found a nice little restaurant called ‘Le Verre a Pied’ away from the other busy crowded ones.  We enjoyed a lovely meal washed down with an equally nice bottle of Merlot.  We stayed here for two nights.  We had hoped to visit the neighbouring islands of Hoedic and Houat to anchor, but I was afraid that my back might not like it so we decided to go to the marina at Port de Crouesty instead.  It is in the Quiberon bay, just outside the mouth of the Gulf of Morbihan.

Friday 2 July - Le Palais to Port de Crouesty

We departed at 0715.  It was chilly with a slight mist.  We had to wear jackets for the first time in many weeks.  We arrived at 11.15 in this very large purpose built marina.  I would guess that it accommodated over 3000 yachts.  Very little thought was given to make it blend into its surroundings and we thought it was quite ugly.  It would not be on our list to revisit, but it is the ideal port prior to going into the Gulf of Morbihan.  There is a good supermarket for stocking up, though it is quite a long walk to get to it.  We stayed two days here, mainly to give my back a chance to heal and to stock up on food (and wine of course) before we headed into the Morbihan.

Saturday 3 July – Port de Crouesty

We stayed in Port Crouesty today, to catch up with washing and other domestic chores.  Weather is still sunny, but a little cooler, which is quite refreshing after the dead heat of the past week.

Sunday 4 July – Port de Crouesty to the Gulf of Morbihan

It is advisable, when entering the Morbihan for the first time, to enter at slack water just before the flood tide.  The entrance is quite narrow and the tide sets against various rocks at certain points, so can be a bit hairy if you get it wrong.  Slack water was at 18.15 by Glenis’s calculation.  At 14.30 we cast off to re-fuel, then left Port de Crouesty and, as there was 18-24 knots of wind, we decided to hoist the genoa and sail around the bay until slack water.  We made it through without mishap and headed for Pointe St. Nicholas, as recommended by friends.  It seems that the practice in the Gulf is to just moor to any vacant buoy, and hope that it is not going to be re-claimed.  We moored to a buoy quite successfully and Glenis was about to dish up supper when we heard someone calling ‘Quarante’.  We had picked up someone’s permanent mooring and so had to move.  I suppose we should have realised sooner because it had a pick up buoy attached to it.  It’s the first time that has happened to us.  Fortunately, there were plenty of other free buoys, so we were soon able to secure to another, without difficulty.  Our dinner was not spoiled, so we relaxed with our wine and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Monday 5 July – Gulf of Morbihan

We decided to sail around the islands and find another mooring.  Ronnie does not yet feel ready to anchor as a result of his back not yet being completely recovered, so we picked another buoy, just slightly nervous now of picking the wrong one again.  The Morbihan is quite beautiful and some of the islands look just like I imagine a desert island to look like.  We chose a mooring at Pointe de Arradon in the north of the gulf.  It was very, very peaceful and we witnessed a beautiful sunset.  I got up during the night and saw a beautiful starry sky.

Tuesday 6 July – Vannes

We left our mooring at 13.15 for the journey up the river to Vannes in the north east corner of the gulf.  There is a road bridge and a lock to go through before you reach the marina, which is in the centre of the city.  We arrived at the bridge after a few heart-stopping moments when the depth reading was 0.0 metres, and a few tricky moments when the tourist boats (called Vedettes) tried to hog the centre of the channel.  The marina staff are very well organised, and came out to meet the arrivals.  They spoke very good English and directed us to a specific berth.  There was a very nice French couple in the berth next to us, whom we chatted to.  It was extremely hot in the marina, and we were very glad of our new bimini.

Wednesday 7 July – Vannes

There was a huge street market today and we bought lots of fresh vegetables.  We could not find a supermarket, so I had to brave the boucherie, poissonnerie and boulangerie with my French.  After taking French lessons during the winter, I am much more confident this year, and can communicate much better.  We explored the city and found it is a very beautiful old medieval city, with many interesting buildings that overhang the streets. 
The Capitainerie at the marina has very good facilities that they do not charge for, but the water in the marina is very murky and unpleasant looking.

Thursday 8 July – Vannes back to Gulf of Morbihan

We went shopping this morning for some badly needed kitchen equipment and found a great present for our neighbour back home.  He is looking after our house and garden for us.  He keeps hens like pets and we found a cute egg storer in the shape of a hen house.  I liked it so much, I decided I had to have one too!
After exchanging email addresses and phone nos with our French neighbours we left via the 1600 bridge to spend one more night back in the Morbihan.  We picked up a mooring buoy in the NE corner of Ile Berder at 1800.  We were paid a visit by someone wearing a capitainerie t-shirt, who explained we could have our first night free, and he would be back to see us tomorrow even though we told him we only wanted to stay one night.  We were relieved to know, however, that it was a visitor’s mooring.  There was the most beautiful sunset.  It was deep, deep red like an African sunset.

Friday 9 July – Gulf of Morbihan to Port de Crouesty

We left our mooring at 10.00, with the tide in our favour, to leave the Morbihan.  Our destination was Port de Crouesty once again.  We are meeting up with friends whom we met in Brittany last year.  It was only a short distance, and we arrived at 11.00.  Another very hot, sunny day but quite good wind strength.  We had invited our friends for dinner, so we had to make another trip to the supermarket.  We spent a very pleasant evening, sitting in the cockpit in beautiful sunshine, enjoying a supper of vegetable risotto, salad and garlic bread, washed down with plenty of good wine.

Saturday 10 July – Port de Crouesty to La Roche Bernard on the Vilaine River

We left Port de Crouesty at 10.00 after saying our good-byes to Martin and Chris, with promises to keep in touch.  We motored out of Quiberon bay as too little wind to make enough progress.  We were tied to time of arrival, as there was a lock to negotiate on the river.  We were able to sail for a while, but were making such little progress at 3 knots that we had to resort back to the engine.  We made haste up the beautiful river, but did not quite make it for the 16.00 lock.  Once it had emptied of the boats coming down river, we were able to enter and tie up.  It is rarely easy going into a lock you are not familiar with, and this was no exception.  Chains hang down to tie to, but they are quite tight against the wall.  My first attempt at the bow saw me trap my hand between the chain and the wall, and my watch was wrenched off my wrist.  Fortunately, nothing worse than a scrape to my hand.  The lock filled up, but did not re-open until 18.00, so we had a cup of tea whilst waiting.  We did not arrive at La Roche Bernard until 19.00.  There were no berths available, so we had to raft up on the hammerhead of the visitor’s pontoon.

Sunday 11 July– La Roche Bernard

Heavy cloud this morning, but sunny afternoon.  My back is much better today, and I spent the morning working on replacing some of the caulking on the decks.   We are trying to work out our itinerary from now until July 17th, when we pick up a crew member. 
Our plan had been to stay here for two nights but it was so peaceful and scenic we made a rash decision to stay for two extra nights and paid for them up front. Shortly afterwards the Capitainerie informed us that, due to lack of rain in the past 2 months, the water levels in the river are dropping and so the lock opening times are changing from Monday. This new timetable gave us a problem to exit the mouth of the river.  The entrance is very shallow.  The problem was to get worse as the weather forecast was now showing gale force winds for Wednesday and Thursday, the two days we had identified we could leave.  We enquired if we could have a refund for the nights that we might not take up, but the answer was no!

Monday 12 July – La Roche Bernard

We decided that we would revert back to our original plan and only stay two nights, leaving through the 2100 lock on Monday night and anchoring the other side.  This would enable us to leave very early next morning on the high tide.  We found the supermarket today and stocked up on provisions.  The local camp site provided washing machine facilities, so we took the opportunity to do laundry too.  We had an early evening meal and I started to prepare the ropes for leaving.  The weather suddenly became extremely windy with heavy rain blotting all visibility.  We aborted our departure and decided to stay.  It is now starting to look critical as to whether we will be on time to collect our friend Ian in Pornic on Saturday morning.

Tuesday 13 July – Wednesday 14 July – La Roche Bernard

The wind started increase Tuesday and by Wednesday it was blowing a full force eight.  There were several heavy showers too.  It spoiled the plans for firework celebrations for Bastille Day.  The forecast showed that Friday was looking hopeful.  This meant that we would have to go through the lock on Thursday night and leave the river at first light on Friday morning.

Thursday 15 July – La Roche Bernard to Arzal

As we were about leave on the Thursday after noon, confident that we were okay weather wise, a boat owner whom we had spoken to over the last few days came to our boat.  He had a new navtex report indicating that the force eight winds were expected to stay over our area for all day Friday.  He strongly advised us to abort our leaving, as he was very concerned for our safety.  We thanked him for the information and after further discussions, decided to leave for the four o’clock lock anyway.  We went through without too much difficulty and found a buoy near the mouth of the river.  We went to bed at about ten o’clock with the wind howling.  The boat was not very comfortable for most of the night.  We set the alarm clock for 0500, and by 0600 we felt it was light enough to make a dash to exit the river.  We had hoped to make it to Pornic, where we had to pick up our new crew member Ian, but the entry could only be made two hours either side of high water, which we could not make.  We chose instead to go to Pornichet, which we could enter at any state of tide.  Pornichet is at the unfashionable end of La Baule and is not very scenic, mainly high rise concrete buildings and a very long beach.  The next morning we headed for Pornic and arrived about midday, two hours before Ian arrived.  We were quite relieved to have arrived there, as at one stage, it looked like it would not be possible due to the bad weather. 

Saturday 17 July - Pornic

The entry to this marina needs to be made three hours either side of high water as it is very shallow and yachts regularly go aground at the entrance.  The town is some distance from the marina but looks very pretty with lots of trees and flower displays.   There is only one main restaurant in the marina, called Fruits de Mer, where we had dinner.  The food was excellent.

Sunday 18 July – Pornic to Pornichet

This morning, Ian, our new crewmember, familiarised himself with the boat before we set sail back to Pornichet.  Although we did not enjoy Pornichet on our previous visit, we felt that it was the best port available to us for a short sail to enable Ian to feel confident sailing our yacht.  At this time of year quite a number of ports will not take visiting yachts due to local regattas.  This can restrict your choice, especially at weekends.  We left port at 10am and had to motor the fifteen miles to Pornichet, as the winds were too light to sail.

Monday 19 July - Pornichet to Ile de Yeu

There was a light breeze once we got out into open water so we hoisted our cruising chute, which we had not used for a number of weeks.  It took us over half an hour to get it set correctly, by which time the wind had died so we took it down again and continued under engine.  At least it was good practice for all of us.  When we arrived in Port Joinville, on the Ile de Yeu, we were met by a member of the capitainerie in a rib and directed to a berth.  We soon had two other boats rafted up to us.  The next morning, we moved to a finger berth so that we could leave next day at a time of our choice.  We hired a car on day two and drove around the island.  While we were driving along the coast road, we witnessed an incident that required the lifeboat and a helicopter.  They were in the process of rescuing the crew of a fishing boat, which had gone aground.  The crew had climbed up a huge stone west cardinal and were air lifted from it by the helicopter, while the lifeboat stood by.  We continued our drive and stopped in Port de Le Meule and had a light lunch followed by a walk down to the small harbour which.  It was very picturesque.  We then drove to the southeast tip of the island, Pointe des Corbeaux, which again was very beautiful with delightful little holiday cottages.  We were very pleased that we had visited this island, as it is very beautiful and unspoilt.  As we had the car we ended the day by stocking up at the local supermarket with all the heavy items which are difficult to carry on foot.  That evening we noticed that some friends we had met last year had arrived in the marina.  After chatting to them we discovered that they were going to Les Sables D’Olonne the next day.  This will be our next stop before crossing to Spain

Wednesday 21 July - Ile de Yeu to Les Sables D’Olonne

We departed Port Joinville just after 10am and tried to use our cruising chute, but the wind was slightly in the wrong direction to keep it filled all the time so we had to take it down again.  We went back to the genoa and main sails and then in the last hour we goose winged to the entrance of the port.  It was not very easy to identify the cardinals mentioned in the pilot book, even with the use of the chart plotter, but we made an incident free entry.  We tied up at the reception area and were allocated a berth.  The damage that the big storm caused in February was still evident in the marina and I understand that it had only reopened within the last few weeks. We had hoped to go to La Rochelle, but that marina will not reopen to visitors until October this year, again because of the storm damage.  We had planned to leave for Spain the next morning, but over dinner that night in a very nice restaurant, we changed our minds and decided to leave at 1800 hours tomorrow  That will give us an arrival time of 10.00 in Spain.  We estimated it would take 40 hours to complete the 190-mile journey.
 
Thursday to Saturday 22/23/24 July - Les Sables D’Olonne to Zumaia (40 miles east of Bilbao)

We said our good-byes to our friends and duly left at our appointed time. For the first time since we started our journey there was a good wind blowing, a westerly F5 occasionally F6.  Unfortunately, there was also a swell, sometimes reaching up to three metres, which made it a little uncomfortable at times.  We worked a shift pattern of two hours on and four hours off.  Glenis took the first shift of 10.00 until midnight without incidence.  I took over from Glenis and the wind was a gentle twelve to fifteen knots.  Within five minutes I was hit by a squall, with torrential rain and winds up to thirty knots.  With hindsight, I should have checked the sky when I came on duty but, as it was so benign I was lulled into a false sense of well being.  As we had full sails up at that time, both Glenis and Ian had to come and help to get the sails reefed.  The rest of the night was incident free with a clear sky and a very bright moon, which made very pleasant sailing.  All next day the wind remained good, but on our second night we put the engine on for a time as the winds became light.  Dawn revealed the Spanish coast and by 10am we were approaching Zumaia.  It was low water.  We re-read the both our pilot books and noticed that one said there was plenty of water at low tide and the other said not to enter below half tide.  We were unsure how to proceed until Ian suggested we call the marina.  We had no luck there, as there was no one on duty that spoke English.  Ian then suggested that we call the Spanish Coastguard, which I did, and after checking our draught, they confirmed that there was sufficient water for us to enter the port.  One of the first things that hit us about this coastline was its mountainous terrain and how green it all looked.  The reception allocated us a berth along side another English yacht, who were very helpful with some local knowledge.  Zumaia is a small town but with quite a big dockyard with ship building facilities.  The town itself was very interesting with chalet type houses built on the side of the mountains, giving it the feel of an alpine village.  We were very pleased that we had made this our first port of call in Spain.  The only problem we had was with the showers in the capitania.  The lights were on timers with very short ‘on periods’ which then left you in total darkness.  Glenis did not like these.  We stayed in this port for two days and then headed for Bilbao.

Monday 26 July - Zumaia to Bilbao

We made an early start at 06.50 and tried to sail, but the wind was to light again, so we reverted back to the engine.  The coastline continued to be very mountainous with towns and villages perched on the hillsides.  As we neared Bilbao the wind increased and we were able to sail for the last hour or so.  The entrance to the harbour is very strange with a long submerged wall blocking a general approach.  We passed through the red and green marker buoys, and it is approximately three miles before the inner dock area is reached.  We had been advised to go to the yacht club marina, as the other marina at Gexto is extremely expensive.  We had some difficulty in identifying the route to follow to the marina but got there in the end.  It feels like they do not get many foreign visiting yachts, as there was no signage of where to go or what to do.  We eventually found the office, but felt that we were not made particularly welcome.  We were told we could only stay one night, and even that seemed doubtful for a while.  After filling in numerous forms that all seemed to require the same information, we were given a security key for the pontoon, but had to give a 20 euro deposit.  They would not take any money for the berth at that time.  We were not given any information about toilets and showers, and indeed couldn’t find any.  After dinner, we took a stroll.  We were on the wrong side of the river for Bilbao but saw a very unusual bridge crossing the river.  It was very high over the river, and a sort of cable car was suspended from it to carry people across. 

Tuesday 27 July – Gexto/Bilbao

The next morning, I went to reclaim my deposit and pay for the overnight stay.  His charm had not improved.  He returned my deposit, but did not want to take any money for the overnight stay, and indicated that I should go.  And so we departed very quickly.  We decided to try the other marina at Gexto, thinking we could not have a worse experience, but found it very expensive (as we had been told) as one night was 57.5 euros.  While the marina staff were very polite, it did not feel like they were used to many visiting yachts either.  The electric points were only suitable for 32 amp plugs.  Adapters were available for a deposit, but we are leaving early tomorrow morning and the office does not open until 10.00.

Wednesday 28 July - Bilbao to Santander

We departed Bilbao at 06.30 and had a light wind directly on our stern.  We motored until the last hour, when the wind strengthened with gusts of up to 24 knots.  We arrived in Santander at 14.30 and approached the Royal Yacht Club with the intention of picking up one of their buoys.  One of their ribs approached and informed us that they were fully booked.  A big fleet of racing yachts was due in.  So we had to go to the main marina which is a good three or four miles from the town centre and besides the airport.  During the afternoon, Glenis was sitting in the cockpit writing up the log, when she was bitten many times, by mosquitoes.  This is unusual for Glenis, it is usually me that gets bitten alive. As Ian leaves tomorrow, we decided to dine out in the marina restaurant.

Thursday 29 July – Marina de Santander
Ian left us today.  We joined him in the taxi to the ferry, and took a walk through Santander.  We found a chemist to get something to relieve the irritation of the mozzy bites for Glenis.  It’s fiesta time in Santander and there are lots of stalls and music stages being set up. Our friend, Johnny, arrived today.  He will be joining us with his wife, when she arrives on Sunday.  Meanwhile he is staying with an old friend of his.

Friday 30 July – Marina de Santander  Ronnie’s birthday today!

Johnny and his friend Marivie collected us this morning by car, for some sightseeing.  They took Glenis and myself up into the mountains to visit an old traditional Spanish village.  The scenery was spectacular.  We stopped at a small roadside restaurant and had a typical Spanish lunch.  Although it was very nice, I was not too sure what it was!  It is a great help that Johnny speaks fluent Spanish.  It allows us to get much more information in general. On the way back we stopped at a supermarket, to take the opportunity of being able to use the car to stock up on food for the week to come with Johnny and Anne.

Saturday 31 July – Marina de Santander

To-day, Johnny and Marievie collected us again as we were invited by more friends of Johnny for lunch at their house up in the hills.  The house was large with a beautiful garden full of fruit trees and a swimming pool.  The surrounding scenery was breathtaking.  It was a wonderful day and although Vincente and Helena (our hosts) could not speak English and we could not speak Spanish, the hospitality we received was just outstanding.  It will be one of the highlights of our voyage.  Vincente gave us wine from his extensive wine cellar and fruit from his garden. We did not leave until 19.00 and Marivie drove us back to the marina.

Sunday & Monday 1/2 August – Santander to Gijon

Anne arrived today.  We all met up with Vincente and Helena again, with their daughter and boyfriend, for lunch in a very busy fish restaurant on the fish quay in Santander.  We had fresh seafood which was excellent.  After saying our good-byes to our Spanish hosts, with lots of hugs and photos we returned to the marina.  We went through the safety and workings of our boat with Johnny and Anne and set off at 1730 hours for a night sail to Gijon, a distance of 80 miles.  The wind was light and from the NE so we tried our cruising chute, but to no avail.  There was a swell of between one and two metres from the NW.  This made for a confused sea and Glenis and Ann both felt queasy.  We broke the watches into three, starting at 2200 hours.   Johnny and myself each did two hours on our own, and the ladies did three hours together.  The swell seemed to ease a number of times but kept returning with a vengeance.  This made it very difficult to sail in the light winds, so we ended up motoring most of the way.  The night was quite unpleasant with rain, and sheet lightning in the distance.  We arrived in Gijon at 10.00.  The marina was very full, as the Figaro single-handed race had arrived previously.  Fortunately we were aware of this and Johnny had telephoned the previous evening to reserve a berth.  After we had gone through the port formalities we wandered into the old part of the town and, as this part of Spain is famous for its cider, we decided to try some.  The local custom with this drink is to pour it from as high as possible into the one glass provided, drink your share, leave a small amount and throw it on the ground and then pass the glass to the next person. It looks very theatrical but unfortunately the cider was not very nice so we went to a different bar and had coffee!

Tuesday 3 August - Gijon to Ribadeo

We were keen to push west as soon as possible.   We need to be in La Coruna by Friday 6 August as Anne’s flight is on Saturday.  We left at 0700 hours for Ribadeo a journey of 85 miles. This is the first of the Rias on the north coast and it is a very old town.  We again motored most of the way.  It was only the last few hours that we managed to sail, arriving late afternoon.  The town has a lot of old buildings, which would have been very grand in their day.  It would seem that in the last 50 to 100 years or so, times were hard and many of them have fallen into decay or ruins. 

Wednesday 4 August – Ribadeo to Viveiro

This morning we again explored this fascinating town and then prepared to leave for Viveiro at midday.  The coastline became very mountainous again and the scenery was spectacular.  The swell moderated considerably, to everyone’s relief.  Anne and Glenis are both coping better with the swell now.  We managed to sail half of this 36-mile day sail, which was very pleasant.  The ria at Viveiro is very easy to enter with a well-sheltered bay, which has plenty of space to anchor.  The marina does not have many spaces for visiting yachts and it is advisable to call on the VHF.  We did not find anything of note in this town except it was in a beautiful location.

Thursday 5 August - Viveiro to Carino

We left this morning at 10am for our short sail to Carino, some 18 miles away.  It was a sunny morning with a steady wind and at last we were able to sail.  We arrived in Carino just before three o’clock in the afternoon.  The town is set on the slope of the mountains and the harbour is the most scenic of all the Spanish ports we have visited so far.  We tried to tie up to the one pontoon in the harbour but, as we got closer, we realised that there were no spaces for visiting yachts.  We reversed out hastily and dropped anchor in another part of the harbour.  We got out the dinghy and went ashore.  We wandered through the narrow streets, which were very steep but great views when we reached the top.  We returned to the yacht and as it was still very hot Johnny and myself went for a swim, jumping in from the stern of the boat.  We did not stay in for long, as the water was pretty cold.

Friday 6 August - Carino to La Coruna

We departed this morning at 0815 hours with a clear sky and wind.  Once we cleared the harbour we hoisted our sails and very quickly the wind increased to between F5/6. We cleared the headland and as the wind was directly behind us we goose winged the rig.  At times, the wind peaked at 30 knots but our yacht behaved impeccably, reaching speeds 7.3 knots.  Since we left Torquay in May, this was the first day that we did not have to turn on the engine to complete our journey, what a joy!  We arrived in La Coruna at 1540 hours, completing the 40mile voyage in just less than seven and a half hours.  We all commented that we were very glad we were not going the opposite way as the sea had become quite rough and yachts heading in that direction were getting a bit of a pounding.  As Anne will be leaving tomorrow morning we chose the marina in the centre of town and went out for a farewell dinner.  We decided to go native and ordered some Raciones, which was a selection of several different dishes of Spanish food.   It was too much for all of us but very nice.

Saturday 7 August – Marina de La Coruna

After Anne had departed for the airport, we did the tourist bit and walked for most of the afternoon.  Johnny knows La Coruna very well, so we had a good guide.  We even came across a Chocolate Festival, which we felt it was only right to support.  We bought some chocolate bread, both white and dark loaves, as well as some small cakes, which did not make it back to the yacht!
We are aware that we needed to do some maintenance on the boat, and also decide where we will leave our boat when we go back to the UK on the 10 August.  We decided to move to a new marina, which was opened about a year ago, further out in the harbour.   They are offering a discount of 25% for long stays.

Sunday 8 August – Marina de La Coruna

This morning we changed marinas and started the maintenance.  I was sure the winches had never been serviced, so we dismantled the four in the cockpit and were shocked to find that the winch used for taking in the Genoa was very loose and could possibly have fallen off at some stage.  After servicing them with the help of Johnny and Glenis, I changed the engine oil and filters while Johnny tried to resolve the problem with our electronic foghorn.  After toiling all day on the boat we opened a bottle of wine at 17.00 and relaxed for the rest of the day.  The marina is quite new and very large.  The facilities are very good, and free.  The staff are very helpful, and almost all of them speak English.

Monday 9 August – Marina de La Coruna

Monday morning we went to a chandlery to get the bits and pieces we need to finish our work on the boat.  After a light lunch of tapas, we went to see the site of the oldest working lighthouse in the world, The Pillar of Hercules, originally built by the Romans but rebuilt in the eighteenth century.  Close by the lighthouse is an aquarium, which we popped into for an hour and then went back to the boat.  I had bought a multi-meter as we needed it to try and find the fault on the fog horn, but it turned out the meter was broken and it was now to late to return it to the shop.  Oh the joys of sailing!!   We all know that there is always another job to do, I will just add my foghorn to the list.  Our last night was spent quietly on board with a little walk around the marina after dinner looking at some of the huge yachts and dreaming.  Next morning we all left at 07.00 for the airport of Santiago de Compostela for our flights home. 

27 August La Coruna to Ria Muros – Portosin

We arrived back on board Quarante from our trip back to the UK and had intended to leave the next day but the weather was not suitable to go round Cape Finisterre. We did the usual tourist things and visited the castle next to the marina called Castelo de San Anton. It was very interesting and had all the details in English as a hand out. The next day we went back to the Tower Of Hercules and this time went in and again it was worth the effort. Thursday the weather turned even worst with winds of F8 but Friday seemed to be promising. We had noticed a large yacht going out of the harbour about midday but it returned in the late afternoon and moored up not far away from us. We made some enquires about it and it found that it could not cope with the swell and waves even though it was 52 meters long!!  Yes 52 meters.
Friday morning we checked the forecast and although the weather was still not ideal we decided to go as it was due to moderate. We departed at 11.30 for Ria de Muros a journey of eighty five miles which would include a night sail.  The wind was from the southwest which was directly on the nose so we motored until 0100 hours by then the wind had backed to the north east so we hoisted the sails and enjoyed a broad reach. By 4am we realised we would arrive in the dark so we slowed down as we did not wish to enter in the dark.  At dawn we entered the Ria and choose the first bay, Ensenada de San Francisco, as it was sheltered from the prevailing wind.  We dropped the anchor and went to bed and got up again at 11 o'clock but we could not raise the anchor as it was firmly stuck on the sea bed.  We rarely use a anchor buoy but on this occassion I had, but it still took over an hour to free it. We then headed to the marina at Portosin.  Through out the voyage we had a swell of up to four meters, Glenis was not feeling great and Tim was seasick for the first time in his life despite being in the merchant navy where he had been a captain of a 80,000 ton ship.  Portosin was not a petty village the houses mainly built of concrete. The Ria de Muros was exceptionally beautiful and not spoilt by over devopoment, we stayed there for two days. On Monday we had planned to leave at 0730 hours but the wind was gusting up to 25 knots so we delayed our departure until 9am.

30 August Portosin to Sanxeno

We would liked to have visited Ria de Arosa but because of the delay in leaving La Coruna we were short on time as we have to be in Lisbon by 8 September for Tim to get his flight home. The wind was from the north east and we had a good couple of hours sailing until it died mid morning..We headed on to the next Ria which was Pontevedra and were very dispointed in the port, Sanxeno, where we choose to stay the night.  The town was over developed, had a fair ground next to the marina, played very loud music until 3 am in the morning and to top it off both Glenis and myself got badly bitten by mosquitos during the night. It will not be among out favorite places to return to in the future.  We did not venture very far up the Ria which had much more towns and villages than Ria de Muros built on the slopes of the mountains, but still looked quite stunning.

31 August Sanxeno to Bayona

We departed for Bayona at 0800 hours and changed our plans slightly by stopping for our lunch at the Isla del Norte. It is a small island with few inhabitants and no cars but very popular place for yachts to anchor. While we were at anchor a small fishing boat came very close to the moored yachts and cast his nets, how he managed to avoid snaging his net with the yachts I do not know, as some times he was only feet away fron them. It was a bit misty when we arrived but soon the sun broke through and Tim and myself went for a swim while Glenis recorded the event by taking photographs!  We set off again just after 1300 hours for Bayona but had little wind so the engine was used once more. Today I worked out that we now have journeyed 1200 miles and only managed to sail 200 of those mile due to the lack of wind the rest was under engine, which to say the least was disapointing.  We arrived in Bayona early afternoon and the harbour entrance was dominated but an imposing fortress.  Our first chore was to visit the supermarket and to stock up on our essentials.  After dinner we explored the city and the old part was full of charater with its narrow streets and busy bars and restaurants. 

1 September Bayona to Viana do Castelo

We departed Bayona at 0800 hours with a clear sky but as soon as we had cleared the harbour a mist developed and visability was poor for the rest of the day and at times the radar had to be used.  Unfortunately there was little or no wind until we entered the harbour of Viana do Castelo when up to 15 knots were recorded.  The pilot book indicated that the mooring in the marina was either bows or stern-to, with a pick up line and no finger pontoons.  I was not looking forward to this manouvre as we had never done this before and with the wind rising I approached with trepadation.  However when we we reached the entrance to the marina it had all changed from what it had described in the pilot book with a bridge across the entrance and a small pontoon on the outside for visiting yachts.  I guess my time will come when I have to do bows-to mooring but at least it has been put off for another day!  On entering the river estuary The Basilica on Monte de Santa Luzia is clearly viable perched high over the town although it looks very old, it was in fact only built in the early 20 century.  The town had a really nice atmosphere with many interesting building and we were sorry that we could only spend one night here.  The difference here in the evening with Spain was quite dramatic as at nine o'clock the town was deserted where as in Spain the streets were packed at this time.

2 September Viana do Castelo to Leixoes (Porto)

0730 hours saw us making our way down the Rio Lima, to the mouth of the harbour and continuing our journey south.  At first the sky was clear but very soon a mist decended which pervailed until mid-morning. The wind from the north west was F2 so motoring was again the order of the day.  By 1300 hours we were able to sail and reached Leixoes just after three o'clock.  This port is about forty minutes on a bus from Porto, which we decided to visit as soon as we tied up and completed our paper work with the office staff at the marina.
The first thing we realised about this city was that an afternoon was not going to nearly enough time to see all the wonderful architecture of this magnificent place.  I reckon that a long weekend might be the ideal time span to take all the interesting sites.  We walked down several small side streets and although many of the buildings were in need of repair it was obvious that this city was once very wealthy and prosperous.

3 September Leixoes to Figeira Da Foz

An early start was called for this morning as we had a 67 miles passage and we needed to get there after the start of the flood tide as this is the safest time to enter this harbour. Of all the Atlantic ports on the west coast of Portugal this can be one of the most dangerous with a large swell at the mouth of the harbour.  By 0700 hours we were clear of the marina but a heavy mist and no wind pervailed until past two o'clock when a north west wind gave us a good broad reach.  As we got close to our detination we got gusts of up to 20 knots of wind and reached speeds of 7.3 knots.  After dinner we had a short walk around the town but did not really see any great points of interest due to our constraint on time.

4 September Figeira Da Foz to Nazare

Departed by 10 am tried to sail but wind to light and ended up motoring all the way.  Again we had misty morning with it finally clearing about 1300 hours. Nazare marina is run by a Captain Hadley and his wife Sally who were both very helpful.  There is a strange system in place for payment of the overnight fee as the marina does not take the payment but a small hut about 300 yards away. When you pay the fee they then take the access key back fron you which means you then have difficulty in getting back into the marina!  We were informed that our next intended port, Peniche, was closed due to harbour works so we decided to head for Cascais a short distance from Lisbon where Tim will catch his flight home.  As we had in theory gained a day we decide to stay in Nazare a second night and visit a famous Abbey in Batalha about an hour journey by bus.  To say in was a magnificant building would be an under statement. The size of it was hard to comprehend and the detail in the stone work was just amazing, truly a great day's experience.  At about 9pm we decided to go and pay our marina fee and experienced our worst nightmare of our whole journey since we left England.  We were about a hundred yards from the payment hut when a pack of wild dogs came charging towards us with their teeth bared barking and growling in all there were about eight dogs all the size labradors.  They quickly surrounded us and without any means of protecting ourselves we just froze and hoped for the best. Looking around there was no place we could retreat to as we were in open scrub land with no building or people we could shout for help. The dogs slowly  kept coming forward towards us until they were no more than ten feet from us and then they stopped but kept barking and growling, finally after ten minutes they started to loose interest and slowly move away. the minute they saw us moving they came back but finally they went away completely and only when they were out of sight did we move toward the hut.  When we reached the hut the security man said that the dogs are a real nuisance so obviously this was not just a one off incident.  Strange that we should sail all the way from the UK and our most frighting experience should be on land and not on the sea.

6 September Nazare to Cascais / Lisbon

Needed fuel so went to the fueling station at 0615 hours as we needed to make an early start to cover the seventy miles before dark.  It was not until four in the afternoon that the wind was sufficent to hoist the sails and we enjoyed three hours of very pleasent sailing.
As we approached Cascais it was almost dusk and to our surprise there nets across our approach to the entrance of the marina. We had to do quite a big detour to finaly enter the harbour but I would not have liked to have done this in the dark. There were also many lobster pots but I have never seen nets set out like this before.
Before we arrived in Portugal we read Martin's information on the various taxes and dues that need to be paid, that was the easy part.  Each port we entered I enquired about the 'Light Dues' that need to be paid as soon as you entry the country but nobody ever heard of them.  In Nazare the marina manager a Captain Hadley who has been in Portugal for many years told me that it was a nasty rumour that some people had put out.  Undeterred I again asked in Cascais and was pleasently surprised to find that yes there was such a tax and told where to pay it.  It seemed hardly worth the paper work that was involved as it only came to two euros!!  At least we are now all legal, thank you Martin.  To day we moved a few miles up the river to the centre of Lisbon and Tim leaves us to fly home on Thursday 9 September.  Peter our son is expected to join us on Saturday night.

7-11 September - Lisbon

Lisbon has several marinas, but the pilot book says that only one of them, Alcantara, takes visiting yachts and the facilities offered are very basic.  It is based in the main port, which is very busy.  For four of the five nights we spent there, a nearby disco played loud music that went on until 7am.  Also, the marina is on the flight path for the airport, which is about five miles away, and flights start at 5am.  We got very little sleep in this marina, but needed to stay as it is the nearest to the airport.  Our son, Peter, is flying in to join us on Saturday for the last leg of our journey which will take us to Lagos on the Algarve.  We decided to spend all day Wednesday sight seeing and took a tourist tram to tour the city.  This turned out to be the best way to see the sights as the tram goes up many small winding streets, where a bus would be unable to go.  We were able to hop on and off at five different locations to view the various areas.  The tram departs from the main square called Praca do Comercio, which is enormous with beautiful buildings surrounding it.  We visited the The Basilica Estrela, a church of massive proportions, which is very ornate.  We could not help thinking of the difficulty in building such a monument all those years ago, when they did not have the tools or machinery of today.  Lisbon is a very beautiful city and would be ideal for a three or four day break.  We did not have the time to see everything we would have liked, as has happened so often on our journey. 

The leak from our fresh water tank, that I tried to investigate back in Benodet when I hurt my back, has now got worse.  We now also have a leak in one of our fresh water pipes.  I am hoping that both these problems will hold out until we reach Lagos, when we end our journey, and the boat is lifted out of the water for the winter.

12 September – Lisbon to Setubal/Troia

We set our alarm for 06.00 on Sunday and set off for Setubal.  The pilot book advises to arrive there on the flood tide as the ebb can run at up to 3 knots during spring tides.  The distance is approximately 33 miles, and our ETA is 1500 hours, which is two and half hours after low water.  When we rounded the headland to the south of Lisbon, Cabo Espichel,  a small bird landed on our deck and hitched a ride for over an hour and a half.  It only flew off as we got out our fenders and ropes.  We were pretty sure he managed to reach the shore line.  It certainly gave us a lot of pleasure to able to help, but I was a little worried.  If he was still on board when we landed, we would not have any papers for him to give to the immigration!
We sailed past the small port of Sesimbra on the way and thought it would have helped to save time and an unnecessary journey to Setubal if we could have entered the port.  Unfortunately it did not have any space.  The harbour is exposed to the south and, with a southerly wind forecast for the night, it was not an option for us to anchor outside the harbour.  So, as advised by the pilot book, we called Setubal for a berth, but no-one spoke English.  As they only have three visitors berths we decided to try the new marina at Troia, just across the bay.  We thought that it might be a little difficult as there is no reference to it in the pilot book or on our chart plotter.  However, it turned out to be relatively easy, although the entrance is very narrow and very close to the beach.  There is very little here apart from the marina,  two restaurants and a hotel, but the beaches are beautiful.  There were plenty of vacant berths, and it had the dubious honour of being the second most expensive marina of our entire voyage, although it's Wifi was excellent.  That was a big plus.  We stayed one night. 

13 September - Troia  to Sines

As usual, there was no wind and we motored all the way, arriving at Sines at about 17.00.  It is the birth place of Vasco da Gama and many things and places are named after him.  Sines is very unspoiled by modern development except for two huge buildings, one of which houses the library.  They seemed to be totally out of character with the rest of the town.  Again, we would  have liked to stay a couple of days as it had a really nice feel about it, but we had one last over-night passage to make to reach Lagos.  This is our final destination and our son has a flight to catch on Friday.  The marina staff at Sines are a real friendly and helpful bunch.  Nice facilities too!

14 September - Sines to Lagos

The distance to Lagos is 85 miles.  We planned to arrive there mid-morning, which meant that we needed to leave Sines late afternoon.  We had thought that we might be lucky and get the afternoon breeze, but it was not to be.  We experienced one of the most unusual sunsets any of us have seen, whereby not only did the sky take on a red hue, but also the sea.  It was quite beautiful.  At dusk, a mist started to form which gradually became thick fog and the radar had to be constantly monitored.  It is very tiring in fog, as a lot of concentration is needed to monitor the radar and keep a good listening and lookout.  We decided that no-one should take a watch alone while the fog remained.  It cleared at around midnight, which was a big relief.  However an hour later it returned, but with a good wind which was rather strange.  The sails were hoisted and set on a broad reach.  The wind blew at sixteen to seventeen knots until dawn, when it increased to around twenty knots.  We were averaging seven to eight knots through the water. It would seem that we were to finish our overall journey with an exhilarating sail for the last few hours.  We arrived in Lagos just before ten o'clock and checked into the marina for a few days before we have the yacht lifted out of the water for the winter.  We have some maintenance to do and will try to find the source of the water leaks before the lift out.

Reflection

Now that we have reached our final destination, we both feel a sense of sadness that our journey is over and we must rejoin the real world by going home.  During the past four and a half months, we have visited over 40 different ports and met some wonderful people who could not do enough for us when we needed help.  We have both enjoyed our experience immensely and, if anything, it has whet our appetite for further long voyages.  If all goes well, our plans for next year will take us to Madeira and the Canary Islands.

Ronnie and Glenis - Thank you so much for this excellent account of your 2010 cruise from Plymouth to Lagos. You have shown very good seamanship and excellent passage planning throughout this cruise, plus a great deal of energy in making time to visit interesting places ashore which combined with the very good photographs have made your story so interesting to read.

I am very proud to have been involved in your sailing at the beginning 17 years ago when you both plus Peter and Daniel did several sailing courses with me. Thank you for an excellent lunch in Lagos last week, it was good to see you both again and Peter. Best wishes, Martin. 24th September 2010.