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LOG ENTRY DATE: July 28, 2003 Yesterday was a bad day. Actually, it started out OK, when we departed Cascais at 1015, having left Susan to find her way to the airport for her flight home. The wind was light, from the north, to begin with, and then picked up to 20 over the course of the day, as we sailed due south along the western Portuguese coast. Chase was doing 8 knots steadily, with her sails winged out and the genny poled to windward. Beautiful, fast sailing. Surfing down small waves at 9 knots. We made the 60 mile trip in less than 8 hours. But, upon arrival, we were plagued by a problem that had cropped up just as we arrived in Cascais: the transmission only engaged in forward when it seemed to feel like it. Suspecting that the cable and linkage was the culprit, we adjusted it in Cascais so that it seemed to work properly... certainly it worked fine when tied to the dock while testing it. However, the scene in Sines proved otherwise. The fuel/reception dock at the marina is directly across from another of the marina's boat docks, with little space to come in and turn around. So, one would normally come in port side to, and then back off when done. But, since I was rigged for a starboard side to landing, I decided to go in and "back and fill" into position between the fuel dock and the boat dock. Bad decision, as it appears the forward gear—while working fine in open water and when tied to the dock—seems to understand that it can call attention to itself by NOT working when there are obstacles about. So, on the way in, I couldn't push the bow over hard enough as the gear failed just when I needed some power to turn her. Result: we hit the dock nose first, taking a small chunk out of the stem. Backing down caused another problem, namely the mating of the Monitor steering rig with a small power boat directly astern. Fortunately, no real damage was done. Proceeding to our slip, however, demanded that we keep the transmission in forward for as long as possible (as there is now no guarantee that it will engage again), and then hitting reverse at the last minute. This mandates, unfortunately, a rather fast approach, which in this case resulted in a fairly lengthy scratch along the starboard side where the boat made less-than-amiable contact with the finger pier we were tying to. To add final insult to injury (and, hopefully the third of bad things that come in threes), one of the folding bikes blew off the dock and sunk in 10 feet of water. Tom retrieved it with a grapple anchor, so no real harm done... just wondering if Someone is trying to tell me something. The days before leaving Cascais were enjoyable. Though the marina is noisy (the restaurants and bars in the middle of the facility generally don't get moving until 2300 or so, and keep going to 0500 or so....), it's fun and the facilities were very nice. Susan and I spent Saturday (June 26) in Lisbon, and went to a large flea market and the National Tile Museum (decorative tiles are very big in Portugal, and adorn entire sides of buildings here). Friday was a rest day, and we did boat chores, and shopping. Ate dinner on board of Portuguese-style pork ribs... very different from ours (must be the cut, 'cause I doubt the pig is different!), but very thick and flavorful. Thursday was a trip to Lisbon, specifically the Belem area, (click here, and here) where we visited the Marine Museum... great information on the explorers (DeGama, Columbus, Magellan, Henry the Navigator, etc.) who made Portugal the center of world in the 1500's when they found the new world, and the route around Africa to Asia. Also visited a monastery named after DeGama that had been recently restored... beautiful early Gothic architecture of, so they told us, the Manuellian style. So, enough culture. The plan now is to move south along the west coast, then take a left at Cabo St. Vincente, which marks the start of the southern Portuguese coast, and the beginning of the Algarve region—famous for it's beaches. In the meantime, we'll stay here in Sines for a while and try to diagnose the transmission problem. Will also call stateside for advice, as it is very hard to get that in Portuguese. |
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