Sunday, October 14, 2007

Landfall in Portugal – Day 5

We had a nice uneventful day’s sail before reaching Cascais, Portugal as the sun rose and our 5th day under way ended. We checked-in with reception at Marina de Cascais, just north of Lisbon, who also handled Customs & Immigration procedures. It was surprisingly an easy and pleasant experience, maybe because our last port of call was in another European Union country.

Eve’s comfortably docked in another swanky marina. This sailor is getting spoiled! Now my captain and I are wobbling (literally) around Cascais researching wifi access options.
For those of you wondering about Junior, our latest feathered friend hung out and did numerous fly-bys throughout the morning. But by early afternoon, well rested and fed, Junior left us. I suspect Junior probably jumped ship onto one of the many nearby and faster moving cargo ships as it was a leisurely sail day (146nm) for us.

Our 5 day passage from Crosshaven, Ireland to Cascais, Portugal was 820nm.

S/V Event Horizon Arrived Cascais

10/14/2007 @ 7:20 AM(UTC)
38°41.61'N 009°24.88'W

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Saturday, October 13, 2007

S/V Event Horizon Position Update

10/13/2007 @ 12:00 PM(UTC)
40°03.26'N 009°59.52'W
Course 178T Speed 6.3kts
Wind 106T @ 8kts

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Approaching Portugal - Day 4

The sunshine filled day helped with drying out our gear. But by late morning we had no wind so we elected to motor our way along the west coast of northern Spain. (We're still more than 60 miles offshore.) By 2300 hrs we had wind and sailed through the night on a comfortable run, which has been wonderful for catching up on lost sleep. We've been safely sailing down what feels like the median of a busy highway these past 24 hours. To port it's northbound and to starboard it's southbound traffic for a popular shipping route.
We have another feathery friend. We're calling this one "Junior" and like "the baby" (see Oct 2007 blog titled Baby Sitting), it too prefers hanging out down below. Our cute little Junior has quickly settled in and seems to be the noisy type. When not busy eating my captain's breakfast scones Junior prefers to stay close to us but isn't a cuddler as was our previous guest. At my request, due to the increasing amount of bird evidence throughout the boat and clean-up required, Junior had been downgraded to steward class. Junior now resides on the aft deck with his scones and water supply.
It was a moderate day of progress (164nm) due to light winds and time spend adrift for sail changes and swapping out the Autohelm's linear drive unit. (We carry a spare since we relay heavily on our self steering system in place of crew.)
With an updated forecast of light winds, we are giving consideration to an earlier landfall in Portugal, verses continuing on for the south coast as planned. I'd best get out the Portuguese phrase book and start cramming.
With the sun up to begin a new day, I just watched Junior take a morning exercise fly around the parameter of the boat. Maybe we'll share a breakfast scone...

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Progress to Portugal - Day 3

I spoke too soon about the Bay of Biscay being in a good mood. She turned inhospitable during the last few hours of our visit.
The day started out pleasant enough. Still on a port beam reach we were greeted with a sunny sky and easterly 15-22kt winds that maintained a chill in the air and fueled building seas but we were happy making great progress. Just to be on the safe side, before night watches began, we put a reef in the jib. By 2100 hrs the gusts had increased to over 30kts and the wind and the seas kept building. By midnight we had reefed all we could reef and were relying on the storm (stay) sail to keep us on course through what would be 6 grueling hours. Large hectic seas, steady 30-45 knots winds and the dark of night are never a good combination but on this particular night things just seemed terrible. Plus there were the many waves of water reaching on deck from all four sides of the boat. I realize I'm out of practise after a string of comfortable passages but still...Later my captain discovered the Autohelm (self steering system) was not functioning at 100% which acerbated the situation in terms of the way the boat handled the conditions and felt to us. It was definitely one of those sailing moments when I question why I'm doing what I'm doing. And one of those times I'm grateful to have the captain I do.
We made way 200nm for a three day total of 545nm.

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Friday, October 12, 2007

S/V Event Horizon Position Update

10/12/2007 @ 12:00 PM(UTC)
42°20.94'N 010°10.43'W
Course 172T Speed 7.3kts
Wind 123T @ 4kts

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S/V Event Horizon Position Update

10/12/2007 @ 12:00 AM(UTC)
43°45.92'N 010°11.89'W
Course 184T Speed 8.3kts
Wind 084T @ 28kts

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Portugal Bound - Day 2

Expected to have the lightest winds, Day 2 carried us 170nm with little time on the engine. We're already a third of the way to southern Portugal! We continued on our rhumb line spending the day on the west side of the Bay of Biscay, which has been in a good mood during our visit. We entered on a starboard beam reach and the wind gradually clocked around us so we flew a spinnaker for a few hours and are now on a port beam reach.

I've noticed the water change from more green tones - yes, even Ireland's water is green - to what is now dark azure blue. The boat that was in our shadow, an English ketch named Bootlegger, passed us under engine in late morning. They made radio contact with us and like many other boats we have met heading south, they are eventually bound for the Canary Islands to join the ARC (Atlantic Rally Crossing) which departs for the Caribbean in mid November.

Day 2 was a beautiful dry sunny day that allowed us to shed the foulies and extra layers of clothing for a few hours in the afternoon. We had the rare experience of sailing past an enormous sea turtle with a head the size of a crash helmet and its prehistoric looking shell resembled an upturned ribbed dinghy. (Unfortunately no photos.) We continue to wonder just how old this amazing creature must be. By evening we were bundling up with extra warmth for what was a surprisingly chilly night. Since it's just my captain and me, were back to night watches of four hours on, four hours off from 8PM to noon. Watch or no watch, the nights are long as it's dark by 7:30PM and the sun doesn't start to rise until around 7:30AM.

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S/V Event Horizon Position Update

10/11/2007 @ 12:00 PM(UTC)
45°24.39'N 009°37.99'W
Course 195T Speed 7.6kts
Wind 075T @ 18kts

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

S/V Event Horizon Position Update

10/10/2007 @ 12:00 PM(UTC)
48°12.99'N 009°03.46'W
Course 190T Speed 5.9kts
Wind 341T @ 12kts

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Pointed Towards Portugal Day 1

If all goes according to plan, we're on a rhumb line passage to Portugal. Off the dock by 0730, put on the 135% jib and were under full sail before 0830. The first day's progress was average (170nm) but better than expected since we had more wind than forecasted. Winds clocked from SW to W mostly ranging from 14-21 knots across the beam, with 4 scattered hours of light wind that warranted the engine. Sea state was moderate and the air was wet most of the day. Nothing like starting out a passage wet. At least it drizzled less as the day progressed and the night air was surprisingly mild. The only excitement was passing other sailboats on a similar passage that departed before us. One yacht (S/V Boot Legger) has remained in our shadow. Time to go catch the sunrise and begin day 2

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Tuesday, October 09, 2007

S/V Event Horizon Position Update

10/9/2007 @ 12:00 PM(UTC)
51°10.58'N 008°30.86'W
Course 185T Speed 7.2kts
Wind 338T @ 4kts

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Monday, October 08, 2007

Crosshaven, County Cork

We’ve spent the past week in Crosshaven, known among sailors as the home of Royal Cork, the world’s oldest yacht club and Cork Week, Ireland's largest International Sailing Regatta. With three marinas, a boatyard, a huge racing scene and a fine selection of pubs, it’s a fun village for sailors. The flowing taps of Irish Stout (the Murphy’s is especially wonderful) and friendly locals are icing on the cake.

Other Crosshaven highlights include Wednesday night trad sessions (Irish music) at the Moonduster, Saturday farmer’s market in the village square and Sunday racing fleets parading through the harbour. County Cork has always been my favorite part of Ireland and my love for the area has only increased.

Like us, other boats are enjoying the comforts and beauty of Crosshaven waiting for the right weather window to journey south, which appears to be starting tomorrow…

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Baby Sitting

There was a bright side to our evening rock and roll session. Now we can be confident we still have our sea legs, which had been a concern and one of our reasons for making a coastal sail. With only the two of us on a passage that crosses the legendary Bay of Biscay, we want to be sure we have sea legs.

Day two of our journey south along the eastern Irish coast was again encased in cold gray drizzle on top of messy seas. While not the nicest day, it was an easy enough sail. The wind was directly on our stern, causing the main to flog, so we only sailed with the 135% jib which did a fine job. The morning was a blur due to little sleep but we both managed to pick up steam as the day progressed, probably due to our visitors.

Early afternoon brought the largest pod of dolphins I have ever witnessed. They gave synchronized performances (with as many as 6 dolphins) simultaneously on each side of the bow, while countless others performed gymnastics a distance in front of the bow. It was amazing! (Sorry no dolphin photos because I’m tired of trying and only getting shots of splashes.)

Our second and even more memorable visitor – yes, even more memorable! - was a bird. We’re 3 miles offshore in poor visibility when a little bird would periodically fly around us and land on the boat. The bird did this for a couple of hours, little by little landing closer to us and staying longer. At first glance it looked grown-up with its distinguishing colorful markings (wish I knew my birds) but later upon closer inspection we determined it was only a youngster. Sometimes you could see unruly tuffs of baby fuzz under its adult feathers and while an excellent flyer, it wobbled a bit when it walked. Eventually it started chatting to us and landing on us. Isn’t he adorable I would say, especially when it started to nuzzle. After a while the little guy wouldn’t stop chirping unless we held it! (It reminded me of a time I went chicken hunting in the BVI’s but that’s another bird story…) By now we’re affectionately referring to the little guy as “the baby” and convinced he was blown offshore and now he’s cold and exhausted. Later the captain was down below saying “maybe you should bring him down here where it’s warm”. I was afraid he might get spooked and fly into something but before there was much debate the baby flew down the hatch and onto my captain’s shoulder. It was settled, down below it would be. We created a nest-like area with the kitchen towel where the baby slept for over two hours. Upon frequent inspection, only occasionally did we see him look up to be sure all was fine before tucking his cute little head back into his side feathers, his way of saying lights out.


By late afternoon we entered Cork Harbour, rounded Roche’s Point (top photo) and entered the Owenboy River to arrive in Crosshaven, County Cork. After docking at Salve Marina we found the baby relocated down below, awake and chirpy. He was still happiest in the palm of a hand but seemed energetic. Thinking the baby must be famished, I attempted to feed it bread which he ignored and then sesame seeds which he clearly hated because each time I held one to his beak, he would turn away and bury his head under his wing in disgust. The baby was in no hurry to vacate but as we left for the pub we left him in the warmth of a towel inside the hatch cover. Upon our return to the boat, the baby was gone, surely grateful to be rested and back on land.

S/V Event Horizon Position Update

10/1/2007 @ 12:00 PM(UTC)
51°52.70'N 007°47.05'W
Course 240T Speed 7.2kts
Wind 068T @ 19kts

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Monday, October 01, 2007

Goodbye Dun Laoghaire

At 5am on Sunday, the last day of September, we shoved off the Dun Laoghaire docks and watched the lights of Dublin Harbour fade into the distance. We battled tides and moderate seas to make our way south. It was cold and gray but we had good wind (15-20kts) for most of the day and somehow managed to dodge most of the rain. Upon approach to Dunmore East we decided to stop for the night. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Why continue on when we could stop for a family visit (it’s my captain’s brother’s stomping grounds), savor a pint of goodness AND get a good night sleep? Wrong. Well, the visit and the Guinness were great but the swells and never-ending motion in the harbour resulted in it making our top-10-worst-nights-on-the-boat list. Exhausted, we lifted the hook in the early morning hours and continued south.