At around midnight I began to notice a strange smell which I assumed at first was from the shore. However, we passed down and the smell did not abate so I informed Scruffbag when he took over the watch. He checked the engine and all seemed well so we decided it must be exhaust fumes as the night was so still. As we reached Portugal, I had become aware of the increasing number of lobster pots in amazing depths of water (70 metres plus). They appeared randomly and were hard to spot in the night. Scruffbag noticed the same on his watch and we narrowly missed several of them. I took over again at 3a.m. and Scruffbag has barely gone below when "wham" we caught one. I switched the engine to neutral immediately and Scruffbag rushed up on deck armed with a boat hook. He was feeling increasingly unwell with what later turned out to be a severe bout of tonsilitis but still managed to unhook the offending lobster pot from the rudder. After that we both stayed up on watch with Scruffbag on the fordeck, manfully standing braving the swell to search for pots. I did go forward to relieve him for a short spell but have to admit that the spells were indeed short as it was very unpleasant.
Meanwhile the smell continued and towards dawn the fog descended.It was then that we found the cause. Scruffbag notice the engine starter battery voltage was 15.8. It had been slowly frying as we went along. He turned off the engine then tried to restart using the domestic battery. The operation failed. No engine, no wind and fog. Luckily we were close to our destination. We "sailed" along making very little way, but at least the dolphins returned to give us some heart.
Eventually we radioed the port of Leixoes and explained our predicament and they said we could sail in slowly after the next cargo ship had entered. Unfortunately this was not to be. The entrance involved tacking and what little wind there was dropped entirely so we were forced to head for a nearby beach and drop anchor. We were able to arrange a tow to the marina at a cost of 200 euros but this took some time a several boats ,when, asked, had refused to come out in the fog.
Still all's well that ends well - if somewhat expensively. The marina is great and the staff directed us to a local guy who repaired both our alternators and serviced the two spares. I consulted Doctor Google and diagnosed Mark;s tonsilitis and fed him the antibiotics we carry. He was really ill and abed for 5 days but thankfully made a full recovery.
We spent a happy few weeks in Leixoes with a couple of visits to Porto, a beautiful city 20 minutes away by metro or by bus
We also met up with an old friend ,Paul Charlesworth, who we have not seen for at least 10 years and who is now living in near Porto. We had an enjoyable day out and a great meal in Porto plus an expensive drink and snack at a very upmarket beachfront bar,
As this marina is the cheapest in Portugal, we decided to leave Erica here as we returned to the UK for the arrival of our latest grandchild. I flew out at the end of July and Scruffbag followed a week later - saying goodbye to the heat of Portugal for six weeks in good old Blighty
No comments:
Post a Comment