Lindisfarne – Forgus 37 – 7,5t (>9t equipped)
August – October 2005
Scotland – Lagos in Portugal
2nd quarter of the circumnavigation with Lindisfarne,
Faeroes - Portugal.
We left the Faeroe islands on the evening the 10th of
August and arrived to a not really awaked Stornoway 4 a clock on the 12th.
We recognized a yacht from Gothenburg, Elena, with a crew of four friends of
ours. After some ours sleep, we spent the rest of the day end the evening
together with them. Lots of things to chat about...
After some provisioning we sat off south to find an anchorages for the night.
There are lots of well protected anchorages along the east side of the Hebrides.
Wu used three on our route down to Barra, where we spent an extra night in the
lovely bay on Vatersay, waiting for a gale to decrease. We then crossed the
Little Minch on our way to Tobermory on Mull, where we of course visited one of
the famous pubs.
We continued from there through the sound of Mull to the sound of Cuan to an
anchorage in Admiral Bay. This part offered us good sailing and above all, a lot
of tide. Through the sound of Cuan we had about 10 knots over ground. It was
quite exciting among other reason because there is a 90 degree turn in the
sound.
Crinan Canal
The whether was still very unstable with reports of strong southerly winds. We
decided to do the Crinan canal to be able to postpone the contact with the Irish
sea, expecting the gale to be gone by then.
We got some nice days in the canal, even made a day of biking in the
surroundings.
We left the canal on the evening, having waited for the strong headwind to
change, and sailed down to Tarbert bay where we got a buoy for the night.
With some calculations and luck with the wind, we manage
to sail along Arran, crossing Firth of Clyde all the way down to Ireland with
the changing tide. There where still a report of a southerly gale, and we
decided to anchor in Strangford Lough, a great inland sea, almost like a lake.
We spent four nice days there on two different anchorages happy not have to pay
expensive berth fee, just waiting for the whether. The only problem with
Strangford Lough is the tide in the sound. You should avoid going out with the
tide and having a stronger headwind than 10 knots. This means that have you gone
in, you have to wait for favourable winds. We had no problem going out, but it
was easy to imagine how it would look like under worse conditions.
We approached Howth after dark and that was a little bit tricky. In the harbour
there is a marked line, but there are several turns to make and the sticks are
hard to se in the dark against the light of the town. But we managed and got a
berth in spite of our late arrival. Being our first harbour in Ireland we
where not quite used to the harbour fee. But we got free access to the Internet,
which we hadn't since the Faeroes. There where a lot to catch up with.
From Howth we hade a nice overnight sailing down to Klimore Quay. After some
sleeping we entered a long walk on the never ending beach and then a dinner at
the old pub. We met a nice English couple and got some good tips where to go or
anchor on our way west. They had their yacht in Ireland for the last years so
they would know. They where now sailing it back to UK, wanting to do Scotland
eventually. We gave them our used pilots over Scotland to try to convince them
of the opportunities and the beauty of that part of the world. Waiting for the
wind to turn from southerly, we sailed west along the Irish south coast with
moorings in Waterford, Coork and Kinsale.
Dunmore, Ireland
During the night of the 6th of September we left Ireland for the Scillies.
We arrived in the middle of the night and next
morning we got a whether report telling us that crossing Biscay the next three
days would be a good idea. So we had breakfast and rushed of for Biscay. Whether
is always in some aspect unpredictable. the low pressure did not move the way it
was planned to do.... Instead it stopped and the pressure went down, the wind
increased of course. We took the only reasonable decision and went on to Brest,
waiting for the low to go east so we could sail down south west of the low with
strong tailwind.
Brest harbour is not to be recommended. No provision except for fuel . We just
moored for an hour and then sailed out for an anchorage, which there are several
of in the area. The next morning we sailed to Camaret for provisioning and
waiting for the low to proceed. Camaret appears to be the best and most obvious
place to wait for the right conditions for the crossing of Biscay. A well
protected marina without UK fees and good provisions. As we had been sailing
Norway, Scotland, Ireland we always thought we where in heaven, entering a
France supermarket...
Camaret at the entrance to Brest
At last the low hade moved east and northerlies where to come for the next three days. We where lucky to reach Sada in Spain after two and a half day on the 13th of September. We crossed Biscay 2002 and choose that time to pas Finnisterre and make landfall Spain further south on the Spanish west coast. This was a reason for us to spend some days on the Spanish north coast.
La Coruna city beach
After some lazy days almost without wind we took of
from La Coruna. The wind from northeast, tailwind! increased and when we passed
Cabo Finisterre we had steady wind just under 40 knots. We kept on to Ria de
Arosa but it was not that easy to the Ria because that was right where the wind
come from! We managed to reach Aguino, a small harbour at the north west cape of
the Ria de Arosa. Anchored in the strong wind but totally protected from the
sea. It took a while to relax and to trust the holding. The wind kept on the
hole night.
The next day we sailed to Bayona in a decreasing wind. Approaching Bayona there
was no wind at all, quite a change! Bayona is a nice experience. But you
should take care when entering. Passing the pier there will probably be a dingy
trying to convince you to chose the city marina straight forward. DON'T, take to
the right and moor in the Royal Yacht Club almost inside the Castle. Much nicer,
with a free Internet and the same fee!
After two nights at anchor at Isela Cies, waiting for the fog
to leave, we left for Portugal. Viana do Castelo is highly recommended.
Next harbour, Lexios, was supposed to be closed due to a fire, so we decided to
go up the river Douro to Porto. It turned out to be a very good decision, not
only because the good port. We had an excellent berth alongside the city quay
without any fee and minor paperwork at the harbourmaster nearby. No facilities
like shore power or water where available, but that's not a problem for a blue
water yacht!
We highly appreciated our three days in Porto.
Porto, our berth next to the famous bridge of Eiffel
We left Porto going down river Douro in very dense fog. Thanks to radar and chart plotter. We had, going up stream, been carefully not to do any shortcuts and passing buoys not to close to have a recorded secured route on the chart to follow on our way out in case of fog. I don't think that we have dared to go out under this conditions without that equipment. Sometimes percussions pay of more than expected.
There are not many harbours that you can approach in all whether along the Portuguese coast. Due the reason of rivers silting up leaving a bar in the approach the sea grows to extreme and dangerous size in heavy whether and the harbours normally close under this conditions. Of course you have to respect this phenomena, but reading the pilot you think that its not advisable to approach shore in almost any onshore wind conditions. We approached river Aveiro in 15 to 20 knots onshore wind. Yes it was a little bit of a roller coaster, but nothing a good helmsman with a good yacht could cope with. We spent two days on anchor in the Aveiro delta. Going out was not a problem. Just take care of the shallow area southwest of the estuary.
Heavy swell, Nazaré
Nazaré, our next harbour is a harbour that is told to never close. One of the
reason is the deep sea all the way in to the approach of the harbour and the
other is the very good design of the harbour. You can hardly notice any movement
in the inner basin even when heavy swell are present outside the harbour.
This is a place to seek rescue when heavy swells and wind are predicted. The
town is well worth a visit.
Cascais is normally a very expensive harbour, but of season it is quite
reasonable. The advantages to the marinas in Lisbon is obvious and if you want
to visit Lisbon, the train takes only 40 minutes and stop in the centre of the
town.
Sines is sometime a very bumpy marina. The day after we left they got strong
westerly winds, which made the outer pontoons a very uncomfortable and dangerous
place.
We managed to sail from Sines to Lagos between to whether systems and reached
Lagos just as the lighthouse on the piers was unlit and the first rain in
Portugal since 6 month started 10 minutes after we moored at the guest pontoon!
We shall now slow down, have some maintenance done relax and make plans for next part of the route.
14 November 2005
Annika & Björn
S/Y Lindisfarne
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