Mehalah's Voyages: October 2019

Walking the tightrope of life

Current Location: Portimao Anchorage, Portuguese Algarve
Current Date: 13th October 2019

Well. What a month. On a micro level everything continues as before. We are still on the Algarve. Jobs are getting done. Friends are being made and the sun continues to shine.

But on a macro level the sand is moving beneath our feet. Our plan a couple of months ago was to cross to the Canaries in October and then to sail to the Caribbean again in January. This is still a possibility but.....

1. I have to return to the UK for a colonoscopy to check out some issues hopefully related to my radiotherapy 18 months ago. If the tests do show a problem we don't want Mehalah stuck across in the Canaries.

2. Friends Jack and Fizzy who were to sail to the Canaries with us are themselves unsure of their own plans as Jack recovers from his medical ordeal.

3. We want to attend Gill's much loved Uncle's funeral on 8th November.

4. Gilly has some concerns over whether we are yet ready for a transatlantic crossing in Mehalah.

5. The Algarve is lovely and once again we are in danger of getting bogged down in another beautiful place.

So where does that leave us? The end of October is generally thought to be the last time for consistent winds to cross to the Canaries although November is also a possibility if we watch the forecasts closely. But we don't have long to make our decision. At present we have managed to negotiate a cancellable six month contract here in Lagos. Lagos Marina, which has no more space for winter berths, have been amazing once we explained our situation. We also have a berth reserved for us in Lanzarote should we make it across there. In that case we would probably delay our Caribbean departure until a bit later in the year. The first thing to confirm is that I am still fit. Otherwise we will be staying the winter here in Lagos. Phew. Complicated or what?!

Back at a controllable level here's what we've been up to.

A few miles east of Lagos is the shallow inland bay area of Alvor. This is where we went aground years ago when we first bought Petronella. We must have been mad to try to get all the way up the river when we were so inexperienced. Even now we decided to stay just inside the entrance and dinghy to the pretty town. The tide rips through this entrance and we were there at equinoctal spring tides which meant very low and very high tides with even more water flooding in and out than usual. Each tide the boat would swing around to face the flowing water. We were there with John on Cappoquin, now with wife Laura. A lovely out of the way spot only interrupted by a series of rescues we made as kite surfers were blown onto the mole or, late one night, a sole sailor on a small yacht who got stuck on one of the many unmarked sandbanks. When we got to him he was cold and in the water trying to push his boat off the sand. We pulled him off using John's 15hp dinghy engine.

The night before we planned to leave was another quiet one until it got dark. For some reason our quiet anchorage now had ten or so boats in it. The wind got up, against the tide and boats started to drag. A small boat was pushed onto a French yacht and the two of them started drifting to the boat next to us. Lights came on, shouting was heard and the French boat eventually drifted past us without lights. By 4.30am the tide had turned and the wind dropped so we finally got to bed. But next day we learned that the French boat had lost all power and drifted into John and Laura's boat before dragging its anchor out towards the open sea. John had jumped in his dinghy (again), gone aboard and helped them deploy more anchor chain, in the pitch black. He had left Laura aboard Cappoquin whith a flare ready to fire just in case they were all washed onto the mole!

Quiet Alvor evening,

An early morning trip ashore.

Alvor entrance anchorage - all seems quiet.....but wait.

Jobs wise Gilly has taken on the mammoth tasks of making shades to cover the cockpit and foredeck when it gets really hot further south and I've installed the first of three fans for a similar reason. She's also sanded and revarnished the wooden seat at the front of the boat - very smart it is too. The yankee (front sail) furling gear had got very stiff, dangerously so. I've dismantled it, cleaned it, greased it and put it all back together again. Now it's like new again. Otherwise it's cleaning, checking and generally getting ready for, hopefully a passage to the Canaries.

The first cut is the deepest. Preparing the mega shade.

Never ending long seams.

A newly installed fan ready for those tropical days.

The denuded jib furling gear minus brims and ready for greasing.

Cupboard cleaning by torchlight.

Back in Lagos in our new berth we made friends with Ivan and his crew on Albatross XXI. Ivan is from Barnsley with a broad northern accent. A massive larger than life guy on his big motor yacht. Ivan is an entrepreneur, friend of Richard Branson, restaurant owner, glamping developer and legal cannabis oil producer. He jetted off to Morocco to see their Deputy Prime Minister and is busy planting plants both there and in Portugal. He entertains VERY rich people - bankings, investors and the like and is due to float his business on the US stock exchange very shortly. And the amazing thing is I think this is all true! Alongside his jet setting lifestyle he has two little dogs that seem to melt everyone's hearts. What a guy!

Albatross XX1. Moving up in the world.

Even I thought they were cute!!

We continue to walk most days, often along the beach.

Still time for a stroll along the beach.

One chilled John.

Days merged into each other as we took the big train to Portimao to meet up with John for an afternoon. Another day we walked along the coast, a ten mile walk, after catching the little bus, with a smiley face out to the lighthouse on the point. This time we were with Peter and Rosaleen from Magic Elphin. Plenty of evening meals too both in Lagos and on various boats.