Nazare and the wind vane

 The trip to Nazare was a tedious one with the fog only clearing for the last hour or so. We saw a few dolphins and were very happy with the lift from the new propeller.

True to their word, the marina sent a man in a rib to guide us in to a very easy berth in the fishing harbour where another man was waiting to take our lines, There is a small marina there which also has several berths in the fishing harbour itself.We were pleased to be in the fishing harbour as it's more lively and interesting  and has its own set of showers. Although slightly further from town, there is a fisherman's bar/ cafe that also sells freshly made  bread rolls and has a mini market stocked with the basics. Our friend Marc who we met in Leixoes, was also there and we soon met some other sailors and some who were refitting their boats in the yard.

Our first task was to try to arrange a lift out and an engineer to look at the gearbox. This being i Portugal the arrangements were easy to make but getting a lift out date was a case of wait and see when we get space. In the meantime Scruffbag received a letter offering him a date for a long awaited operation in the UK so we hoped Erica would be out of the water by the time we left. It would be both cheaper and less worrying.

We had a good look around d Nazare in the next few days. It is a beautiful town and attracts tourists to its town beach without having lost its original all character.

We also took the furnicular railway to the high part of town to visit the exhibition in the lighthouse. Nazare has world record surf waves in winter and attracts surfers from all over the world. The exhibition contains incredible photographs of those waves. Even the photographs are mind blowing . There is a huge underwater trench running up to just off the coast which causes the waves and this together with strong swell makes swimming g anywhere but the relatively sheltered town beach very unwise and often downright dangerous.

After a couple of days exploration we looked again at jobs around d the boat. Firstly Scruffbag took the wind vane apart as one of the bolts was out of line e.We thought this was due to the bump in Figuera de Foz but, once it was taken apart, we noticed a huge crack. This was worrying. The wind vane is a vital piece of kit and replacing  it could cost thousands of pounds. We think it had been damaged when a boat hit it several years ago in Camaret, France, and wear and tear had played their part with the recent bump being the last straw.

It never rains but it pours.

Figuera de Foz in reverse

 We set off for Figuera de Foz, 60 miles down the coast, early on a windowless morning. We would be motoring but this would give us a chance to test the new propeller. The engine had been a bit slow to go into forward gear a couple of times recently but other than that all was fine. We were pleased with the new propeller. The boat felt like it had more power,going faster at lower revs.

We arrived in Figuera de Foz late in the afternoon and as we approached the reception pontoon and put the engine into neutral Scruffbag could not get it back into forward gear. Luckily we drifted on to the pontoon. We had the same problem leaving the reception pontoon but we managed to moor up. Scruffbag decided to overhaul the control the following day.

We had been here 3 years previously but had arrived late and left early so we decided to stay for a couple of days and explore. It is an attractive beach resort with a small shipping port ,a railway station and an attractive old town.

Whilst there we had been asked by Pete to look out for an old Colin Archer boat and make ourselves known to its owner, Juan, an old colleague of his from his days on the dredged. We found Juan and gave him Pete's phone number. We had a look round his boat, which had been built to work off Norway and was different from the usual sailing boats we see and we had a drink with him later

After two days we decided to leave, This was not destined to happen. Once again the boat would not engage in forward so we returned to our mooring in reverse. We had no way of slowing down other than neutral a d Scruffbag had to jump ashore to stop the windvane hitting the pontoon.It did but only lightly. We would clearly be staying a further night and completely overhauling the control this time.We thought we had fixed it. The man in the marina office  must have thought we were crazy.

The following day I went for a walk and before helping with the overhaul.

When  Scruffbag had worked on the control, he asked me to check that the shaft was rotating when the engine was in forward gear.It was, and we thought we had finally fixed it.

We set off the next morning in a bit of a breeze. We managed to get forward gear and headed out into the river. We turned into the wind and put the engine into neutral. As the river was quite narrow we would have to turn around then turn back before the sail went up. We put the engine back into gear. Nothing. The rocks were looming and we were being g blown that way.A ship was heading down river towards us. Scruffbag put the engine into reverse and managed to resolve the situation and I dropped the sail. Back again, we reversed into the marina once more. Luckily a French couple were on hand to help us in. Another night in Figuera de Foz.

By now we realised that the problem was bigger than we had first thought. We guessed that something was amiss with the gearbox, probably the plates sticking. This would require another lift out as the seal is not secure. We would never return to Leixoes, which was, in any case,very expensive and there were few places along the coast with a big enough hoist. Luckily the fishing port of Nazare was only 25 miles away and had all the facilities including engineers workshops, plus, as it was a local authority yard it was well priced.

We would have to hold the boat onto the pontoon and try, try and try again until the engine went into forward then Scruffbag  would jump aboard and we would not go out of forward gear until we reached Nazare. We phoned ahead to let them know our situation and they promised to give us an easy berth and someone to help us in.

Finally,the next morning in very little wind but lots of fog, after 15 minutes of trying the engine went into forward and we left to motor down to. Nazare

Back in Leixoes A cata!ogue of disasters

It was with some trepidation that we opened the hatch on Erica. After all, our previous return had been memorable for mould. Luckily the vinegar had worked and all was clean and fairly fresh. One of the mooring warps had worn through but, fortunately we had doubled up all lines.

We now had to wait patiently to be lifted out for removal of the jungle on the hull and application of new antifouling. The marina was very greedy and annoyed us by insisting that, since we had been trapped in the UK by coronavirus, we had missed out on our free lift out accrued by our 6 month payment. We just had to bite the bullet and cough up. Needless to say we were not happy.

Whilst waiting we walked a bit and swam a little and spent time with Pete and Maria with Scruffbag going for a couple of sails on Casimia and giving Pete a whisper pole and using it with him on local short sails.

We discovered a park in the grounds of an old Covent.It was not advertised in any of the tourist offices yet it was amazing, lots of shady walkways and old statues everywhere.

And then it was time for lift out.What a surprise awaited us. The anodes were badly eroded and the aluminium propeller was soft and parts of it completely eroded. We had experienced lots of problems with the electricity supply in the autumn and from this evidence there had clearly been an earth leak on the pontoon. This was  confirmed when a local boat was lifted out later with the same problem. Of course the marina denied ever having electrical problems. 

Cesar, the independent boat maintenance worker did an excellent job  cleaning, sanding and antifouling and we set about waiting for a new propeller from the UK. Boredom did set in despite the beach and the borrowing of Pete's electric bike, which I loved.

Three weeks later with a lovely new 3 blade propeller from Clements Engineering, a firm we would thoroughly recommend for workmanship, speed and pleasant manner, we were ready to return to the water. We were eager to leave as soon as possible.

Once again the marina staff proved to be defensive and actually downright rude. We asked to be put back onto another pontoon because we were now aware of the electricity leak. They refused but failed to give any consistent reason.They said we were too small.We showed them smaller boats on the other pontoon. They said it was full.We pointed out many spaces and on and on it went. In the end another boat came into our original space the night before we went in so they had to let us move. We think they felt that letting us move otherwise would have been seen as admitting responsibility.

We left soon after and will never return.

Next stop Figuera de Foz.

Locked down in Hornchurch

Locked down in Hornchurch for 12 weeks with our lovely family,what did we do?

 We lived by the children's routine,getting up early and napping early afternoon.Scruffbag cooked amazing meals and baked biscuits, cakes and pies with Freya, two and a half.

We went out once a day with the children often to the country park at the end of the road. We built dams in the stream. We made harbours and raced paper boats. We climbed trees.We picked flowers. We played poo sticks and dropped stones.

The weather was great so we went in the paddling pool and the hot tub. We sowed a wildflower garden. We did crafts. We found rabbit poo and molehills.One day we found a dead mole so we talked about "dead".

We had barbecues. We found a company that delivered cocktails so we drank cocktails.

We read books. I knitted jumpers and cardigans for the children.

We watched Millie grow from a bottle fed baby who couldn't be left alone when sitting into an almost walker who could stand  alone, loved nothing more than to be on her feet and drank from a cup and ate anything put in front of her with relish.

When restrictions lessened a little, we drove further afield and explored new areas of the Essex countryside.

Finally we heard were allowed to fly to Portugal. We were sad to leave but glad to go at the same time. We bought goodbye gifts for the girls.

Freya looked lovely in her Moana outfit. 

We said goodbye to Jo, Jack and Andy in their garden and met Lauren in the park to say farewell

And off we went to the deserted airport all masked up and off to Porto and Erica.

Back to Leixoes and homeward bound

We arrived back I. Leixoes on a wet Sunday afternoon. Clearly it rains a lot here. On entering the boat we were greeted by mould. Just the welcome we needed on a wet day. The edges cushion covers needed to be removed. We put them in a bag to be dealt with later since we were f!hint to the UK in 3 days. Those days were spent washing ALL our clothes and scrubbing the insides of drawers and cupboards with vinegar solution then washing it off. Great fun.

On Thursday we set the alarm for 3.30 and set off for the redeye flight to Stansted for what was meant to be a 3week visit to family. Coronovirus was already around and we were becoming g aware of its potential. To be fair, Scruffbag was far more aware than I was. Masks were in evidence on the plane.

We enjoyed a family meal on Jo's birthday and had a few days out with the grandchildren before the lockdown hit.The planned visit to Scruffbag's 93 year o!d mother was no longer possible and neither was our return to Portugal. We were locked down with our youngest daughter and her camo!y for the foreseeable future

. There are worse places to be locked down than with one's love!y family watching your grandchildren growing and getting to know them very well.