18 June 2013. Tuesday. We were supposed to go Peniche
but spend an extra day at Figuera da Foz since
swells of over 4 meters were out there in the Atlantic. We decided to go back
to Porto by train, since we found Porto such a lovely town. Bought some presents for Sophie and Emma and some very expensive
brand new shoes. We had lunch down near the river in a small restaurant out on
a public balcony. After some more wandering about we took the metro back to the
railway station where we visited a small terrace, where your captain turned out
to have been robbed of his wallet. Pick pocketed. Gone €200, two credit cards
and a driver's license. Luckily I still had some other card on board as well as
my passport. Aside from the pickpocketing we had a great day.
19 June 2013. Wednesday. Leg 5. Figuera da Foz to Peniche. Great sail once
more. The stay in Peniche was a rather short one as we left the very morning.
20 June 2013. Thursday. Leg 6. Peniche to Oeiras (near
Lisbon). We had a good start out of Peniche and a great sail to Oeiras. Winds
N5Bft. Our attempt to set the pole to hold the genua failed miserably even
after consulting the proper guides. So we ended up just using the main and
putting the genua away, a brilliant idea that I picked up from Unleashed. This
turned out to be very relaxed. On approach of the Cabo de Capa (Check!) the
wind was appr. 5Bft and right after the cape it started to blow at 8Bft. We
were under full sail so we reefed the genua right away. Marjet was doing the
helm and we were going very fast which was very exciting indeed. After the
following Cape we had no wind at all for some ten minutes and then it started
to pick up again and reach 5bft once more. Again some great sailing. We arrived
in Oeiras at what seemed a reasonable time for Class A boats after all.
21 June 2013. Friday. Marjet her flight went around
9PM and we both went off to Lisbon which is a beautiful city worth the visit.
Marjet wanted to buy some presents for the girls back home. Had lunch on sort
of a patio. Great times. Towards the evening Marjet left for the airport and
your captain took the train back to Oeiras to be in time for prize giving. And
indeed Quirine was second in her class once more on the Peniche to Oeiras leg.
Behind Nina this time. Henk showed up at the marina and we had dinner and a lot
to talk about.
22 june 2013. Saturday. Grocery shopping. Weather was
fabulous and we used the afternoon at the pool. Great leisurely day. Gertjan
arrived about 8PM and we went for dinner at one of the marina's restaurants.
23 june 2013. Sunday. A relatively early rise for the
start of leg 7 at Oeiras. We started off nicely and had a good sail until we
started discussing whether or not to set the pole to allow us to goose fly (?)
downwind towards Sines. Since Gary Linton of the Abraxas had explained how to operate
the pole I decided to go for it. Well it must have taken us close to half an
hour before we got it all working. Abraxas happened to be close and Gary
approved! But at Cabo Espichel we found ourselves in a situation without any
wind at all. The other day it started to really blow beyond the cape to such an
extent that crew on some boats didn't appreciate the experience. Hence, the
underwater spinnaker to the rescue, unfortunately with motoring penalties as a
result. We had lost the correct boat position on the Raymarine and we couldn't
get it calibrated on the fly. We did nevertheless know our destination and the
electronic wind vane brought us there. However it was clear that we were not
going to qualify for any prices this time. It was beautiful sailing day after
all, though. Before entering the harbour we calibrated the Raymarine compass,
but it seemed to no avail. The pontoon party was a cozy happening where all our
experiences were being discussed and talked over. It had gotten cold before we
went to town for dinner at a local fish restaurant enjoying the local dishes
and wines. Henk's fish turned out to be far above budget!
24 June 2013. Monday. A nice leisurely day in Sines.
The captain started making preparation for a support phone call to Shipshape
regarding the Raymarine network and E80 display problems. At first checking out
the various manuals we have on board. Decided to try it once more just before
the phone call and - for crying out loud - it all seemed to work perfectly once
more, without any repair. Well that means I remain suspicious but then again it
is not easy to ask support for a problems that appears to be solved.
Henk went out to the village for some eggs, bread and
other groceries. After a delicious breakfast we all barely made it in time for
the eleven o'clock prize giving at the castle which was another pleasant
happening where Andrew and Keyran had taken care of sweets and beverages. The
Quirine crew went for the white port on ice, perhaps in the knowledge that we
were not even going to be mentioned based on yesterdays performance. After
having coffee we went back to the Quirine to check out the genaker which must
be folded wrongly somewhere in the sock. We took it out of the sock, hoisted it
using the mainsail halyard on Henk his advice. After that we were pretty sure
the genaker would do its work if and when deployed. Thereafter we enjoyed a
pretty day in the Portugal sun. Henk went swimming, the captain went fishing
[not catching anything (: ], taking a nap and using FaceTime to get in touch
with the home front. Tonight we will have dinner in town and prepare Quirine
for het last leg of the ARC. Dinner was fabulous. Afterwards Henk decided to
join Serendepity's party enjoying the brandy.
25 June 2013. Tuesday. Leg 8. The last leg of 57 miles
from Sines to Lagos was gate started as of 6AM, but unfortunately the wind
forecast was for 'light winds' 8 - 12 knots. Beautiful weather, though. Having
barely any wind at the start we motored for approximately an hour and a half
and we started planning on using the genaker for the first time on this trip,
which worked out just fine. The wind even started to pick up to 15knts so we
took it down and sailed using the genua instead. Then the wind subsided once
more until close to Cape St Vincent when all of a sudden it increased from 1 Bft
to 6 Bft within one minute to 5-6Bft. Meanwhile we learned that Serendipity had
engine trouble as they were unable to start it. Abraxas had a similar starting
engine and they sailed 5Nm back to Serendipity. As it turned out this was to no
avail. Webster was close to Serendipity and offered to tow them to Lagos, which
must have been over 30Nm. We turned the engine off and sailed around the Cape
when the wind turned SE and subsided once more to 2Bft. We motored our way into
Lagos river entrance which was a bit nasty since the large breakers into the
river seemed precisely as those rolling onto the beach. Well, we had reached
our final destination! Dinner on board and into bed after a tiresome day of
over 80Nm. Clearly this was going to be even much more difficult for Webster
towing Serendipity. Once they had entered and were finally onto their berths a
loud applause emerged from the Rally crowd.
26 June 2013. Wednesday. Beautiful and sunny day. Henk
went to get bread and eggs for breakfast which we enjoyed in the cockpit in the
shade of the bimini. Precisely as you would want it. After figuring out how to
get to the airport and wandering around town a little bit, we were invited to
lunch by Gertjan. Thereafter captain did laundry and we thoroughly cleaned the
boat, whereby Henk was reaching out to hard-to-get-to places to clean the dirt
off the ship caused by the fenders. Quirine was shining once more. The final
prize giving evening had arrived which we all enjoyed tremendously, followed by
good-byes, kisses and promises to keep in touch.
The ARC Portugal Rally turned out to be a tremendous
and fabulous event, not to be missed.
Signed Gerard van der Kroon. Compiled on board flight
HV5358, Faro->Amsterdam, Thursday, June 27 2013