Blog 38: Summer 2023 Catch-Up!

I'm afraid I've been very remiss this year with the blog - a lot of other things seem to have been going on and also it has often been so hot that the idea of sitting at a computer voluntarily (if no-one is paying me to do it!) does not appeal! Well, that's my excuse anyway.

So this is just a quick blog to catch up with where we are now!

August 2022

At the end of last year, we planned to sail back from Sao Miguel in the Azores to Lagos on mainland Portugal for the winter. However, that was not to be...! 

Our last view of Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel island

The first day or so was flat calm so we could motor and life on board was very easy. We saw 3 pods of dolphins and a whale (in the distance) and spectacular stars in the clear night sky. 

Here's one pod of dolphins...

...and another pod swimming around and under the boat - so close!

The ocean is 4000 metres deep and there is surprisingly little sea traffic - we saw hardly a ship and it is an awesome feeling to be so alone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

I spoke too soon about it being flat calm though!! In the middle of dinner on Day 2 the wind suddenly got up and we had to quickly clear away the plates before they fell off the table!!

Although the sun is still shining, it's no longer flat calm!

Unfortunately the wind was in entirely the wrong direction (contrary to the forecast) coming from ahead, and the swell was coming from 2 directions, both behind us and on the beam, producing a very troubled and unpleasant sea.

 

You can see the storm coming towards us where the clouds are merging with the sea on the horizon

Not a pleasant experience and we are making very little progress!

We are only managing 3 knots when we should be able to make 6 or 7 knots. We are OK and making simple meals, but not getting any nearer to our destination! Even the dolphins don't seem to like this weather - we have seen no wildlife today at all apart from an occasional seabird. 

After another couple of days and nights of this, we eventually chose to divert to Madeira which is where the wind wanted to take us.

 

Land ahoy! Approaching Porto Santo, the smaller Madeiran island

Looking back at the sunset over the Atlantic - it doesn't look that rough now, but it was!!

The next day the sun came out and we're in a nice sheltered anchorage...

... and just in time to enjoy a local festival.

We then sailed back to the bigger island of Madeira itself...

...and Astraia spent the winter in Agua de Pena boatyard under the Madeira Airport runway extension!

May 2023

In early summer this year, we moved Astraia from the boatyard under the runway to Quinta da Lorde Marina, still in Madeira.

Here is Astraia being picked up by the boat crane to be relaunched.

We motored along the coast back to Quinta da Lorde marina...

...and set about putting the sails back on and doing the final jobs to make her ready for sea. 

One of the important final jobs was to fit a new radar as we must have lost the old one in the middle of the Atlantic somewhere! This was quite a task requiring both of us to go up the mast (separately!) 

Charles went up numerous times and had to be incredibly careful not to drop anything into the sea!!

Meanwhile, down on the pontoon, I was rubbing down and repainting the radar bracket.

The prevailing wind is not usually in the right direction to go from Madeira to the mainland, but as last year proved, the wind does not always do what you expect!

Finally, and surprisingly, the wind turned in our favour and we set off for Porto Santo, the smaller Madeiran island.

Our final view of Madeira - we loved it and are rather sad to leave!

Approaching Porto Santo after quite a lively sail

Porto Santo harbour and marina - perfectly calm

Astraia at anchor - we spent a day in Porto Santo waiting for the best possible weather forecast after last year's experience!

Porto Santo is only 11km long, so we cycled along to one of our favourite places to eat, Restaurante O Calhetas, at the farthest SW point of the island.

A refreshing beer, after all that cycling, and a delicious lunch

Ponta da Calheta is a beautiful spot, with Ilheu da Cal in the background...

...and miles of golden sand.

Finally the weather looked set fair for our 3 day passage to mainland 

Portugal.

Here is our chart - we still like to have an old-fashioned paper one as well as the GPS.

This trip could not have been more different from last year - the Atlantic was like a millpond and we had sunshine and blue skies for the whole 3 day passage.

We left Porto Santo at dawn and saw the only spots of rain of the trip.

The wind was in the right direction, but not very strong, so we had to motor sail some of the time, but we didn't use much fuel at all, so the wind was obviously helping.

Such an easy journey in the end. We could easily cook and enjoy our meals at the cockpit table, rather than just grabbing a cup soup!

The sky and were a deep beautiful blue, and the sun was out few birevery day. The clear nights showed off the stars and planets spectacularly.  One night I saw the space station tracking past.

Strangely we didn't see any wildlife on this trip apart from a few seabirds.

However, we still had some boat problems to solve and we have spent a few weeks in Lagos and Portimão getting a new starter motor, battery and cables and sorting out a serious problem with the engine shaft coupling which was not sealing properly and allowing water in!! We now have a nice new coupling fitted and all is well!

In the meantime, we came back to UK for Jo & Mark's wedding in July which was a marvellous and very happy occasion.

August 2023

We had a lovely visit from Caroline for a few days while we were still 'stuck' in Portimão Marina. Unfortunately we were not able to take her sailing, but we hired a car and visited Aljezur, the limestone cliffs at Carvoeiro and spent some time on our local uncrowded beach.

A few days later Rebecca joined us and this time we were finally able to set sail (or rather motor-sail!) and made it to Ayamonte in Spain, visiting Culatra and Ohlão on the way!

Ayamonte is a very nice little Spanish town just across the river from Portugal. We happened to time our visit with the ?????, a festival lasting 5 days with parades, brass bands and fireworks displays. The legend ...??

We had a gorgeous sail with the wind in the right direction for a change to Mazagon, a pleasant town with a nice beach, which we first visited a couple of years ago.

Another pleasant sail brought us to Chipiona. We've been keeping an eye open for orcas, but thankfully only saw a few dolphins on this trip.

Lighthouse, churches, castle, chameleons .....

Well that's brought us up-to date and now we are planning to head further east towards Cadiz as soon as our next visitors arrive!