The crew have arrived and the last preparation are getting done. Chain up, reversed and painted. New bag for the chain is sewed. Sun screen sewed. Food prepaired and more things. I have also have had time for some leasure. Going on a tour on the previous volcanos. It was very interesting.Dinner with our friends and costumes party.
Now we are ready to go!!!
A mix of picture from the last days
Sorry for not telling much about the pictures but wanted to put them in the blogg before we don’t have anymore wifi. So might fill in it later.
Our stay in Lagos was very intense. Not much time to explore the city. Had a walk around in the old town on Wednesday after cleaned up in the boat and between washing machines.
On Thursday we rented a car and drove to IKEA to get new pillows and bed quilts and some more stuff. Of course we had to have Swedish meatballs for lunch. After that we headed towards Tavira to meet our friends that was celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary together with their family and some close friends. Thank you Magnus and Poulina for a great party. It was so great to so see you and our friends again before we are crossing the Atlantic. And Eva Sandgren we are waiting for you to join us.
The day after we went to have lunch near the beach. To get to the restaurant you could walk out on a pathway our take a small train. No time for hanging on the beach sadly, but I got time at the pool before lunch at the house.
Back to the boat for on night and on Saturday morning we drove up to Cascais to celebrate Jörgen 70birthday. It was a great party. Many of their friends from Cascais and sailors. We meet two sailing families that will sail with us on the Arc+and Arc world Ellinora and Blue Sunshine. We are also going to sail with Jörgen and Louise and their kids when we go from Caribbean to Fiji.
We have a new plan on our circumnavigation since we got a place with the first group leaving Caribbean in January. This will give us five more weeks in Fiji. Here you can se the plan
On our way back to the boat we stopped in Albufeira to say hi to Sven-Olof and Bettan and see their new house. The house we passed was covered with seashells.
Monday we spent foodshopping and preparing for our next long leg. This time we will go 640NM approximately 1200km. So it is quite a long distance and the longest we have done so far. In the evening we had a lovely dinner with our friends Anna and Peter from Life@sea. At lunch on Tuesday we left the harbour . Just before Anna and Clyde from Viking Goddess came by to say bye . They are going in to Spain and spend the winter there. Anna and Peter was standing along the side and waved. I delivered cinnamon buns to them since it was kanelbullens day. Thanks for the lovely photos Anna and Peter. Enjoy your stay in Lagos.
Getting ready to trough the bunsAnna is standing there
The first 12 hours we went by motor to get as far out as possible and hope that no Orcas will come. When we had arrived in Las Palmas we heard about an orca attack outside Lagos. Feel so sad for the sailors and so humble that we have made it safe . We did see a dolphins far away. Not many boats out here just a few tankers. Some off them are really huge
The first days was okay waves and beautiful sunsets. It was so nice to set sail and enjoy the the sea. After the first night we found a squid on the boat. Later we also found one on the back of the boat.
Sleeping on the boat when it is only us we don’t use our ordinary bed instead we sleep on the sofa or on deck. A bit harder on deck since you have to hold on to something
On Thursday night it started to get rougher. The waves was up to 3-4 meters and came from back and side
The first to photos I s taken from the same spot and showed ho high the waves are when they come from the back.
After little bit more than four days we see land and the tip of Grand Canaria. It takes a couple of more hours before we get in to the harbour. Arriving we get welcomed by Sofia and Fredrik that arrived their earlier that day. Since it was late we stayed next to the harbour office for the night and the next morning we got or place. Here will we stay until the start on the 6 of November. Except for one week when we go home to see our children and grandchildren
Next day my brother Lars came to sail with us for a few day’s and Vittoria joined two days later. On top off that my cousin and his wife was in Lisbon and came out to Cascais on Friday. So nice to see them and have lunch with them. Me and Lars took a walk along the coast up to Boca do Inferno. The sea was very calm but got some nice photos of the caves
Meeting friends continues. Marie and Henrik came to Lisbon Friday evening and Saturday evening Susanne and Matti arrived. Saturday was spent in Lisbon picking up Vittoria, having lunch together with Marie and Henrik and at dinner Susanne and Matti join.
The original plan was to sail to Sines to meet Vittoria and then sail to Lagos. Due to the weather we decided to stay. On Sunday we took a walk up to Park wich is an oas in Cascais and then in to town for a lunch. It was blowing very much and in the gusts it went up to 15.7 m/sek or 30kn . Glad that we didn’t go out sailing and extra when heard that it had been an Orca attack not far from Cascais. In the evening we went out for dinner on Marisco and Praça wich is a very good fish restaurant in the harbour. Love theirs Tuna steak nikkei sauce. Early night since we all had to go up early on Monday.
Woke up at 6.30 and waved bye bye to Lars and Vittoria . They took an early bus to Faro to fly back to Luxemburg. We cast off and headed to Sines as some more sailboats. We stayed 2-3 NM from the coastline depending on the depth of the sea. Not deeper then 50/60 m. If we would have crossed over the bay we would have save 15NM wich is approximately 2 hours.
Best part is that after 2 1/2 hours we got company. And this time you will see many dolphins picture.
This time it is not only fishing gears to watch out for . There is a Nato practice going on in the bay and we where asked to go outside off them. Edgar answered that we didn’t want to do that due to security of orcas. Took a while until they came back but they accepted that and told us to keep 1 NM frim the boats. One more time dolphins.
Now I am sure that it was dolphins I saw along the Spanish coast with all the birds. Great to have a better camera to catch them when they are so far away. This is by far the best photo I have taken.
Arrived safe to Sines and stayed just for the night. And we left early in the morning and enjoyed the sunrise.
This coastline is very dramatic and the waves are 2m high and comes from the side so it is very rocky in the boat and in between there is an even higher wave so we have to hold tight.
After rounded the cost we are at the Algarve coast. The waves comes from behind and the wind comes from the side a bit behind. We are sailing again and doing 7-9 knots. So nice and we reach Lagos in time before they close the bridge. Passing in to the berth we see our friends boat Life@Sea. It will be nice meeting them again.
Here we will stay for a week before we go down to Lanzarote. There will not much time to explore the city since we are of to Tavira for 30years wedding anniversary party and on Saturday a 70 years birthday party in Lisbon.
Wish you all a lovely week. Ps if you scroll down you will find the previous blogs as well and you can also subscribe to get notifications on your email when I have updated the blog under “Kommentarer”Sorry it is in Swedish just there
We left Porto early in the morning together with Life@sea and Currier Sur. First it was hard to see but as soon as the sun came up we had clear sight. Then we realised we had a lot others boats after us as well.. And we also saw lots of dolphins. Thank you for boat photos and the film Christophe
First jump I caught on the camera
Arrived in Figuera da Foz after eight hours on the sea. We took a walk in to town to have something to eat.
Next morning we wave bye to Life@sea and Currier Sur and headed to Nazare. We had a very nice day and got som really nice photos of Saphir from Esther of Sweden. A bit zig zag sailing between the fishing gears.
Nazare is famous for the high waves and is the paradise for surfers. To get them you have to go to the next beach north of the cliff so her in Nazare city the waves are smaller. I went to the beach and the water was great, big waves so didn’t need to go far out in the water to swim. But is was a bit tricky to get in and out of the water and not get caught in a wave. Lots of sand inside the bikini. Edgar didn’t join me but he also went in the water but in a wetsuit. He wanted to check the zinc anodes and at the same time cleaned the side off the boat. We stayed a few nights here. Very nice food and very good services in both of the restaurant we visited. Portugal is growing on us as we say in Sweden.
It is not always easy for us to get a place in a harbour as we are 18m long and most harbour at least so far are made more for up to 14-15m. Of course we can stay in a bay on anchor but our anchor winch is not reliable. We will get a new in Las Palmas.Depending on the weather some harbours fill up quickly. This makes us plan little ahead looking at weather forecast to see when we can go and then prebook. Sometimes we have to changes the dates of our arrival / leaving and so far that has been okay. This time we kept our planning and left Tuesday morning on the 20 sep heading to Cascais. These early mornings are lovely with the sunrise. It is only hard to get out of bed…. Sailing close to the coast is nice when you can see the coastline changes from beaches to big rocks and sometimes caves. The backside is that the fog always comes and we have all the fishing gears to watch out for.
We arrived to Cascais after 8.1/2 hours and an hour later we had our place and all paperwork was done. From not knowing many along our sailing (four actually and they are very new acquaintances ) we have many around us here in Cascais/Lisbon. Edgars former colleague Jörgen with family came sailing in to the harbour. They will also do the ARC. In the afternoon Johan who lives here with his wife Marina came down to have a look on the boat. Sadly Marina was not here. In the evening we had dinner with a friend from our time in Riga.
The harbour in Porto is located in Duero River less then 1 km from the Atlantic sea. This effected us very much during high and low water including the swells. It felt like we been out sailing and not laying calm in a harbour. Worst was on Monday to Tuesday when it was very windy and raining. All boats was bumping around. During the night we lost one fender and one was in the water that we saved. Sadly the boat got some scratches that Edgar have filled in as good as he could. It is not easy when it is bumping. The positivt about the harbour is the view, the location as in close to the Sea , the city and have a cute little village next to us with restaurants, food stores, cafe, bakery and a Portuguese traditional washing place
Washing house no machine are used
So what do you do when you are not sailing. Relaxing, like reading a book, looking at a film or sleeping…. Nope! sleep in sometimes yes ( if you ask our daughters they who’d say we are teenagers) and have longer breakfast. Otherwise it is like having a home that needs your attention like cleaning, washing, repairing, food shopping and also filling oil, or change it after a certain time,checking filters, fill up water, organising. And since I love to take lots of pictures there is some extra work sorting them out and then use some in the blog and when that is done time to write the text to the blog. This is not always easy doing it in an other language then your mother tongue and sewing of course etc. We still organise on things around to get them there best place. Wherever that is? At the moment the beds in the cabins are full and that is not good when we get guests onboard soon.
Staying 1-4 nights then you quite busy so having seven nights is very long for us but it didn’t felt that long since we got to spend time with Sofia and Fredrik from Zelda. One day we walked in to Porto took the gondola up to the bridge and walked over to old town and walked back home to our boats. Totally 12km or 20 000 steps.
Together with Life@Sea, Currier Sur,Zelda, Balder, Esther of Sweden and Windysailing we walked to Churchill, witch is a port winery . There we a had a privet guiding and tasting.
I realised that we have missed the most beautiful Mc Donald’s ever so we had to go to Porto again. Edgar was quick to say yes when I told him that I wanted to go to Mc Donald’s. ( not my favourite place to eat at) And luckily just around the corner is Sao Bento train station that used to be a convent for nuns. The entrance is decorated with hand painted tiles. It is sad that there are some mistakes putting them up and that makes it even more charming. So glad we got to see it. Specially since we actually passed by it two days before and totally missed it.
In between we have had sundowners, lunch, small chats on the pier etc with other boat-friends Friday morning 16 sep we leave Porto and also say fare winds to Zelda that will sail to Madeira . We will meet them agin in LasPalmas
All in all Porto is a lovely place but the harbour needs to work on getting better wavebreaker.
Plan changed. We leave Muxia in the morning and sail in a convoy down to Ria de Muros. The fog was very intense when we woke up and kept like that for almost the hole day. Our New sailing friends Zelda, Life@Sea, Morning Glory and Currier Sud are there in the front somewhere. You have to be very close to see each other.
Almost at the Ria the sky clears up and we see a Guardian civila boat meeting us. Suddenly it turns and comes up next to us. A bit scary first, thinking have we done something wrong. Gladly they only wanted our papers and ask where we came from and where we were going. The last thing the wonder was why we are going in a convoy and they agreed it was a good thing due to the Orcas. The papers came back in a fishing net( the Swedish language have a specific name for it.. fiskehåv ) and we could continue . Getting in to the Ria we decided to go to Muros harbour and the rest went further in the to the Ria to swing anchor in a bay.
We spent a few days here . A very cute village and calm. Did some walk around, food shopping as always. Lots off fishing boats where laid outside off us.
After two nights it is time to go more south. This time again we go in a convoy to Ribeira. Still feels more safe going near the coast. We keep only 2-3 NM from land and that is where all the fishing gears are so we are looking out for them all the time. Don’t want them in the propeller. On top of that we have the fog that comes and goes and it makes it harder to spot them. This time it is great to have Peter and Anna on Sea@Life in front telling us where they are.
When we get closer to Ria de Arousa we have to go round the island since not all of us had received the license to sail near National parks Islands. There are a few of these Islands and we heard that they are very lovely so we wanted to make sure we could go there. Entering the Ria de Arousa we saw some dolphins that I manage to get with the big camera. Next to Ribiera harbour there is a beach where we all anchored. After a while lots of dolphins came and played around the small sailing boats. Think one of the boys was extra happy. In the evening we had Anna&Peter,Sofia &Fredrik,Isabell&Chris and Christophe on our boat for a sundowner. It was very nice to sit down and talk to all of them and to get to know them a bit.
These we saw going in to the RiaBye bye nice to see you
A tour in to town to do some grocery shopping ended up with new sandals as well . Didn’t buy these when I saw them in Mallorca so now was the time and I was not the only one buying sandals. After lunch it was time to leave and when we took up the anchor the chain was filled with “green salad” so it took a little wile to clean the worst to get it up. Right and enough wind made us all happy that we finally could sail. Passing by lots of fish and shellfish farms some of them very close to the shore. Which a bit destroys the view and makes it harder to anchor . Instead of anchoring we decided to go in to Porto Villagarcia. We ended up having a nice evening over at Christophes boat Currier Sur.
In the morning we left to go to Illa Ons, a small island just outside the Ria, while the rest stayed to go to Santiago de Compostela. It was just a few hours out to the Island. Before we could anchor we had to apply to make sure that it would not be to many boats and person that would be on the Island as this is a National park. When the anchor is in the dinghy goes in to the water and we get in to land and to the beach. So nice to have sand between my toes and take a dip in the water when I felt for it. It could have been warmer but okay . Think it showed 16,5… but is was very clear and nice. What I didn’t expect on the beach was total nakedness of some people. Of corse it is up to anyone to choose to wear or not wear swimwear’s. Not that I am that prude but I wouldn’t choose to go skinny-dip in public. On the beach we met the couple from the Swedish boat Viking goddess Anna and Clyde. Believe we will see more of them along the coast. And yes we did.
Next day we enjoy the beach for an hour before we had to go back to the boat due to the strong current. We hadn’t put on the engine so it was heavy to row back to the boat. The wind was getting stronger and also the waves so we decided to go to Vigo and explore the city and do a tour to Santiago de Compostela. The way in Ria de Vigo was very nice and sunny. We spotted lots of sailing boats that had a competition.Just when we had gotten in to the Ria we hear on the VHF that there are Orcas attacking a boat bit north of Illa Ons. Later we get the good news that the crew and the boat is okay and this time no damage on the boat. It had only been in the water for three weeks after been attacked by orcas and needed to be repaired. First time they hit the rudder so hard that it bent and the couldn’t steer the boat. We met them later in Porto.
Luckily Edgar had called up the harbour in Vigo and got us the last place. Maybe not the best one just inside the pier and next to the gas station that was closed. Sadly we had a lot of clucking when we were sleeping or trying to… But happy we didn’t need to lay on anchor in the hard wind and rain that was predicted the next days. Since the weather was still nice I decided to do some washing and after the third machine the rain came so we hade to hang dry in the boat. I had walk around the city and we decided to go to Santiago the next day if the weather was going to be okay. In the morning it was pouring down. I ended up staying insided relaxing and did some knitting and sewing. Nice to have restaurants around the corner when the inspiration goes down. We had some really nice seafood here and pizza. I am in heaven. Edgar is also okay if he gets some meat in between.
There will be a good weather window in two days to go down to Porto, so we leave Vigo to go further out on the Ria. On our way out we see MorningGlory and Balder on the other side of the Ria going to Vigo. They are easy spotted due to there turquoise colour. And not far after them we see Life@sea and Zelda. All of them sailing. Lucky them.
We arrive to Baiona and ask if they have place for us. The first harbour was full but we got one on the other one. According to the office manager the harbour was full and the poor guy who gave us the place was in trouble but we could stay. Once again these harbour towns don’t look much from the seaside but when you step in a block it is totally charming and cosy.
The next day the bay fills up with more sailing boat’s getting ready to sail south the next day. Best was that some off these boats where our sailing friends . In the evening we all went out for dinner in Baiona.
At 8.00 on Thursday 8 Sep we leave Baiona with our sailing friends and a lot of other boats as well. It is a very magical morning. Lots of photos are taken and just outside the wave-pier there is a lots of small fishing boats. Depending on our speeds we divide us in different groups. We take the lead and guide Currier Sue and Life@Sea true all the fishing gears that we pass. It is a lot off them so some slalom technic is required. Happy to see some dolphins also. The waves are high and long and in between our friends boats mor or less disappears
We reach Porto and we wave to our friends that will go to an other harbour. Lovely bridge and view when we entering Duero river and the harbour. An hour later Life@Sea came into the harbour since they got denied due to there length even if it was okay when they booked it. Here we will stay a few days or more. All depends on the wind,waves and rest of the weather
Aviles have definitely delivered more than we expected. The city is so nice , atmosphere very relaxed and the food….. delicious. I even found a cafe called Fika. Wonder if the owner has Swedish connections? Think we gain a kilo or two. Time to sail away and eat less at least during the sailing
Sailing in Biscay Not all houses are taken care of. Still lovely
The waves are 1-2 meter high and very long between them so it very smooth. We are sailing close to land. Which gives opportunity to se land. Next stop Ribadeo.
We woke up at 6 to cast off but is was to dark and a bit foggy so we waited in hop of the sun to go up soon. We gave up and left the harbour just befor 7. Still dark but good that there are lighthouses to help us navigate . The hole day was very foggy inland but we had clear sight. After half way we got company by a little bird who moved around on the boat and stayed with us all the way to ACoruna. Only 3 nm we spotted orcas… the pulse went up when we saw them slowly coming behind us but they didn’t come our way…..It was very nice to approach ACoruna and dock at the jetty.
Having four nights to clean the boat, clothes washing, exploring the city, getting in to this late night eating. Hard to get food before 20.00.Edgar bike around with me so I could have a swim in the ocean, it was my first swim in the ocean since we left Sweden. Lots of boat in the harbour and four of us doing the ARC.
Sunday morning we where 11 boats that decided to go together. Some more boats join us. We saw some dolphins but didn’t get a great picture so I also share one from one of the other boats. On one of mine you just see them under the water. There was a lot of birds having a meeting and many that join them. If you some in there is something fishy going on… not sure what it is
First we saw an island and then it was gone. The fog was with us all the way to Muxia where we have docked and will stay for some nights.
Thursday 18 aug at 8 in the morning with a bit help from the marinas rib boat we leave Camaret-sur-Mer to cross bay of Biscay When we reach the strait we get 3 extra knots due to the tidewater.
In the afternoon we reached our friends from OSK, Aegir and Tiger Lilly . They had started a bit early than us. We missed Aura since the turn in to explore a bit more of France before they cross bay of Biscay.
We had 2 great days and nights on the sea. I even could do some knitting. The second night we had clear sky with lots of stars and the moon who shined up the sky.
This is one off all big waves that gave us extra putt forward
We hade dolphins comming and playing around our boat several times. So here is a video
Saturday morning we can see land. The waves crash against the rocks.
Here we will stay two or three nights before we move slowly along the coastline. Looking forward to see what Aviles have to offer. So far a very cute city
So we woke up at five and decided to leave. Edgar turn on all our instruments and some of them didn’t work… No auto pilot, wind measure, dept,speed etc. The navigation plotter was working but we didn’t want to leave without the auto pilot working.
The Marina was very busy but the promised to come and help us on next day. Edgar started to open up and see if he could find som loose ends but nothing. So at the moment the boat is upside down again.
I had notice that there was a sailmaker nearby so I went ther and bought some fabric and made 2 bags for our bikes since we didn’t recive any when we bought them. We also decided to do a new clean up in the big storage since it was still smelling after the tank leaking we had in Oban.
In the afternoon the technician came to help us. After three hours opening all places , following cables they found the problem. The cable between the steering place and the instruments above the door was having a break. Tomorrow morning we will make a new cable and everything will hopefully be ok again. The wiring of the system is all connected to each other, if one fails all goes down (except our second autopilot that is totally separate as a back up)
Good that we have plenty of time
The tie really make this place look different. In the picture is Princess boat yard that builds the yachts.
Sailing with Saphir 