After the success of the last few days, we decided to rest for a couple of days. In addition, the forecast was for 5 m high waves and strong waves, so much that many of the harbours in Portugal were effectively closed. In any case, we deserved the rest! 1st mate would be arriving soon, and we planned to go to Lisbon on one day, pick up 1st mate, and then go to Sine the next day. However, when I woke up the planned day at 0400 I heard the masts whistling to the wind... it was stronger than predicted. I thought for a while and told Zé we were not going that day after all. Wind was strong, the sea was still rough and I preferred to cross cape Roca with weak wind than with strong wind. And we really didn't need to go that day. That meant that 1st mate was coming to join us in Peniche and do all the way to Sines. The next we leave at 0500 sharp, however there was almost no wind, and we had to do it on both sail and engine. Eventually the wind would pick up allowing us to save some fuel, but we ended up having to use the engine at some point. Soon we were reaching cape Roca, and the wind just wouldn't pick up. However, cape Roca did not let us down. As soon as we crossed it wind started picking up. 15 knots... 18 knot... 22 knots... "We are doing great finally!" I said as we reached a speed of 7 knots. It didn't dtop there though, and soon wind was topping 35 knots. After the second gush iver 35 knots I said to Zé "I'm going to lower the genoa, it's getting too windy." I moce to the front and as soon as I take the sail down I listen to Zé saying: "38... 42... 44! What the hell is this?!" This was cape Roca at it's best! From a wind speed of 6-7 knots we turned to a wind speed of 44 knots in just 15 minutes. We were on mainsail only reaching speeds of 9 knots, and the wind topping 44 knots frquently. It was the strongest wind we had ever faced in this project! 1st mate was down bellow and I rushed to call him. "I can see the weather has changed slightly" he said. "Yes, wind is topping 44 knots, if it gets stronger we might need to put main down as well and go on engine... we were completely caught by surprise with too much sail on". "Yes, but finally we have some wind!" he replied... at this point, I had learned to expect such comments from him! However, as fast as the wind picked up, it started to become weaker as we approached cape Raso and soon it was back to 10 knots. At that point we hoisted the genoa again to keep the speed up. We eventually got to Oeiras Marina, early enough to go for showers and still have some good rest. That day, my dear mother came to boat and brought dinner for everyone. We were so tired that it felt like heaven!
The next day forecast was for stronger wind, but when we left Oeiras marina at around 0800 the wind was hardly noticeable. We hoisted main and aided with the engine. At some point it picked up enough to allow us to do 6 knots just on main, but it soon dropped. However, as we crossed cape Espichel it picked up again and we were soon doing an average of 6.5 knots on both sails. It was an amazing sailing day, with strong winds from the stern, small but strong waves pushing us towards Sines, and the sea was of an intense dark blue with the random white ripples of the waves breaking with the wind. As we approached Sines the wind got stronger and given the angle of the wind was straight from the stern, it was hard to keep the boat steady with both sails. As we were getting close, we took the genoa down and went on main only. We were still doing over 6 knots, so we were doing some perfect sailing. the waves were getting bigger as well, and at some point I could feel a particularly big one picking the boat up. At the same time we got a gush of stronger wind and I place the boat in the right position to surf the wave.We all felt the acceleration in our stomachs... 1st mate started laughing and Zé picked up the handheld GPS to check the speed "12 Knots!!! We just reached 12 knots of speed!!!" It was the fastest the boat had ever sailed in this project. Another record broken! At 1900 we moored at Sines marina after what was a perfect sailing day.
The next day forecast was for stronger wind, but when we left Oeiras marina at around 0800 the wind was hardly noticeable. We hoisted main and aided with the engine. At some point it picked up enough to allow us to do 6 knots just on main, but it soon dropped. However, as we crossed cape Espichel it picked up again and we were soon doing an average of 6.5 knots on both sails. It was an amazing sailing day, with strong winds from the stern, small but strong waves pushing us towards Sines, and the sea was of an intense dark blue with the random white ripples of the waves breaking with the wind. As we approached Sines the wind got stronger and given the angle of the wind was straight from the stern, it was hard to keep the boat steady with both sails. As we were getting close, we took the genoa down and went on main only. We were still doing over 6 knots, so we were doing some perfect sailing. the waves were getting bigger as well, and at some point I could feel a particularly big one picking the boat up. At the same time we got a gush of stronger wind and I place the boat in the right position to surf the wave.We all felt the acceleration in our stomachs... 1st mate started laughing and Zé picked up the handheld GPS to check the speed "12 Knots!!! We just reached 12 knots of speed!!!" It was the fastest the boat had ever sailed in this project. Another record broken! At 1900 we moored at Sines marina after what was a perfect sailing day.
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