Lagos, Portugal

Any bit of land would have looked good after a month at sea (well, eight days since we last saw land) but we were especially fortunate to end up here on the beautiful Algarve coast. Lovely beaches, spectacular sandstone cliffs and caves, and, considering it's a major tourist destination, very reasonable living costs (by Australian standards. Actually everywhere is pretty reasonable compared to Australia - even Bermuda and the Azores which are miles from anywhere). I hadn't heard much about Portuguese food, but it's great - fresh cheap seafood, beautiful fruit (cherries, figs, apricots and peaches at the moment), the best tomatoes ever, olives, really good cheeses and bread - and the wine is excellent. Even the cheapo stuff (less than 2 euros a bottle!) is quite drinkable. I've just come back from the Saturday market where I spent less than 10 euros and came back with a huge basket of fresh produce.

For our first few days here, we enjoyed the company of Padraig's family - his lovely wife Clare and his parents Bridgeen and Mickey. It's easy to see where Pad's adventurous spirit and positive attitude to life come from. Mickey is a great storyteller and a veteran triathlete, and I'm sure Bridgeen must be one of those Selkies I've read about in Celtic fairytales. Only a seal-person could swim a couple of kilometres in the ocean every day! It was really sad to say goodbye to the Mallon family but I hope we will meet up again soon, when we get to Ireland (or any time before that - wherever Common Sense happens to be).

We also enjoyed the company of Diane from Outer Limits, the ARC yacht that was lost after a collision with a whale just out of Bermuda. It was very sobering to hear her story, but great that the four crew were rescued without injury. The final ARC parties were fun and a good opportunity to share experiences with all the others who had crossed the Atlantic with us - we didn't actually see any of them at sea, but we know they were all out there! We welcomed in Wild Goose and First Edition III, after the festivities were over. First Edition is a similar boat to ours, and it was great to see Dave arrive safely after undergoing some repairs in Horta.

We're going to be here in Marina de Lagos for a month, travelling by bus or train to some of the surrounding areas. Do get in touch if you're going to be anywhere close by - friends are aways welcome aboard!

ARC Blogs

Hi all - here are the brief blogs we posted via satelite on the ARC website during the rally, for those who missed them.

The Best Laid Plans …

37° 9.3’N   43° 0’W

Well it doesn’t do to get too complacent, does it? There we were,  finally making some reasonable time and distance, enjoying the good wind conditions and planning to be in Horta not too far behind the rest of the ARC fleet – hopefully still on our target of the 31^st. The sea gods thought otherwise. Friday night saw strong squalls from the east, combined with the problem of not being able to furl our headsail (we’d had to replace a frayed furling line with a spare spinnaker halyard that wasn’t really right for the job) and we were forced to run south for the whole night. It’s painful to go backwards, losing those hard-won miles, but it’s even worse under such horrible conditions, with big swells slapping us sideways every few minutes. We couldn’t have been more alone, or further from help, right in mid-Atlantic. Times like this are a test of character – Terry held the fort, I had a meltdown and, unbelievably, Padraig had a good sleep!

After the storm comes the calm – so we’ve just had a full night of motoring in very light winds, but at least we’ve been heading in the right direction. And now, at last, the wind has come up to about 16 knots, we’ve turned off the engine and we’re making about  4.5 knots on a heading a little north of our course line.  We’re probably looking at an arrival on June 2, which means we’ll miss the start of the Azores cruise.  We just want to get there safely, without further drama or damage. Lots of love to any friends and family watching our progress – we’re doing OK and looking forward to catching up with you on-line soon.

‘We joined the Navy to see the world,

And what did we see?

We saw the sea.’     (South Pacific)

That about sums it up: we’ve seen a lot of sea. In all its moods from calm to calamitous, from a dream of surfing dolphins and soaring shearwaters to a nightmare of inky peaks and canyons.

It feels as though we’ve made very slow progress – well behind the ARC fleet, most of which have arrived in the Azores or will do so shortly. This is due, I guess, to a combination of inexperience, minor misfortunes and a boat untested in open ocean conditions. But hey! We’ve sailed over 1400 nautical miles on this passage (plus 900 to Bermuda before that, 400 through the Bahamas & 1200 down the US East Coast) and we’re ‘almost’ there! We’re all reasonably intact, aside from the usual sailor’s array of colourful bruises; Common Sense seems to be holding together (with the help of a lot of ropes and bits of gaffer tape); we’re well fed and still on speaking terms, and as far as I can tell, no-one is barking mad just yet. We’ve managed some very scary episodes with teamwork and good humour. I think we’re doing OK.

Tuesday night: another horrible storm with winds gusting to 50 knots and big following swells. A pin holding the boom in place was shorn away with an awful crash and clatter. Paddy identified and fixed the problem in no time, despite the driving rain and screaming wind. What a legend!

380 miles to go. Beam me up Scotty.

PS Padraig says the rum is running out and he requests an urgent airdrop.

Azores High

Well we finally tootled into Horta Marina after seventeen and a half days at sea, well behind the rest of the ARC fleet but relatively intact – just a slight rip in the mainsail and a shattered windscreen in the dodger to show for our battle with the elements.  We really appreciated the warm reception – cheers and greetings all the way in from the breakwater, and a lovely cold beer from the guys on Miss Carol. We missed all the Rally festivities on Horta, but made up for it with a few days of sightseeing, eating and drinking on this lovely island. We took the ferry over to Pico, and of course Padraig is now determined to return to climb the volcano. Actually we’re all keen to come back to Azores  – there is obviously a lot more to see and do than we had time for this time around.  Not to mention the great bread, cheese, wine, olives and fish, and the friendly local people.

The Azores Rally left the day after we came in – we needed a rest and Common Sense needed a bit of attention, AND we had to paint our bit of the seawall - so we didn’t go. We thought of joining up again in Sao Miguel, but in the end decided on a cunning plan to sail straight from Horta to Lagos in Portugal. We slipped away on the afternoon of Wednesday 6^th. After the high winds off Pico, there was very little wind at all for a day or so, so we motor-sailed. Today  (8^th) has been a lovely day, fine with 18 knot winds from the south west allowing us to make over 6 knots all day. Let’s hope for more of the same, so we can be in Lagos AHEAD of the fleet. With a bit of luck this time we’ll be the ones cheering from the breakwater and supporting the bar at all the parties.

Ate logo!

Carol, Terry and Padraig aboard Common Sense

Horta to Lagos

After several sacrifices to the sea gods (mostly in the form of fishing tackle), a Mass in Portuguese, the required wall painting to summon up fair winds and a string of unprintable imprecations from Terry, AT LAST we had a run of fine sailing weather. The only exception was a brief, wild ride on a forty knot gust sweeping down from the volcano on Pico. Overall we managed 5 – 6 knots for most of the 900 nautical mile passage, scooting along on the front of the fronts, rather than wallowing in their wakes.  Much better. 

Time did start to hang heavily in the uneventful middle days of the voyage. As our spot crept at a glacial pace across the chart (with the catamarans Scolamanzi  and Purrr-fect rapidly gaining on it) we found ourselves engaged in unaccustomed pastimes – Padraig writing letters and playing chess against the computer; myself doing girly things like cooking and embroidery;  and I’m sure I saw Terry with at least one novel. The fish started biting again - unfortunately we lost a big tuna (and the tip of the fishing rod, lures etc) but compensated with a nice one the next day, followed by another.

Then, finally, it was countdown time – 100 nautical miles to go.  80. 50. Suddenly we were into the Traffic Separation Zone and life became exciting and eventful. We heard Johannes and Henriette of Scolamanzi on the VHF, negotiating their way through a line of south-bound freighters behind us. Ahead, ships appeared very quickly in the northbound lane; a couple of them we needed to watch carefully. Without AIS we could not identify them, but Henriette kindly called the nearest one on VHF, providing us with their name. It was a little disconcerting to hear that we did not appear on their radar, but the watchman assured us that they had us ‘visual’ and we could pass in front. We did pass just metres in front of the huge cargo vessel, then had the pleasure of seeing a bunch of sailors peering out the rear windows at us. That’s how close we were. Another reminder of just how small a speck on the ocean our 42 foot boat really is. During the night, we saw Scolamanzi’s  lights as she flew past us. Not even four days’ head start could get us across the line first!

The light from Cape St Vincente guided us to the mouth of the Med, and as dawn broke Padraig and I had the wonderful sight of the cape, with its light and white chapel, that has greeted mariners for hundreds of years. We dipped our ensign respectfully to the saint, and tried to wake Terry who staggered to the deck but was just too exhausted to stay up. Sailing east along the majestic Algarve coast, we had our best conditions of the whole trip. With seven knots and beautiful smooth seas, we enjoyed the sight of the little white villages, rugged sandstone cliffs and all the various craft on the water. For Terry and me, it was Europe at last, a dream come true after about 40 years! For Padraig, it was a goal achieved and another great adventure amongst the challenges he sets himself – and of course he was just about bursting to see Claire, his beautiful wife who would be in Lagos that day.

I took us in through the channel and it was a thrill to steer Common Sense up the canal that runs right into Lagos. Up to the customs dock, then a comfortable entry into our slip in the gorgeous Marina de Lagos, where the friendly and efficient staff welcomed us and secured the boat.  

Stepping ashore after a journey of over 4000 nautical miles and 34 days at sea was quite overwhelming. Thanks to the ARC, congratulations to all our companions on the crossing and kudos to Terry for shouldering the skipper's responsibilities and getting us there safely through every trial. Especially thanks to Padraig - we were blessed to find a crewman who was so willing, capable and positive through every situation. And good craic as well.