11 June 2012
The plan on Sunday the 10th of June was to head for Porto and then on the next day do an over nighter to Cascais, which is near as damnit to Lisbon, however the forecast was reasonable - WNW 5 to 6 becoming variable and then light from the SW before backing NW again - and we were going so well, we decided to do our over nighter that evening and stop at Peniche.
See? Going well, if a bit cool, drizzly and overcast.
Well, we've both agreed that this was our second worse passage ever.
I'm having to go back and check the log and at the time we made our decision to carry on to Peniche, the wind was from WNW Force 5, we had full sail set and were happily cruising along at all most 6 knots.
When the wind veered, as expected, to the SW and became lighter, we motored sailed to keep our course. We could have headed more inshore but with the wind coming around to the NW again later we would have had the same problem trying to head west in a NWesterly.
We were not the only ones, there were a number of yachts in the vicinity doing exactly the same thing.
Looking at the log now, the winds never got up - it was only a 6 as we arrived at Peniche, but it really was the most uncomfortable passage. The sea state was quite rough and it was a REALLY unpleasant sail.
Tim thinks that the wind was too far behind us for the mizzen, and rather than balance the jib it caused the stern to slew around, so that as well as going from side to side and up and down over a rough sea, we were going back and forth too.
It was such a lot of effort to do anything.
A clipped on (to the lifeline) and braced Tim, putting up the Portuguese courtesy flag.
I should have put down my thoughts nearer the time but by the time we got into Peniche at a quarter to two on the 11th, we were knackered.
Fishing is the primary industry in Peniche and as we were mooring up one of our neighbours told us to put our as many fenders as possible because of wake from the fishing boats. He described a wave the previous day that had come right over the pontoon.
The pilot book suggests that you tie up along the inside of the pontoon, but it was completely taken up by local boats. We put all our fenders out and by the time we left a 0615 the next morning, we'd experienced not a ripple. We did see a host of fishing boats approaching the harbour as we were leaving and I wondered if it had to do more with their arrival rather than their departure.
The seagulls looked like confetti.
All the fishing boats tow a smaller boat but we never saw how they used it when hauling in the nets. It is hard to image doing anything useful in something that small while bouncing around in the middle of the night in a rough sea.
The speed limit in the harbour is 3 knots but you know what it's like getting off the motor way, 30 mph can feel very slow. And hey, they're locals.
We had a brief walk around Peniche.
It made me think of pictures you see of Cuba or Mexico, grand old buildings with the plaster falling off the walls.
They're rather beautiful in their own way.
I think it would be a place worth visiting and would have liked to explore but we were eager to get to Lisbon where we could finally relax and spend a bit of time really sightseeing.
See? Going well, if a bit cool, drizzly and overcast.
Well, we've both agreed that this was our second worse passage ever.
I'm having to go back and check the log and at the time we made our decision to carry on to Peniche, the wind was from WNW Force 5, we had full sail set and were happily cruising along at all most 6 knots.
When the wind veered, as expected, to the SW and became lighter, we motored sailed to keep our course. We could have headed more inshore but with the wind coming around to the NW again later we would have had the same problem trying to head west in a NWesterly.
We were not the only ones, there were a number of yachts in the vicinity doing exactly the same thing.
Looking at the log now, the winds never got up - it was only a 6 as we arrived at Peniche, but it really was the most uncomfortable passage. The sea state was quite rough and it was a REALLY unpleasant sail.
Tim thinks that the wind was too far behind us for the mizzen, and rather than balance the jib it caused the stern to slew around, so that as well as going from side to side and up and down over a rough sea, we were going back and forth too.
It was such a lot of effort to do anything.
A clipped on (to the lifeline) and braced Tim, putting up the Portuguese courtesy flag.
I should have put down my thoughts nearer the time but by the time we got into Peniche at a quarter to two on the 11th, we were knackered.
Fishing is the primary industry in Peniche and as we were mooring up one of our neighbours told us to put our as many fenders as possible because of wake from the fishing boats. He described a wave the previous day that had come right over the pontoon.
The pilot book suggests that you tie up along the inside of the pontoon, but it was completely taken up by local boats. We put all our fenders out and by the time we left a 0615 the next morning, we'd experienced not a ripple. We did see a host of fishing boats approaching the harbour as we were leaving and I wondered if it had to do more with their arrival rather than their departure.
The seagulls looked like confetti.
All the fishing boats tow a smaller boat but we never saw how they used it when hauling in the nets. It is hard to image doing anything useful in something that small while bouncing around in the middle of the night in a rough sea.
The speed limit in the harbour is 3 knots but you know what it's like getting off the motor way, 30 mph can feel very slow. And hey, they're locals.
We had a brief walk around Peniche.
It made me think of pictures you see of Cuba or Mexico, grand old buildings with the plaster falling off the walls.
They're rather beautiful in their own way.
I think it would be a place worth visiting and would have liked to explore but we were eager to get to Lisbon where we could finally relax and spend a bit of time really sightseeing.
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