Peniche wasn’t a bad place, but with no wind and no waves there was no point in sticking around there. It’s true we could have waited there, but I was advised to head further south, where the wind is more predictable and steady. The fact that there was no waves meant that we couldn’t do what my brother suggested: Go surfing. In fact a big competition was cancelled the day we sailed in, because of an utter lack of waves.
We though we’d only stay in Peniche for 2 hours, so the authorities didn’t make us pay any mooring fees, but when we spent the night there, we made sure we left before they would come descending on us in the morning. So at 06:26am we cast off leaving the waveless surfer paradise behind us.
We were able to take advantage of the morning breeze and sailed for the first hour, doing an impressive 7 knots in 8 knots of true wind. That was however the only time we were able to sail without the iron top-sail. For the rest of the day we had to motorsail, because the wind never exceeded 5 knots, but stayed between 1.5 and 5 knots. This gave us plenty of time to read, solve Sudoku, talk … and eat. The trip went very well. We headed down to Oeiras, which is located right as you start the sail-in towards Lisbon.
As soon as we got in, we checked the forecast and from the looks of it Tuesday will be our day. The wind looks very promising from then and through the rest of the week. So now we have 2 days in the most expensive marina I’ve ever stayed in: €54 per night!
Having said that it’s probably the nicest marine I’ve ever stayed in, so I’m not complaining to loudly. We’ll chill here till Tuesday and then set off. I can’t wait to finally sail in optimal winds. Hopefully it will pan out.