Baiona to Caiscais. Sunday 14th June 2009

If it’s Sunday, it must be Portugal!

As the last couple of days have started overcast and then cleared up, we assumed when we woke to grey skies that the same would apply today. We had decided that, sea permitting, we would make the long trek from Baiona to Cascais, taking us into yet another country as we head Med-wards.

Sadly, we have discovered that the bakeries in Spain are not like those in France, and instead of opening at crack of dawn, you can’t buy bread until later in the morning. Tim did his usual rush up to the nearest outlet in hope of buying a warm crusty loaf but no such luck, so we set off early(ish) with just a few slices of toast for our breakfast at sea.

The weather decided not to improve but the sea conditions weren’t too bad, although there was quite a swell, as ever. With four of us on board, we were able to have a couple of people keeping watch whilst the other two could take a break, which broke the journey up quite considerably. Within about an hour, we had passed out of Spanish waters and were sailing along the coast of Portugal. The first things we noticed were the pots…pots everywhere and markers cunningly chosen so they blended in with the background making some of them almost impossible to spot! From then on, we had to be extra alert throughout the whole journey in order to avoid catching a pot and transplanting it somewhere nearer Cascais!

With a big swell on the stern quarter for most of the journey, we were delighted with Zaffina’s performance. She really gave us a remarkably smooth crossing considering the conditions, and never bumped or jarred through the water. With every trip, we become more confident with our boat and more thrilled with the way she handles.

It took us almost eleven hours to reach our final destination, the longest trip we’ve done so far and certainly the longest we intend to do. It was quite tiring, despite the breaks, and we were all relieved to turn into the entrance to Cascais, out of a busy sea and strong breeze into complete calm and, suddenly, beautiful hot weather! Now Annabelle is preparing dinner, Tim is heating the barbeque, Frank is studying the charts and all is well with the world.