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The cousins come to visit!
Little Dexter loved the boat!Well would you bloody believe it!!!! Our longest ever weather delay is on the homeward leg. 5364.9nm into our trip... We are currently moored up in a little Spanish town called Portosin awaiting calm winds to allow us to go around the dreaded Cabo Finisterra (Costa Da Morte – aka Coast of Death). We are having predominantly Northerly winds at the moment, typical for this time of year, which means motoring into the wind, so need a nice 5-10kt wind ideally. Wouldn’t you know its blowing a gale and we haven’t had anything under 20kts since we arrived. Finisterra winds can be really nasty, for example you can have 5kt winds nearby, but then local weather effects around the cape mean you can go from 5kts to 30kt gusts with no warning. Not to mention the waves being much bigger too. So basically you need to wait patiently to go around. I am NOT patient.
Meanwhile we are in danger of losing our Bay of Biscay window now, especially as a storm is forecast to hit UK next week, caused by low pressure system coming in from North Atlantic. We are hoping this won’t influence Biscay and be over by
the time we arrive back in UK waters, but it’s really not good news. Portosin is a perfectly nice little place. The yacht club is very sweet, friendly, with great facilities. ..but I just want to go now. Having too much time to think about Cabo Finisterra & The Bay of Biscay after that is NOT good. We are finding plenty to occupy ourselves though, chores to do and getting boat ready for Biscay. Gwynn is due to fly out on Saturday to crew for us over Biscay, so we will meet him in Camarinas, a traditional place to start the Biscay crossing from.
So please send us lots of good luck vibes – may the wind be with us!!
Tues 5
th May – Villa Real Santo Antonio to Albufeira
Distance: 19nm
Very early 5:30am start due to the Rio Guadiana river tides. (Need to leave on high tide or just after to avoid shoals at mouth of river) Bit of a shock to the system after three lazy days on the river.
Encounter SOOOOO many lobster pots on the way, we literally have to zig zag the whole way and someone has
Misadventure in Albufeira
We had a 'crash-landing' coming into the waiting pontoon in Albufeira. Managed to rip a stanchion post mount clean off - lucky we had a spare and it wasn't too much of a big job to put right. to be constantly stood up keeping watch. Some of them only marked by 2L water bottles, so binoculars & nerves of steel needed.
Arrive into Albufeira at 3:30pm somewhat frazzled. Go to tie up on the reception pontoon next to the marina office and completely fluff the arrival. Fenders popping up everywhere and manage to tear off a stanchion post support. For once not my fault ;-), we came in a bit too fast. A nightmare entrance, but luckily no witnesses and we both have a good laugh about it. Fortunately what could have been a horrible repair job only takes Mike about 30mins and we have spares on board. Can’t help teasing Mike. We really like Albufeira marina. Very well run and so cheap. RYA discount means it’s only £8 a night – what a bargain! Sleep very well after all the excitement (& wine medication)!
Weds 6
th to Fri 8
th May – Albufeira to Porto (Leixoes marina)
Distance: 300nm (53hrs non-stop!!)
We found out by chance that Mike’s cousin Clare and her wife Kelly are on holiday nearby, so they come to meet us at the marina in the morning. We haven’t
met their little boy Dexter yet, so it’s a lovely surprise. They join us on-board. Dexter (2 years old) loves the boat and seems very keen on trying out the vacuum toilet (he’s potty training). Mike shows him around and gets him trying some winching! It’s a lovely calm day, so Dexter puts on his super cute lifejacket and we go for a short motor around the bay. He likes going fast! What a cutie-pie.
We drop them off at the marina and head off on our sail towards Lisbon. Well that was the plan anyway. But on route we realise the winds are really picking up in next few days. Strong Northerlies forecast, which either means tacking into wind – yuck – or motoring into 20kt headwinds. We sadly decide to bypass Lisbon and head on further up the coast to Figueira De Foz, where we had planned to go river kayaking. As always the plans keep changing. I get a call from my brother to say Mum’s house is going through sooner than planned. We need to get back to the UK pronto to sort through the house. We have Matt & Laura coming out to see
us in Porto on the 15
th May, so have no choice but to keep going and head for Porto while the winds are in our favour. An 18hr sail ends up being 53hrs and a real test for TEAM WALKER! Two overnights and a large amount of sleep deprivation!!
The wind is almost directly behind us for the whole sail, making life on board EXTREMELY ROLY. We go from motoring, to motorsailing to full sailing throughout. The rolling & banging through waves means it is very difficult to sleep when you are not on watch. I don’t think we got more than 1.5hrs sleep in a row. Our saving grace for the second night was being able to get an internet connection (We were close to the shore most of the time). This meant we could avidly follow the election news as it happened on the BBC website and stay awake. There was also a lot of shipping to contend with, which certainly kept us on our toes.
I had one lovely moment as I took over watch at 6am on the first morning. It was a beautiful sunrise, the sky was so red it looked like it
was on fire. I watched the colours change for almost an hour and just as the sun came fully up a massive school of dolphins came to join the boat, including several teeny tiny babies. They were really playful and kept me awake with their games. I could even hear them communicating under the water with little clicks and beeps. Magical.
By day two it was so rolly, cooking became pretty impossible, so our diet consisted of anything we didn’t need to cook and that could be made quickly.. I think I was also fighting seasickness too as I felt a bit icky and very tired, which normally happens when you fight sickness. Our set watch routine ended up being quite ad-hoc and if you felt OK you just kept going to try to give the other person some rest. We were pretty delirious by the time we finally approached Porto at 6pm. We ended up going into the cheaper Leixoes marina as it was much cheaper than Douro Marina, and we were leaving the boat unattended anyway!
Fri 8
th May – Thu 14
th May – Leixoes Marina (and flew back to UK)
Distance: 4.7nm
We spent a lazy day on the Saturday around Leixoes. We did a quick shop and had a wander, but we were not capable of much else.
On Sunday morning we got the metro (tram) to the airport for our flight home. Porto is a lovely airport and its only 1.50euro by tram to get there = bargain. We arrived in London Luton airport at 5pm, jumped in a hire car and were at Mums house by 7pm.
We spent the next three days sorting through every part of the house, packing up stuff we wanted to keep, taking stuff to charity shops and throwing out rubbish. It was mentally and physically exhausting. My auntie Rona came to help one day and Mike’s sister Ceri & our niece Elin came to visit too. We certainly needed the three days, can’t believe how long it all took. On the Thursday morning we headed back to Porto, a job well done!
Fri 15
th – Sat 16
th May – Porto (Oporto)
Distance: 0nm
Matt & Laura arrived on Friday lunchtime. We were so excited to see them. Porto is a great city – so lots
of fun plans. After welcome drinks on board, we walked along the riverbank into Vila Nova De Gaia, where all of the Port lodges/cellars are. What better way to start their trip than with a port tasting! We decided to try out the tour at Sandemans Lodge (225 years old). They have a really good museum. We booked onto the 3pm tour and in the meantime tried some port inspired cocktails and tapas on the sunny terrace outside. It was a good informative tour. We opted for the Premium tasting of three port wines at the end. We tried a white, tawny & ruby port. I think we all preferred the 10 year old Ruby port in the end. Anyway it certainly did the job, laden with Port we headed off on a little walking tour of Porto. First of all we walked up a steep hill to the top of Porto’s iconic double decker steel bridge and looked out on all the terracotta roofs of the port lodges, then we walked across the bridge to Porto proper. Stopping for prosecco on the pretty Rua de Flores. Then it was time to line our stomachs for the night ahead and
After two days at sea the rattling started getting to Mike..
..when I came on watch I found bits of cardboard stopping rattles all over the boat - OCD boy! we headed to Cafe Santiago for their famous Francesinha sandwich with handmade chips. (It means Little Frenchie or simply Frenchie in Portuguese - a Portuguese sandwich invented in Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce served with french fries). WOW – what a sandwich (see the pic) – It was awesome, but somewhat calorific! YUMMY.
Then it was a taxi back to the boat for a quick change, before heading out on the town. Mike and I were well up for a nights good clubbing as we knew Porto was a fab night out. By complete chance it turns outs cult Chicago house DJ was playing at one of the coolest clubs in Porto called Plano B, so we headed over to that part of town and the twin party streets of Rua Galeria de Paris and Rua Cândido dos Reis. You can literally take you pick of cool fun bars around here, so we just popped into the nearest one. Measures are huge and we were pretty pizzled by the time we headed off to the club.
In typical British style we ended up getting to the club way too early (midnight), but it actually worked in our favour and we got in for free and saved 10euros each. Luckily the funk and soul room was already quite busy, so we pretty much got straight on the dancefloor. The DJ was awesome and even played a request for Mike! Eventually the main act Robert Owens was on and he didn’t disappoint – not only does he DJ but he vocals on house tracks, so he sang over some of his mixes. We got back at 4am, very worse for wear, but smiling ear to ear!
Mike heroically cooked us all a fat fry-up on Saturday morning. Early evening we eventually managed to get up and head back into town for a meal. Went to a great Brazilian restaurant and consumed our body wait in meat. Not much booze though!!!
Sun 17
th May – Porto to Baiona
Distance: 67nm
Team Disco Volante up at 6:30am for a long sail to Baiona. Well when I say team, I mean everyone except for me. I took advantage of the high crew levels to stay
in bed until 10am. What a luxury – thanks guys! Luck of the Welsh was with us (I was woefully outnumbered by Welshies) and we had a cracking sail all the way to Baiona, making excellent time. This is also the sail that took us from Portugal into Spain. Crossing borders baby!!!
Turns out Sunday was a public holiday, so no Marineros to meet us at the marina, we just park up on any available pontoon. Then typically a guy arrives and we have to move. It’s easy though, and most amusing when Matt almost takes an unscheduled dip as he pushes the front of the bow off. Tee hee. Baiona is one hell of a yacht club. It’s in beautiful grounds, right next to an iconic Parador hotel in a castle. It’s all wood panelling, deck shoes and blazers, love love love. The town itself is very pretty with cobbled alleyways and a real buzz about it. We are all desperate for a dip in the sea that has been tempting us for days, so we head down to the nearest beach. Duh!!! Tide is out, it only goes up to our knees before we hit moorings. And
it’s bloody freezing and full of seaweed. Laura bravely dives in though – legend. Matt and I not so keen! We head off to explore and find a great bar with potent mojitos and free popcorn tapas. The place is decorated in a sewing / dress-making theme with loads of old irons, sewing machines and tailors dummies all around. Several cocktails later we stagger back to the boat.
Mon 18
th – Tue 19
th May – Baiona to Vigo
Distance: 20nm
It’s not far to Vigo from Baiona as we got further than planned the day before, so we have a lazy 1130 start. Unfortunately winds are really picking up, so we are pleased to arrive into the safety of the marina just after lunch.. Typically when we arrive its siesta time, so we wait for the marinero to arrive and give us some fuel. Then we are directed onto a pontoon, alongside for a change. Mike does some fancy manoeuvring to get us on and must use a hundred ropes to tie us on to the pontoon, that has clearly seen better days!!!!! We are all starving, so go looking for a nice place for
an alfresco lunch. Find a great restaurant with lots of yummy raciones. We order a mountain of food, wine & sangria that we happy demolish in the sunshine. We stay a second night in Vigo to give the strong winds a chance to die down. We are on a tourist mission and head over to the swanky modern tourist information office. The lady is very helpful and points us in the direction of suitable things to do with an unexpected day in Vigo. We have a day of coffees, sightseeing, shopping & tapas, with some lovely views thrown in. Really like Vigo – can see why so many cruise ships stop off there! We do a big shop ready for Isla Cies and then back to the boat.
Tue 20
th May – Vigo to Isla Cies
Distance: 9nm
It’s a tiny sail to Isla Cies, which is visible from our marina in Vigo. Still enjoying the extra injection of enthusiasm you get when fresh-blood gets on board, we put the sails up and have a bit of a play around under sail to Isla Cies. Dodging the rather scary ferries which zoom around Vigo’s ria
dropping commuters to different banks of the river. Sails down and we drop anchor at our little island paradise. Dinghy blown up and we go to explore. We are the only boat and as we land on the beach our footsteps are the first of the day on the pristine white sand. We head over to the visitor centre and enjoy a picturesque walk through the centre of the island. Time for a quick beer and we head back to Disco Volante for a beach BBQ. The girls row aboard and collect all the meat and drinks. At this point the seagulls start to appear, they clearly have a good sense of smell!!
The boys start some kind of competitive sand castle game on the beach, which I don’t really understand, but am obliged to take numerous photos of.. While the BBQ heats up we all take a chilly dip in the beautiful turquoise sea. Once we are in it’s actually alright, despite the 13.5°C temperature! We have a lovely BBQ on the beach, the sun finally comes out and its surprisingly warm. We only heading back to the boat when it starts to get dark, where the party
continues. Though I bow out early as Sarah + sailing + hangover still don’t mix. Booooo.
Weds 21
st May – Isla Cies to Portosin
Distance: 42.8
Awful awful awful night’s sleep. The wind picked up (big gusts) as expected and I spent a fitful night worrying we would drag anchor, so barely slept a wink. Not to mention I kept hearing fishing boats passing far too close to us during the night trawling. Luckily the guys all got up and left me in bed. I finally got up about 10am and its fair to say the crew were looking pretty hungover! Feeling marginally refreshed I took over as captain. Laura got up after a short nap (Well actually Mike tacked and knocked Laura out of bed!!). So the girls took over, Laura at the helm (for 3hrs straight) and me navigating and being winch monkey & general sail tweaker! We played chicken with a few fishing boats, then as we approached Portosin we needed to tack, so we bravely decided not to wake the boys and in strong winds did a tack of the main & genoa, which clearly woke the boys up as two
very blearly eyed boys popped their heads up and wondered what the hell had happened. VERY FUNNY!!
We had a warm welcome at cute little Portosin yacht club. Well worth a stop, they are very kind and accommodating. We were quickly directed to a berth just as the winds started picking up nicely. Textbook mooring by the hungover team too! Can’t believe this is our last night with Matt & Laura – it’s gone so fast!
We head to a local fish restaurant for an amazing fish supper – garlic clams, scallops, lobster, prawns. An absolute fishy feast. Thanks guys!
Wed 21
st May to present - Portosin
Distance: 0nm
So so so sad waving off Matt & Laura to Santiago Compostela and home. MISS YOU ALREADY!
We have spent the last few days vegging out & doing some chores. Making sure we will be in tip top condition for our Biscay Crossing. It’s very friendly here, so it hasn’t really been a hardship.
We managed a little excursion to the pretty estuary town of Noia nearby. Which has lots of 14
th century medieval buildings and is well worth a visit. Now
just have to be patient and hope the long range forecasts won’t be quite as bad as they appear to be.
Our crewmate for Biscay, Gwynn has already had to delay coming out by a week as the winds are unsailable at the moment. Meanwhile we are amusing ourselves with DVDs & G&Ts. Beach tomorrow.
So excited to see you all back in the UK very soon.
Send happy weather vibes our way please. Mike starts work on 16
th June, eek!
Big Love, Team Walker XXX
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