Firefly - Parasailing down the Portuguese coast

Monday 7th of October is an other gloriously sunny day and its getting warmer as we plough on South.

Yesterday (Sunday 6th) the wind was not as good as predicted and we were switching from sailing along at over 8 knots with the Gennaker and then having a light spell to contend with. At 1600 the Gennaker was packed away and as the wind was right behind us the Parasailor (the big yellow thing on one of our photos)came out to get its first real test.

Initially with 6 knots of wind we struggled to get the 'spinnaker with a hole in it' to fly in a stable fashion - but as the breeze increased to 8, then 10 and sometimes 12/15 knots we were off, managing a top speed of 8.4 knots. We found the 'ram air' spinnaker designed and made by Istec (one of the world's leading Paraglider companies)to be very stable in anything above 10 and Firefly, was, flying! We flew the new kite all night but the wind gradually dropped away so we have not covered that much ground. Its down now at the wind has all but gone and we are motoring again.

Other notable events yesterday were Paul cooking supper and it being agreeable! (this will be a shock to those who know Paul well) and Peter having a conversation with the watchkeeper on a cement ship during the night, them obliging to change course to avoid us and meaning we did not have to gybe (all that money we spent on radio courses is paying off at last).

Firefly is now on course for Nazare where we plan to stop for the evening, completing our passage to Caiscais on Tuesday.

Looking forward to more tapas.

Paul, Murray, Peter and Grateful (our trusty parrot given to us by Kit and Pippa- more about him later)