Route 28 tram

Trevor & I found time today for a trip to Lisbon. An energetic walk up to the Castle of São Jorge, a Moorish castle occupying a commanding hilltop overlooking the historic city of Lisbon. To return to sea level we took the quaint Route 28 tram, weaving its way along cobbled streets, past houses with walls faced entirely in colourful tiles - often looking shabby and antiquated, but nevertheless charming in an unspoilt sort of way.

Chilling

It feels like we have gone from one extreme to another. From full sailing attire and wet weather gear to shorts and t-shirts with temperatures over 30C. To round off the afternoon and enjoy a glass of port, or two..... we needed shade. With an unorthodox jury rig using the storm trisail we managed to generate enough shade to sit back and chill......

Drying out

We crossed the finish line at 12:36 on Sunday. A party from JOG met us at the dock with a beer and bottle of bubbly. Just what we needed after the climax of the race rounding Cabo Roca in 40kts of wind with almost full sails up. No wonder we both needed a siesta before dinner in Cascais. We awoke the following morning to find our rivals moored alongside and set about the usual ritual of washing off all the salt and drying out all the kit.

Central Reservations

On passing Cabo Villano we were faced with a strategic decision - to cover
the fleet, bearing in mind that we could only see SX Girl on AIS, or to sail
our own race based on wind and weather predictions and optimum route. The
former risked giving the game away to other boats as you cover your nearest
rival. We decided to have faith in our own routing abilities and headed
South West towards more favourable winds that would allow us to reach south
quickly. But the Westerly option has its own risks - four lanes of shipping
in transit between Cabo Roca and Cabo Finisterre. We waved our way amongst
the northbound ships of which the second lane is dedicated to dangerous and
explosive cargos. Having made it to the middle we now face the gauntlet of
crossing back again, feeling rather like a cat stuck on the central
reservation.

The dove from above

Our bold move to go west - far west, out into the Atlantic, to catch a more
kindly wind, has received an omen from above.. A dove appeared from the east
(no olive branch) and circled the boat four or five times. Finally, it made
for the spreaders to land. I'm not sure in which navy this particular bird
had learnt its aircraft carrier landing technique, but apparently a
downwind, diagonal into-the-boat approach is taught there. Its feet
touched, there was the horrible sound of claws against aluminium as it
skidded along the spreader and thudded into the mast. It managed to recover
flight stability just before hitting tthe deck and fluttered off in a
zig-zag flight pattern, not to be seen again.
I have a feather. Is that a good omen then?
Trev

Fair winds and sunshine!

Richard and Trevor are now in sight of land, passing Cabo Villano earlier this evening, close enough for Rich to email me a photo!  All is well aboard Jangada Too, they are enjoying calm seas, clear winds and some warming sunshine.  Still got around 280 nautical miles to Cascais.

Cape Ortago - Land Ahoy

The first sunshine for almost two days. Wind no longer hard on the nose. Wind below 12 knots at last. Sea state slight. Starting to return to normal life. Even the prospect of a decent hot meal and coffee is once again appealing. But best of all is the sight of the Spanish coast. Oh, and 3G reception.