I was planning to set sail as soon as my latest crew member Trond came down from Norway. Unfortunately the winds wanted it otherwise, so we ended up spending two extra days in Povoa before we finally cast off. The winds were going with us, but at strengths of 2 – 4 knots, we had to hoist the iron topsail to make any meaningful progress. We quickly calculated that we’d be using a lot of fuel, just getting down to where there wind was forecast, so instead of shooting straight for that, we aimed at Peniche (130nm south of Povoa on the Portugese coast), so that we could top off our tanks and download a new grib file (A grib file is a weather file, that certain programs allow to download. They are great for seeing when and where winds will blow.)
The trip down was very uneventful, except for a school of dolphins that came and played with us a few times. Magical animals that you felt were observing you, just as much as you were observing them. We came into the harbor in Peniche fully intent on staying an hour and then shooting off again. Alas that proved to be too ambitious. First of all we couldn’t get diesel for another hour and any internet place opened 2 hours later. These people start work late, have a few hours of siesta in the middle of the day and even leave early … What a great life!
We did a break-neck diesel filling at a tiny pier with a shallow right in front of it. Then we downloaded the grib file and to our disappointment it promised no wind at all. So instead of sailing on, we’ll stay here till tomorrow, then we’ll hopefully sail, if not motor down to Ceicos, to wait till Tuesday when real wind will finally kick in …. Unless the forecast changes … again.
