Category: Cruising

We sailed almost due south from the Spanish Ria’s to Peniche, Portugal. In Peniche we were amazed at how late everybody ate lunch and dinner. At how late we would get up in the morning. And that nothing was open when it was supposed to be even if we arrived at the opening time. We went to Mark’s bar which gave 3 time zones for something like New York, Paris and Berlinga. Berlinga was 6 miles away and corresponded to our watches. After a week in Peniche we went to catch a bus to the walled town of Obidas (where

For any of us that sail around Portsmouth there has always been a fine line on the chart off the shore of Southsea that runs out to Horse Sand Fort. This minor detail relates to the submarine defense wall. Wonder what happens if you hit it? We know of a visitor to the UK who hit it at 7 knots and immediately stopped. We understand that the metal hull & keel had to have very substantial repairs in Portsmouth and that the family crew was rattled. It’s a feature that is easily missed on our Solent charts.

Antonio and Josef, two very special Portuguese sailors who welcomed us to Peniche and Portugal in spectacular fashion. Antonio cooked Paella on Josef’s boat Azulum and brought it over to finish the cooking of the rice on our boat as we were eating on Aditi. The following evening he brought over the home produced wine. They have sailed back home to Cascais today and we wish them fair winds and hope the fog lifts for them.

Atlantic Portugal;A special kind of place. Friendly, relaxed and natural. Upon arrival our lines were taken by customs officials and they tied us to the dock. We are berthed next to their 55ft patrol boat which often has about 5 officers onboard, more than you normally see at a Heathrow check in. Having then shown our passports for the second time in 17 years sailing (first time was last week) we were checked in. Our ultra polite customs officer then kindly pointed out the marina reception, the village area and restaurants along the quayside. Once finished with us he returned

Standing on the quay side a young man noticed an octopus in the harbour. Off came the T-shirt to be used as a net, in went the octopus which was then bashed on the quayside wrapped in the T-shirt, following which it was manually gutted whilst the shirt was rinsed in the harbour. Everything was soon back to normal less one octopus.

It took us a couple of days to commission the watermaker as a key wiring map was missing from the manual. At one point the control panels blew and the watermaker carried on completely out of control. To find the right wiring pattern for the fresh water flush valve and the low pressure pump switch we blew 3 amp fuse after 3 amp fuse. I thought I had enough in stock for more than a lifetime but now I need more! We made about 300 litres of water yesterday and then we fresh water flush meaning no pickling of the