Tuesday 26th May 2015
We were feeling rather tired, the sailing so far has been quite challenging, so we thought long and hard about whether to sail to Baiona in one hop, a 12hr sail. In the end we decided to go for it, with a few researched bolt holes enroute if we felt we needed to stop. As it turned out we had a fantastic days sail.
We started off with the sheer granite cliffs very reminiscent of Cornwall as our back drop. Cabo Finesterre has a fearsome reputation as being a rough and windy spot, but we had left early before the winds had really got going and it hardly bothering us. As the day went on the scenery soften and began to look more continental, with craggy hills and sandy beaches.
The sea here is very deep and a dark, dark, greeny, blue black. There was a metre or so of swell and small waves with white horses, but compared to what we’ve had, it felt calm. The sky was blue with hazy cloud stretching across it.
We were sailing downwind so the boat was relatively flat and on deck, although the true wind was around 20kts, the apparent wind (the wind you feel onboard) was much less as the movement of the boat cancelled out some of the breeze. This was more like how we had imagined things and we began to believe that we could – cook, shower, live – for the weeks we need to cross an ocean.
The day had started as a three layers, wet weather gear and boots type of day, but gradually it became warm and we ended up in t shirts and deck shoes.
It might have taken us 12hrs sailing due south but we finally seem to have found summer. In fact this morning as we sip coffee and tea, on the veranda of the yacht club, looking out over the pretty Ria Baiona it feels as if we have passed through a time warp.
Raya 
Glad to hear it is going well and I trust the worst is now behind you.
Plans here for the ARC(+) 2015 (trans-Atlantic via Cape Verde rather than your direct route) are going well. We have recruited a 3rd member to the team, Oli a 23 year old commercially endorsed YM, currently an Internee at Cornish Cruising (all subject to actually meeting of course). He will help us take Cookelu meu from Greece to St Lucia. Save a space for us in the Med this summer!
A great blog – keep it up (I can’t promise to do anything like it!!). Regards, Peter
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Fantastic Ros, enjoying the reads so much. Going over to mummy’s today to catch her up with your blogs and movements xx
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Lovely post as usual and wonderful to think of you enjoying the sail and gaining in confidence all the while. So wish I was there to gaze at the deep blue sea.
Keep them coming and love to both.
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Thank the lord for that..began to wonder if bad weather was following you around like a bad smell!!..imagining the scene you describe and feel you are very deserving of all the comfort a bit of warmth provides! Fantastic day here today X
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Thanks to Raya our geography improved 100%. Assume your on your way to Lisbon. Fantastic after what’s looks like an overnight sail. Enjoy
Len & Diane x
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Welcome guys to Cascais. Enjoy your stay there and visiting Lisbon we assume.
Cheers
Len & Diane x
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We are sitting in a rally nice bistro at Lagos marina !
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Sitting at a really nice bistro at Lagos Marina waiting for you to arrive!
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Just arrived in Cascais, lots of wind forecast for next couple of days so decided to rest here and catch our breath. Have a great break. X
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