Boat Plans Aluminium | Lisbon 19th September 4th October 2008

Boat Plans Aluminium

Our 15 day stay in Lisbon meant that we were able to get quite a few jobs done on the boat. The companionway step had broken just as we arrived in Lisbon and had to be repaired, re-screwed and glued, the watertight hatches to the water tanks which weren‘t watertight were replaced, the peeling paint on the gunnels stripped off, a number of deck fittings which were leaking were re-laid, additional guard rails to the pushpit were installed, net baskets to hold fruit and veg were made up and probably plenty more odds and ends that I can‘t remember.

As I was working on the boat Selma and children were beavering away at school either on deck or down below depending on the weather and what I was doing on the boat. Selma has covered this in a separate chapter.

Doca De Alcantara was a 10 minute train ride away from the centre of Lisbon so we visited the city nearly everyday either for shopping or seeing the sights; no touristy stuff though, oh no not for us. It’s a great city with loads to see and do. Jack has produced a ’Classic Jack Productions’ video of the main sights that if I can get my ‘You Tube’ sorted will be in circulation shortly. Similarly the kids have produced an above and below deck tour of the GSB. All classics!

During our stay in Lisbon I experienced one of the most traumatic experiences of the trip so far. A shiver runs down my spine as I recall the horror of a trip to IKEA. To fellow members of the exclusive ‘Men Against IKEA’ Club I can only apologise but I was between a rock and a hard place. Devoted Blog followers will recall that Paul E lobbed our grill pan over the side whilst crossing the Biscay and since then we have been starved of grilled food and have been on an eternal quest to find a replacement. The search for the holy grill pan resulted in us scouring every shop in Lisbon for a replacement but with no success. Finally, we were informed that we would definitely, definitely, be able to buy one in that hell-hole of a shop … IKEA. My worst nightmare had come true. The whole experience felt like some sort of medieval quest where we had to go through a number of physical and mental challenges if we were to find the holy grill pan and this was the final and toughest of them all. I had no choice but to prepare myself and venture forth … Selma, Jack and Ella, unaware of the dangers of IKEA seemed delighted by the plan.

We had hired a car to travel inland to visit some of the sights outside of Lisbon, do a big shop before the trip to Porto Santo and to fill up the diesel cans so once all of this had been done we headed towards IKEA. We had no map and some rough directions from a non-English speaking shop assistance in the supermarket. In hindsight our approach was not great but I think that subconsciously I had hoped we would never find it and having no map and little idea where it was seemed like a good start.

Our crude understanding was that we had to leave at the first exit of the motorway after the supermarket and we would see IKEA immediately. What a complete load of *****cks; the lady didn‘t speak English but she seemed sane which we now knew was not the case. What actually happened was that we turned off the motorway and entered one of the worlds most complicated one-way systems; the system, designed by a close relative of the shop assistant, prevented you from going anywhere you wanted to until you were completely lost by which time you didn‘t know where you wanted to go anyway. In the end it took 2 hours to travel the half a mile to IKEA; I cannot believe that I spent 2 hours driving through some of the dodgiest looking suburbs of Lisbon in search of my most hated shop but there it is. Nonetheless we did finally arrive and so the real trauma began.

Before we left the safety of our car I briefed Selma and the kids with some basic rules. Stick together, never stray off the arrowed path, stay focussed on the single purchase of a grill pan by repeating the words ‘we only need a grill pan’ out loud as you walk and under no circumstances pick up one of those enormous yellow baskets. We stepped out of the car and were immediately sucked into the abyss.

The H Team lasted about 4 seconds. In that time I’d completely lost Jack and Ella and could see Selma in the distance admiring a wickerwork bread basket shaped like a giant elephant … all was lost, I had no choice but to abandon them. I followed the arrows relentlessly, occasionally spotting one of the family caressing a piece of laminated-furniture-rubbish but pressed on until I arrived in the kitchen section. I then ventured ‘off-piste’ to track down the holy grill pan which IKEA ‘definitely sell‘. OFF COURSE THEY ****ING DON’T, WHY IN ****’s NAME WOULD THEY, THEY‘RE A ****ING SWEDISH FURNITURE SHOP; the whole thing had been an evil plan to lure me into the shop where once trapped I would be forced to fill the GSB with useless tat, I had been well and truly duped. Fortunately, by now the IKEA current had washed the rest of the family up to me and I was able to coral them. Of course sufficient time had elapsed for them all to be under the evil IKEA spell and it was with great difficulty that I managed to force them back to the safety of the car. They all sulked for several hours afterwards but that was fine because we got well and truly lost leaving IKEA so they had plenty of time to get over it before we got back to the good ship - the quest for the holy grill pan continues.

Whilst at Doca De Alcantara we met Gordon and Anne Campion who are at the beginning of a trip round the world in their yacht Equinox. Gordon is one of few people to have circumnavigated Spitsbergen in a yacht and one night we were entertained by a quite excellent video of the trip. Several nights of yarning and drinking followed but fortunately for our livers Equinox departed a few days before us bound southwards. We hope to meet up in the Caribbean.

Whilst in Lisbon we carried out our first, planned, chart exchange. We knew there would not be room to carry all the charts we would need for the trip and so the plan was to send used charts home and get the next bunch sent out. Trish at Imray’s did a great job and apart from the fact that the Portuguese couldn’t find the marina it all went very well. The next change will be in the Caribbean which could be more interesting.

With new charts delivered we were ready to move on. For some time we had debated where to go next and in particular whether to go straight to Madeira/Porto Santo or head further south to Spain. The decision really depended on when we intended to cross the Atlantic. If we were going to leave before Christmas we needed to crack on, if we were leaving after Christmas we had a month to spare. In the end we decided to head for Barbados before Christmas so with that decision made our next passage was decided for us. Time to move on.

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Boat Plans Aluminium Australia | Viana Do Castello 14th 16th September 2008

Boat Plans Aluminium Australia

Viana Do Castello was new to Selma and I and well worth the visit. We were welcomed into our first Portugese marina as if we were long lost friends of the harbour master. The marina is tiny with next to no visitor spaces and despite our diminutive stature there were no berths available. We volunteered to stay on the waiting pontoon outside the marina but our new friend was having none of it. You are very very small ... very small ... it would be very dangerous out here for such a small boat, at one stage I thought he was going to ask how we possibly got there but he didnt, he simply relocated a police launch to make way for us and a few minutes later we were all snugged up in Portugal.

Viana Do Castello is a typical Portugese town with the wonderful blend of old churches, squares and fountains with totally out of place, modern, EEC funded public facilities which dont quite operate as intended all wrapped up with lovely weather and an overiding waft of raw sewage ... it really is our kind of town.

Portugals idiosyncracies were illustrated by the marina facilities. Our mate showed us the enormous shower block which was quite fantastic, everything you could possibly want ... showers, loos, washing machines, driers ... the works. Unfortunately there was only 4 keys so for access you had to track the harbourmaster down and the lone key was then handed over with great ceremony ... Selma popping up to the loos for a quick pee was definitely not on the agenda. The picture got even better because when we did borrow the key almost all of the facilities were out of order with the exception of one shower in the ladies and one in the gents. Still one was better than none so girls and
boys shared. It was not until we were fully lathered up .. and I mean fully lathered up (Jack looked like a mini abomnible snowman) that another little quirk of the marina struck ... the hot water simply stopped. At the best of times I am a bit of a softy when it comes to cold but quite frankly compared to Jack Im a superhero. We both stood there to consider the problem and then stood there a little longer and a bit longer; in fact our prevarication was such that just before we were going to risk hypothermia and jump under the cold shower the hot water returned. It transpired that the hot water alternated between the Gents and the Ladies ... absolutely classic Portugal and really great fun, once Id got the froth off.

Lessons continued and Selma decided that one of them should be Capn John teaching navigation. The kids were sent the challenge of using the tourist map to track round the town; in truth they did a better job than either Selma or I. A notable spot that we visited was the Church of Santa Lucia which is located on the top of a hill overlooking Viana. The church is pretty spectacular but the view from the church is breathtaking and was quoted by National Geographic as one of the best panoramic views in the world; it certainly looked pretty good to us.

From Viana we took the 40 minute train ride down to Oporto which is a real favorite in the area. A free tour of a porthouse plus free sampling (all port comes from Oporto) was essential so we made for the hill on the side of the River Douro where all the port houses are located and visited Taylors. The kids were surprisingly interested in the process and slipped down half a glass each; well recived by Jack but less popular with Ella, still plenty of time yet. The history of port is a great tale and shows that some good can come from the taxman. The creation of port was stimulated when the taxes on French and Spanish wine were artificially increased due to our not being too chummy with said countries at the time. This made Portugese wine a bit of a bargain. The trouble was that it didnt travel very well so they whacked a drop of brandy in to help the wine last and hey presto ... port.

The sites in Porto are too many to mention but personal favourites are the fish feeding frenzy at the raw sewage discharge point in the Douro and the Eiffel Bridge which transfers pedestrians, trains and cars across the same river. Either way the sights, smells and culture of Portugal are unforgettable.

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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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Wood Boat Plans And Kits | Southampton to La Coruna Spain 29th August 3rd September

Wood Boat Plans And Kits

We left Southampton at o815 on 29th August bound for Porto Sin about 600 miles away. The GSB was fully crewed up with our long standing sailing friend Paul Elliot, his girlfriend Keiko and another family friend Big Jack Green. Expected passage time about 6 days, weather forecast fine for at least a couple of days, burn - not smelling, GSB, skipper and crew ready, able and willing - we were all set.

We had made good use of the 3 days unplanned stop at Southampton. As the weather slowly improved I was able to sort a few odds and sods out on the boat , including installation of a bar across the cooker to prevent idiots falling and burning themselves. I also made daily visits to the hospital for inspection of the burn and dressing changes. I asked at the hospital what I should do if it became infected on the passage to Spain ... not much you can do was the response ... so that all seemed fine.

The passage plan was to sail west until Start Point, hang a left to pass outside the Traffic Seperation Scheme (TSS) off Ushant and then steer straight for Cape Finisterre to pass the TSS to the east; Porto Sin is about 30 miles south of Cape Finisterre. I didnt expect to follow the plan to the letter and I was right.

Over the first 36 hours we made good progress with the engine and a bit of sailing. The wind was light and the sea relatively calm which was good news because Keiko and Jack had limited sailing experience ... in fact none. The watch pattern was 3 hours on and 3 hours off with Jack and I on one watch and Paul and Keiko on the other. Jack was bearing up well after a number of shocks the night before; firstly he had assumed that the trip to Spain was a series of hops round the coast stopping frequently in delightful anchorages in Brittany and Northern Spain ... as opposed to the actual plan of a 6 day non-stop passage with a maximum 3 hours sleep at anyone time.

This initial shock was followed by the revelation that whilst underway the GSB was a dry ship and no alcohol could be taken until arrival - this blow was softened by my promise that when we did arrive we would drink at a rate that would make up for any previous lost opportunity - I can

say with absolute confidence that I kept my word.

On Sunday morning we were off Ushant and turned south west for Cape Finisterre but as ever the wind had by now also come round to the south west so we were starting to be pushed east of our planned course. Stronger winds of 25 + kts were forecast with even stronger winds to the west so we carried on southwards accepting the risk of losing westing. In fact as we sailed along we enjoyed the novel experience of missing gales as opposed to being smacked squarely between the eyes. By Monday night the wind was up to 20 + kts and increasing and in keeping with the previous 6 weeks was right on the nose, so yet again the GSB found herself bashing into some fairly fruity biscay waves with triple reefed main. The bad weather was softened by the company of several schools of dolphins who had regularly appeared from about the second day - its great to see them although I sometimes get the feeling that theyre having a right old laugh at the idiots in the little boat.

As the weather deteriorated my urge to cook curry increased until I could control myself no longer and dished up a Tescos classic ... Beef Curry with Bombay Potatoes and BITB rice. Following the failure of my Chicken Tikka to hit the mark with Gordon and Jerry I was hoping that the beef option would prove more popular, however, once again my cooking failed to pass muster and once again a brief bout of sea sickness followed dinner.

Mid passage we tested the new Iridium Sat Phone out which was brilliant. It was really strange sailing hundreds of miles from anywhere having a conversation with Selma and then Alasdair about the weather. Al gave some great advice as we ducked and dived our way through the worst of the bad weather. Nonetheless by Tuesday morning the wind had reached near gale so we hoved to to give the GSB and crew a break; as ever the change was dramatic as conditions immediately improved both above and below deck. We stayed hove to until mid afternoon on Tuesday when the wind rapidly moderated and came round to the NW to give us some great sailing and for the first time in a few days in the right direction!

During Tuesday we received updated weather info by text from Al and also on the navtex which was forecast to be severe gale 9 from Thursday afternoon as this is pretty much when we were due to arrive in Porto Sin we decided that a stop in La Coruna about 60 miles closer would be sensible. It transpired to be a good call because the weather did get worse and La Coruna was great.

The last 24 hours were really damp with constant rain and light winds, crew and the GSB were simply soaking. Paul shared the useful information that Galicia was the wettest part of Spain which went down well with Big Jack who had assumed that by now the weather would be verging on tropical. Pauls useful meteorological information was no doubt in part a counter to comments made about the speed of his getting out on watch. It was noted by Big Jack that Paul dissappeared, undressed, into the heads, stayed there for an extended period, but then emerged equally undressed. What was going on in the heads remained a mystery until our arrival at La Coruna when we discovered the horrific truth ... Paul was changing his pants. My standing advice to crew is that you need one pair of pants for any trip of any duration and one pair for arrival - Big Jack had taken this advice to heart by bringing just one pair of pants in total (well done Jack) but Paul had suddenly become fastidious in respect to personal hygiene. In hindsight this was probably for the best because Paul had volunteered to change my dressings on the passage so a bit of hygiene was perhaps a good thing, but we questioned the extreme to which it was taken. Either way Jack and I discussed the problem at length but could only conclude that it was the influence of a woman on board; this has never been confirmed.

We arrived in La coruna, Spain, at 1730 LMT on Wednesday 3rd September. It was just brilliant. The decision to go to Norway before heading south was always a risky one and had been a bit of a worry for several weeks but all of that was lifted with our safe arrival in La Coruna.

All that remained for me as Skipper was to fulfill my promise to Big Jack. We tidied the GSB up and then tucked into a few Norwegian beers before heading ashore in search of Cerveza and Tapas. The food was absolutely superb, the beers slipped down a treat and La Coruna immediately fell into our personal favourites category. As we slowly slipped into an alcoholic blur; any hardship experienced over the previous week was rapidly forgotton.

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Wooden Boat Plans And Kits | Waiting for Brimble in Spain September 2nd

Wooden Boat Plans And Kits

Since last writing much as happened and I shall only briefly enlighten you as I am sure the Captn himself will be more eloquent in writing the recent trials and tribulations of our travels to date. Needless to say we have had A & E visits and some more work done to the GS Brimble. Jacobus and I spent the last two days before departure with Brimble and John, we had a good time doing all those last minute checks and additions as well as victualing the boat for departure. I collected Big Jack from Southampton station whilst John stowed away all the shopping so that he would know where everything was once at sea, the last thing you want is to hunt for something in a pitching and rolling sea. Once Big Jack was with us, we met up with the two other crew members for this leg, Paul and Keiko, we had a last dinner and early to bed before the Friday morning sail off.

Jacobus and I waved off the boat and her crew and looked forward to seeing them in Spain, when finally all the Halsalls might be together at last. Two days later, Jacobus, Big Pappa Bestefar and I flew into Santiago de Compostela and met up with Ella, looking tanned and healthy after 12 days in the sun, if somewhat tired from all the late Spanish nights. We had a great day with Sol, Lydia and Ines, swimming in the river and enjoying our time together.



Alasdair (Captn Flint of Sumara) and I have been trying out the communication system with the new satellite phone and have been able to text John in the middle of the Bay of Biscay and to give him weather information. Alasdair has taken on the offical role of Herby after the famous weather forecaster for sailing vessels all over the world on the SSB radio, known as Herb. The weather so far has been interesting, from no wind when the GSB left on Friday to quite strong winds today, Tuesday. As yet we do not know if the boat may need to head into land earlier than hoped and wait for the forecasted strong winds to subside before the boat continues her journey, only time will tell, we wish them safe and speedy sailing onwards.

In the meantime, school will begin today for Ella and Jacobus and I must admit as the teacher I wonder how it will all go, I think we will begin gently today...

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Wooden Boat Plans Australia | La Coruna to Baiona 9 th September 11th September

Wooden Boat Plans Australia

Paul and Keiko headed for home on the 7th and the Halsall family were reunited on board GSB for the first time in 2 months. Big Jack stayed with us to sail round Cape Finisterre.

We left Coruna at lunchtime on the 9th, it had been a really good stay. The winds were light and forecast to stay light so we knew the trip was going to be steady albeit with a fair swell of 2.5m running. The trip was uneventful and pleasant with crystal clear skies, shooting stars and loads of dolphins to keep the nightwatches entertained.
Both Ella and Jack stood their watches for the first time. Jack did midnight to 0100 am with Selma and Big Jack and Ella came up at 0300 am with me; both of them were game on which is not bad for a 7 and 9 year old, well done guys - a good start all round. Selma did OK as well - not bad for a 38 year old.

A bit of seasickness brought on by excessive chocolate consumption more than anything else, a nice westerly breeze and we had arrived in Sanxenxho. We were now out of the Bay and into the Atlantic for the first time.

The following day we made the short trip south to our old favourite port of Baiona.

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Boat Plans Arch Davis | Baiona Viana Do Castello 14th September to 14th September 2008

Boat Plans Arch Davis

We had a pretty relaxing time in Baiona, re-exploring some of the old sights from 12 years ago and finding plenty more. Big Jack was with the Good Ship until 12th September and as ever provided a constant stream of entertainment for all concerned, much of it was intended. We really enjoyed Jacks company, the children in particular have learnt alot. As a result of Big Jacks careful tuition they now know how to cross a busy Portugese or Spanish road simply by charging at the oncoming traffic to the cry of ´leg it`. This skill was finely tuned whilst in La Coruna when every few minutes when trying to catch a bus someone would shout ´leg it´. This was done irrespective of whether there was a bus in sight or, if there was one in sight, whether it was the one we wanted to catch. On those occasions when there was no bus to be seen there was also no target to focus on. The result was the formation of a sort of Halsall star-burst where members of the family would simultaneously fly off in every direction. No doubt from a seagulls viewpoint this was an impressive sight, however, local motorists were less keen as they struggled to avoid various members of the family running in front of them. Jack also taught the children how to speak fluent ´dolphin´. Thanks Jack; having the children making high pitched squeaking sounds everytime the word dolphin is mentioned only slightly undermines the delight of seeing these wonderful mammals in their natural environment! The kids were also able to learn a number of useful words and phrases. For example they no longer say thank you for my dinner, they say awesome, that really took the egde off´.

You would not expect Jacks departure to have been smooth and of course it wasn´t. The bus was due at 1400 but we hadn´t quite worked out which stop, so we located ourselves at a bar where we could see several likely looking bus stops at once and moved to red alert status. Our eyes were pealed looking for a bus that might be going to Vigo Airport. At 1355 Jacks bus went by, or at least we think it was. The familiar cry of leg it went up and Jack was off. Sadly, whilst this initial stage went comparatively well, Jack subsequently stayed on the bus a little too long and went past Vigo Airport, he then had to catch a taxi back to the airport to catch his plane arriving just in the nick of time. Its hardly a surprise that Jack took the Bay of Biscay in his

stride when you live life like he does ... awesome.

We were all sad to see Big Jack go but at the same time pleased to be together as a family and alone for the first time since July. We stayed for another couple of days in Baiona and I think that for the first time we really started to fall into the rhythm of ´liveaborad´life and get down to some serious family enjoyment. The race to get down south was pretty much over and for the first time we were not worrying about weather or crew.

The kids had there first lessons, other than those provided informally

by Big Jack and we began to get a little bit of routine.

We sailed south to Viana De Castello and Portugal on the 14 th September. It was a pleasant 35 mile mooch down the coast. No night watches, no strong winds, no hassles, just a nice sail, with loads and loads of dolphins and a mackerel lunch ... and you said I wasnt a fisherman, Jack!

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