Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport | Viana Do Castello to Lisbon 16th September 18th September

Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport

We left Viana on the 16th September bound towards Lisbon about 230 miles away. We expected the passage to take about 2 1/2 days so this was the longest leg so far for the family. The weather forecast was good and I even took the liberty of planning departure time so that the tide would be favourable as we sailed down the river. We planned to set off at a leisurely 1100 or so in the morning and so with a few hours to spare Jack and I wandered up to the marina office to settle up. As I thought about the trip ahead I reflected that there was a surprisingly high tidal range in the harbour and I’d better double check that there was sufficient depth of water to get out of the marina at any time; good question as it happened! Friendly-harbour-master-bloke said we could, but only for about another 20 minutes. ‘Leg it …‘ the cry went up as we moved into red alert, mega-scramble mode. I sent Jack back to the boat to forewarn Selma (who was sublimely unaware that we would be leaving in 15 minutes) and I paid. I arranged for the bridge to be opened in ten minutes and charged back to the GSB. Meanwhile, Jack had delivered the message but unfortunately Selma had ignored his screams of ‘we’re legging it’ as the rambles of a 7 year old and had carried on as was. This situation changed on my arrival as I randomly swore at everyone - this helped me quite a bit but speaking candidly may have caused some minor friction with the crew … well one of them.

We managed to get the boat ready in double quick time but turning the instruments on found we were aground. This was a surprise, we didn’t feel aground, we didn’t look aground, so we ignored the instruments, gently rocked the boat from side to side and left … slowly. Judging by the amount of throttle required to leave the berth I think we were a little bit aground, but not fully elevated so to speak. So, a quiet well organised departure was had from Viana; we liked Viana, but then we seem to like everywhere.

The first 24 hours or so of the passage was mostly under engine. The skies were absolutely crystal clear and once again there were literally hundreds of dolphins keeping us company. The night watch was spent star gazing and continuing to read about some of the legends associated with some of the easier to spot constellations. Cassiopea, the tidy Ethiopean Queen who was banished for reckoning herself; the seven brothers who together make up the stars of Ursa Major, Signus the Swan from the Northern Cross and so on. Personal ‘parenting’ note … don’t star gaze and eat boiled sweets, Jack is liable to choke.

A favourable current made the first day’s mileage very good, in fact we were getting a bit ahead of ourselves and would arrive in Lisbon at night so the next day we stopped donking and enjoyed a leisurely drift at 2 or 3 knots.

By the evening of the second day the wind had completely died away and we had to start the donk again. We were a bit nervous because there were poorly marked lobster pots absolutely everywhere and we were worried about catching one round the prop. We didn’t, but had several near misses, notably on watch hand-over when Selma very usefully and in an incredibly calm and matter of fact voice advised me that we were about to hit one. I was in the companionway and made a desperate dive at the tiller next to which Selma was standing. I threw it in a direction which I hoped would be helpful and we missed the offending pot by a whisker - Selma claims several feet. I politely asked Selma why she had responded to the emergency in such a statuesque manner …’ I thought you would do it, good night’ she said and went to bed. I reached for the relief of the goody box.

Arrival in Lisbon was great fun. We were in the mouth of the River Tagus at dawn so worked our way up the river with the sun rising. Although only 2 days at sea the smell of land was strong as we caught the last of the flood up the river. We passed Estoril and Cascais where a new marina has been built and then moved upstream to Belem with the spectacular Jesus Christ Statue in the distance … ‘Daddy’ that’s a rude word you can only say those words when you’re in Church advised Ella. ‘But that’s the name of the bloody statue’ I replied … ‘it doesn’t matter you can’t say those words and the other word’s rude as well‘; she was firm but fair.

As we passed Belem on the outskirts of Lisbon the tide changed. I knew it had changed because we were making 4 knots through the water but were going 1 knot backwards. We put the engine in full ahead and managed to creep forward at 1-2 knots, belching black smoke as we went. Another great bit of passage planning - I read the pilot on arrival as you do and it did mention the fact that a fruity tide flows down the river at certain times.

As the River widened the tide settled down abit and by about 0930 we were sailing past the cruise ship Queen Mary II that we have oftened sailed past outside Shamrock Quay. At this point and within about 30 seconds visibility reduced to something less than 50 m as we were enveloped in thick fog. We crept forward, ironically assisted by the head tide, and called the port control to check whether we could gain access to the harbour and marina; the marina entrance was blocked by a swinging bridge which due to the thick fog we couldnt see; the pilot said it was permanently open but we thought a check was prudent. Needless to say the pilot was wrong, but sadly, Harbour Control couldn’t see the swinging bridge either and therefore didn’t know whether it was open or not and quite frankly werent interested anyway. If it is, they advised us to go in and if it isn’t they advised us to wait. Selma relayed this to me and I told her what I thought of Portugese Harbour Control; fortunately I avoided a further telling off from Ella because just as I was really getting to the juicy bits a tug emerged from the mist and helpfully tooted, drowning out the more offensive parts of my commentary.

We inched into the harbour which, incidently, seemed to be a breeding ground for Portugese tug boats, found the bridge and found it shut; this said and with some relief we found and moored up to a handy pontoon to wait.

Half an hour later, the bridge opened, the fog cleared and we moored up in Doca De Alcantara, Lisbon in blazing sunshine.

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Boat Plans Bateau | Round Island Race 18th 20th June 2010

Boat Plans Bateau

The weekend began on Friday night. Gordon McBride and Rob Parsons as crew

The start the next day was at 0330 so an early night was an essential part of our game plan. It was therefore a total surprise when we found ourselves tucking into the Talisker at half past ten after a couple or three pints down the pub. Pre-race nerves had clearly got the better of us.

Robs alarm clock went off at 0330 which was lucky because mine didnt.  Still no harm done; one of the biggest challenges of the race was behind us; we had woken up at roughly the right time on exactly the right day. The Good Ship was fully prepared, tactics were agreed and skipper and crew were physically and mentally as sharp as razors. Apart from a mild and developing hangover the good ship Brimble was transformed from long distance cruiser to ... a racing machine ready to compete in the biggest race in the world. We were ready.

We donked down Southampton Water whilst I knocked out bacon sandwiches. Already, a mass of boats was gathering; it was really quite exciting. The first start was off the Royal Yacht Squadron at 0430. Our Group, Purple, were last to start at 0640.

At 0400 the VHF radio squawked and Tony Benn came on with a time check. Not absolutely sure it was Tony Benn but it definitely sounded like him. Watches were synchronised, bacon was frying, the BRAND NEW GENOA was unfurled and all was well with the world. We could smell victory ... assuming of course that victory smells like smoked bacon cooking.

As we mooched down Southampton Water the fleet grew bigger. Overall something like 1640 boats entered the race and even spread out over the whole of the Solent the sight was simply awesome. Check out the website.

We milled around the prescribed waiting area and checked out the startline even to the point of finding ourselves sailing backwards through the whole of the blue fleet as they started. Also quite exciting.

As our start time approached we finalised tactics, Gordon took over the helm and Rob prepared the spinnaker. A downwind, downtide start meant that there was a distinct risk of crossing the line to soon. Equally it was essential not to be too conservative and hold back. We needed a good start against the 50 or so yachts in our group and the other 1600 or so that had already started. This meant being in the right part of the line and sailing at best possible speed when the cannon fired.

At exactly 0640 the start signal sounded and we were off. Maybe not quite on the line and maybe not quite hull speed but it wasnt bad and we werent last. The spinnaker was up a few seconds later and Brimble surged forward keen to catch up with the show offs that had left 2 hours earlier ... tarts.

The first leg was great fun with a lovely broad reach and 15 knots of wind. Brimbles very slightly patched but still very lovely green and red spinnaker gave us a great turn of speed and we were typically making between 7.5 and 9 knots over the ground.

A quick cup of tea (the first and last of the race) and we started focusing on rounding the Needles and in particular the Brimble Master Plan To Victory also known simply as Plan A.

Over the ground at least we made some significant gains on the first leg up to the Needles but a great challenge lay ahead ... the inner passage. The west end of the course has no defined mark other than to pass round the Needles. These can be left as wide or as close as you choose. The shortest route is within a few metres of the Needles passing through a gap of 50m or so between the end of the rocks and and the two funnels of an old wreck, the Varvassi. The tricky bit is to miss the needles, stay east of the wreck but also miss another submerged rock called Goose rock which sits NNW of the Needles. With 3 knots of tide sweeping you onto the wreck this can be quite tricky which is why a host of lifeboats and observers gather close by to pick up the people and boats that get it wrong and no doubt pass on helpful suggestions. This said we were quite keen to give it a go and applying the little known saying faint heart never sailed fast round fair needles we had explored the previous weekend before and successfully motored through the inner passage. What we had never done before was sailed through as fast as we could go. But Brimble is brave and we were ready. With buttocks tightly clenched we approached the rocks. Rob was on the foredeck rock spotting, Gordon was manning the sheets and I was steering. The GPS was next to useless because we were going so fast (sideways) the first thing we would know about the rocks or the wreck would be either Rob shouting ROOOOOOOOCKKKKKKK or alternatively WREEEEEEEEEEEEECK or the most obvious telltale sign of something seriously amiss ... FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU .... and inflating the liferaft.



On the day our research paid off and we slipped through the gap without incident although I have to say that it was all a little nerve racking. Still we made some awesome gains on the rest of the fleet overtaking literally hundreds of boats that had started in earlier groups and made useful gains within our own fleet as well.



The long leg along the south coast was a tricky beat in fluky winds which gradually increased to a good F4-5. Brimbles new Genoa was great but I must admit that less sail earlier would have made a big difference to boat speed and wasted boat speed because of being over canvassed.



This said we at least held our own and made ground against many of the boats that dont sail as well to windward as the Good Ship. By 1400 we were passing Bembridge Bouy and the eastern end of the IOW. Once again excitement mounted as the fleet bunched up to stay close in and miss the foul tide. A few exciting moments on the approach to the bouy but we successfully made it round and enjoyed a fast run home along the NE coast of The Island. We finished at 1553 in just over 8 hours which we were delighted with.



That night we slipped up the River Medina to The Folly Inn in search of table dancers, food and beer, in no particular order. By 2000 hrs words had been replaced by grunts and no coherent conversation was taking place. The sun, an early start, a days racing and 4 pints in quick succession were too much and with a warm glow we returned to the Good Ship - the table dancing would have to wait. That night we were able to confirm our final position which proved to be really quite good: 9th in our Group but as a result of some incredibly favourable winds and tide we were also 11 th out of the 850 or so yachts in our rating. Not bad we thought ... we couldnt say it because our mouths had stopped working.

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