Lisbon and Wind Vane update.

This taken from the marina water front looking towards the bridge last night. Arctic Smoke is buried in there near the bridge. It looks prettier than it is!

This the party boat that kept us awake on our first night.

We have now had loads of information and advice from John and Chris the designer and builder of the wind vane and have started to digest it. There are half a dozen things to look at/adjustments to make, which we will start tomorrow. Fingers crossed! 

Went looking for Chandlers, shops and markets today. Found a supermarket and market for provisioning. Found a Chandlers but they didn't have what we needed/very expensive. The response we got when asking for grease was as if we had asked for nuclear fuel! Still will try alternatives tomorrow or day after.

Also looked for digital scales to weigh the weights on the wind vane. No luck other than now know best place to look which is a bit of trek. Not sure if essential requirement yet so will see how we get on without.

Otherwise wandered around as tourists do and just enjoyed the experience of Lisbon. 

Ongoing quest to find a jazz venue also continues. There's a jazz festival on but only at weekends, by which time we plan to have departed.

Just as we got back to boat we saw another Brit boat come in that we had chatted too in Leixeos. Have been invited for drinks later.

Peniche to Lisbon

We left Peniche around 0830 and headed south initially in moderate and then light winds from the NW that after a couple of hours dropped to nearly no wind at all for an hour or so. The winds then increased to a F5 possibly gusting 6 later in the day from more or less north that put us on more or less a dead run. The wind at least initially was no stronger than the previous passage but the swell probably was and we were always close to gybing. In these conditions Angus found it impossible to cope. The boat kept on gybing or veering off down wind despite trying various sail plans, which cumulated in two reefs in the main and genoa when the wind and swell was at its highest. We had to resort to hand steering again which was a bit of a blow given we have a longish passage coming up to the Azores.

Conditions were quite challenging even for a human helmsman between Cabo Roso and Cascais so perhaps it was a bit too much to expect Angus to deal with. At times and for (very) short periods Arctic Smoke surfed down waves at 9.5 knots, a speed I had never witnessed before. Most of the time however she was making around 6.5 knots. Nearer to Cascais the conditions moderated and we passed a couple of yachts going in the opposite direction against the weather and the current and we wondered if they realised what was lying in wait for them around the corner!

Prior to Cabo Roso however, we were in conditions that will be only too common on the open ocean so we still need to make further improvements to Angus's operation if we're to make the Azores without being completely exhausted. I've therefore emailed the two brains behind Angus, the designer and builder and have asked for their views.

The upside of the day was a great sail across the bay and up the river to Lisbon. The water was almost flat once we were in the lee of the land but for the most part we still had a good breeze and so we romped along at 6-7 knots on a close reach/close hauled for the next couple of hours. That was just as well because the tide had turned against us and we were often only making 4k over the ground.

We entered Alcatara marina just before 2030 to make it a 12 hour passage to cover the 60 nautical miles, not bas considering we were pushing a foul tide for the last 3 hours.

We moored up on the first pontoon we came to and given the lateness of the hour and the fact that we had two steaks in the fridge we dined on board thanks to Tony's excellent skills in the galley. We turned in at around 2330 only to be disturbed by a party boat anchoring a few meters away with disco blaring at full blast. They disappeared after about an hour only for the clubs to open up with their cacophony a few minutes later. They didn't stop until 0700 the following morning.

Today, Sunday we moved the boat further up the marina, away from the clubs we were assured. We're now nearer the bridge but also further away from the commercial docks.

It's so hot today that we have rigged the cockpit cover for the first time since 2012 in Amsterdam!

We plan to stay here a few days \u8211\'96 hopefully improve the wind vane, rest up, tackle a few jobs and generally prepare the boat and then head out into the ocean proper.

Peniche ...

... is an old fishing port.

Once a very major one but the fleet now is much reduced. Used to be an island but now joined up with the rest of the land (not sure whether silted up or reclaimed land). The local fort dating back centuries more recently housed political prisoners - republicans I think during the revolution.

Any resemblance to my mate is of course entirely coincidental.

Going out for a fish dinner tonight. Tony is on a mission to try as many fish soups on the cruise as possible.

The wind is still blowing a near gale from the north and a number of yachts are waiting like us to head south to Lisbon.

We plan to leave tomorrow.

Leixeos to Peniche

Sorry, no photos but see the tracking page for the only one taken this passage.

We left Leixeos at about 1500 on Wednesday 13/5 in light westerly winds with Nazare about 70 miles south our intended destination. Subsequently however we decided to push on to Peniche another 30 miles south. The wind gradually increased in fits and starts over the following 24 hours such that by mid morning today (Thursday) we had a reef in the main and a few turns in the Genoa and were running at about 6.5 k in a NNW F 5/6 with a heavy swell running that occasionally and then more frequently over powered Angus and caused the boat to gybe.

It was after this had been going on for 30 mins or so that I partly furled the Genoa which improved things dramatically. I realised that without a reef in the Genoa the sail plan was out of balance and in the gusts the poled out Genoa pushed the bows downwind forcing the gybe despite Angus's best efforts!

I also figured something out about wind vanes - unlike a human they can't compensate for variations in weather helm that gusting conditions (exacerbated by swell) create. Getting the sail plan balanced to the best compromise is therefore critical to maintaining a steady course relative to the wind. In open ocean providing gybing is avoided it doesn't matter too much if the boat yaws about but if as we were, you're sailing to way points (between islands and the mainland) you want a steady course. I then also found that the best way of managing the extreme fluctuations in the wind was to adjust the main sheet tension.

We saw  one solitary dolphin this morning. By the time I had the camera out he'd gone!

A couple of issues cropped up on the passage. Around midday I noticed that the solar panel meter display was showing a full battery despite the fact that the battery was continuing to drain rather than charge. I eventually traced the cause to a blown fuse on the positive cable to the batteries. I then realised that I failed to replace the fuse with one of an increased rating when i added the 2 100w panels to the original 50w one. The 6.5a fuse was not able to cope with 12+ a being generated by the panels. Strangely the 10 fuse I replaced it with (the highest rated fuse I had) was!

The other issue is that something's amiss with the end of tiller near the rudder head. A bolt seems to have pulled out. Something to look at tomorrow, but nothing a bit of epoxy won't sort out I'm sure.

By 1400 we were between Ilha Da Berlegha and Cabo Carvoeiro and the seas were quite boisterous, no doubt brought about by a combination of shoaling water and the north/south current funneling through the gap. Things quietened down once we got into the lee of Cabo Carvoeio and we were moored up in Pineche at 1600.

Tomorrow will be a rest/odd job/sight seeing day. We aim to push on for Lisbon on Saturday.

Photos and Videos - Biona to Leixeos via Viana do Costelo

Biaona

Biaona to Viana do Costelo

Viana do Costelo

Viana do Costelo to Leixeos

Colin the Duck Part 1

Colin the Duck Part 2

Floating Windmill

Leixeos

Viana do Costelo to Leixeos

Porto

Railway Station!

Leixeos...

.... Is a working port next to Porto with a friendly marina and is where we are moored now after two very enjoyable days sailing from Biana via Viana do Costello. It looks like we have sorted the wind vane out which is a great relief. Not yet used in heavy weather but has handled two days of running with only occasional manual intervention when a combination of light winds and the heavy swell has proved too much for it.

We have had two glorious days of sailing the Portuguese trades in t-shirts and shorts which makes crossing Biscay in 5 layers of clothing a dim and distant memory.

Today visiting Porto by bus given the harbour not yacht friendly. Tomorrow we plan to head for Nazare some 70 miles south of here.

Will post photos when can get laptop on line.

Voyage Resumed

I left Sharon at Lisbon Airport on Thursday afternoon and headed back to Vigo via the Metro and then rail. A few nervous moments queing for a metro ticket at the Airport but I made the train with 15 minutes to spare. Got back to the boat about 2230 that night and Tony had cooked dinner which was very welcome.

Friday we went shopping and I treked to the Laundry.

During tea in bed this morning Tony used the loo, then I heard a splash and "oh dear" from Tony. "What's up?" I enquired nervously. Silence at first then, "well without going into details, your jacket is going to need a good hose down."

We cast off at 1100 this morning in the sun and a light breeze from the SW, bound for Biaona just a few miles down the coast and where Tony had called in on his last ocean passage 40 years ago en route for the Canaries.

We were so taken up with the wind vane that we missed the short route to Biaona and had to go the long way around the off-lying Islands

We played with the wind vane during the short passage and whilst we're not yet 100% satisfied that it is working as it should it was able to hold a course pretty well so we are fairly pleased. There are further adjustments with weights and the positioning of blocks and the tiller fitting that we can try tomorrow.

Biaona is pleasant with a most impressive, if somewhat imposing yacht club. The only one in Spain apparently to challenge for the Americas Cup (no information provided about the success or otherwise of the challenge. The Pilot states laconically that visitors are made welcome "provided the adopt the members dress code"! No details of the dress code were provided!

Anyway suffice to say that we were made very welcome without resorting to dressing up and went for a beer in the club over looking the marina and bay.

The down side of Baiona (so far) is the marina price. It's mid season at present which for our 10 meters will cost us E21.53! We'll be moving on tomorrow! Probably to "Viano do Costelo", about 30 miles down the coast. The winds are still light , not good for a long haul.