Cleaning and Changing Days
12 August
Jules left on an early taxi to take a train to Malaga. It is noticeably darker here in the morning. The day was spent cleaning washing and sorting out. It was very hot up to 34 degrees. We got out the large canopy which fits over the boom and effectively covers the whole center of the boat so that helped and reduced the temperature a bit.
We had a drink at the bar in the marina as a reward for all the cleaning. We then got a taxi to the supermarket and did a big shop for the next part of the trip. It took a while to sort out but we then had some comfort food – avocado and prawns (local) and linguine pesto as we fancied it. We had a nice bottle of medoc I had bought in Antigua which won a silver medal in 2014. Delicious.
13 August 2023
The night thank goodness was cooler and it was not very light at 7.30 ish when I woke. We ensured Corinne had a good breakfast of poached eggs on toast before she got her taxi to catch the bus from Huelva to Faro. Mark and I ventured into Mezagon for a wonder and had a coffee. It is not touristy at all and well lived in.
We were waiting for Keith Watson, Keith Winstanley, Peter Saint and Angus Fear to join us for the trip to Madeira and Canaries. They were flying to Malaga and helpfully getting a car to Mezagaon. We started to plan. Do we hug the coast to Portimão and then head out to Madeira or do we head out from Mezagaon. Either way we risk meeting Mr Orca. In reading the blogs of various websites etc. some have mentioned that they have got into the shipping lanes and then followed the tanker trails on the basis that orcas do not want to be around tankers for obvious reasons. So we formulated a plan to go out from Mezagon to the shipping lanes and then head west along the lanes as far as the end of the TSS zone by Cabo Sao Vicente. The recent attacks had been in 3 areas – Sines/Cabo Epiche- Sagres/Cabo Sao Vicente and Tangier/Gibraltar straits. Our plan would avoid this but it is still a risk but it would mean we would not have to stop and could be in Madeira by 17 August which would be good and the winds looked favourable. It could mean we could press the Red Baron into action again. We made our passage plan on this basis and would consult the guys on arrival.
It was in fact a pleasant day temperature wise in comparison to yesterday. We prepped the boat and did some polishing and cleaning. We filled up with water and prepared ourselves for a long passage. After a day of activity we had a beer in the evening sun pending the arrival of the crew.
The crew made good progress and somehow on WhatsApp I could see where they were. We followed their progress whilst we prepared a delicious bake of pesto chicken and vegetables. The guys arrived having travelled and were welcomed by a much needed cold beer followed by supper washed down with a Spanish Crianza red. There was excitement in the air and all agreed on the plan set out above. Keith and Angus had brought some spares to add to the collection.
We all found our bunks ready for the trip to start the next day.
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