Wander Lost

Month: December 2022

  • Merry Christmas

    We never left Sines and are here for Christmas 🎄 ❤️.

    Overnight one of the mooring lines broke which put a lot more strain on the remaining lines and the stern fairleads. This ripped the stern gunwale off (wood deck surround) 😔. That together with a change in the forecast meant following mother natures suggestion to stay.

    I have decided not to fix the gunwale just yet. Its not structural, it needs a carpenter to fix properly and renovating the gunwale is on the project list anyway. It will go on the list for the next haul out. I have had the boat moved to a more sheltered spot in the marina.

    So here I am on Christmas eve, in shorts and T shirt sat in the cockpit with a glass of wine in the sunshine. Life is good 🙂. I have a turkey leg 🍗 for dinner tomorrow and plan a lot of video calls to friends and family tomorrow 😊. I want to get moving after boxing day, the forecast is looking good for that. I need to be in Gibraltar in the first week of January to pick up a guest at Gibraltar Airport.. more on that in a future blog 🤫.

    Merry Christmas everyone.

  • Sines

    We have been in Sines a few days and getting ready to move tomorrow down to the Algarve. Its a bit of a milestone because we change from travelling South to travelling East, hopefully away from the big Atlantic swell from the North West that has plagued us for so long.

    Sines is a pretty little town and very sleepy at this time of year, a big contrast to Cascais a few days ago.

    There are several boats in this marina missing rudders, plus one with some obvious damage. It serves as a reminder those orcas are out there and we have been lucky so far not to meet them.

    I have been suffering the last 24 hours with tummy problems, probably food related. It’s the second time in the last week. Nelly has been fine.

  • Porto to Cascais via the UK

    I have been home to the UK for 11 days while Nelly looked after the boat and Dotty. On returning to Portugal, we did a 36 hour sail to Cascais.

    Why home? My mum is seriously ill so I returned to spend time with her and other family members. It was a special time with some lovely memories.

    After returning to Porto we set sail heading south, back into the big Atlantic swells and passing storms. It was a bit of a marathon and we pushed until we needed to rest our weary bodies. On the morning of the third day we entered Cascais marina where we have spent two nights.

    Cascais has been a complete surprise, it has a very upmarket marina complex and the town in all its Christmas’s glory is beautiful. A Sunday evening walk with the dog turned out to be a walk through a Christmas wonderland.

    Tomorrow we are off again, just a short hop of about 9 hours to Sines. This is the area where there have been a lot of interactions with Orcas ( killer whales ) so we will stay close to the shore and keep a close watch. We have precautions on board if they try to get too friendly with the rudder.

    Before flying home I had been struggling mentally with a lot of issues. It was a mix of personal matters, lack of progress due to weather, my mums illness etc. Things have really turned around for me now and feel much happier, confident and looking forward with renewed energy. Thank you to family and friends (old and new 😉) for helping me to do that.