Sailing to Lisbon and arrival

I arrived home in Faial just before a hurricane and was busy preparing our and my sisters house for the gales and then came down with flu so been slow to update.

We were fortunate with the wind direction and did not get the full force.  There were some less fortunate with damage and blown down trees.  This was the first storm here in the Azores when I did not have a boat in the marina to worry about.

The last days sailing Nuts to Lisbon were very easy.  Wind between 10 and 20kts from behind till a front passed and then beating in calm seas with the wind slowly going onto a reach.

I was following the Orca reports every few hours and was not happy to discover that they were at the entrance to Lisbon and already sunk one boat and attacked another.

I quickly put 2 reefs in the main and slowed down.  I eventually dropped the mainsail to keep sailing just fast enough for the trimtab selfsteering to work. I watched the Orca.Pt site very often to see what was cooking with the Orcas. 

They moved North to Peniche so all sails up and sailed as fast as I could for Lisbon.  Unfortunatly the wind was dropping all the time.

I was very lucky with crossing the shipping lanes.  I went North of the traffic separation zone but did just cut the corner a little bit as there were no ships.  AIS was a huge help and the alarm kept me alert.  Crossed the main traffic zone during daylight and was surprised to see fishing boats in the middle of the lanes.

Land Ho just before sunset

Sunset with failing wind. Spent the whole night hand steering close to land.  (Very close) I didnt trust the wind direction to stay stable and enough for the wind vane to not crash into land.  Took the whole night to make a few miles to Cascais.  Was doing quite well until the current changed and then went backwards.

Sunrise just passing Cascais. Got a light breeze and was making about 2 kts in the right direction when a little RIB appeared on the bow.  2 tough guys from  Clube Naval de Lisboa had left their marina in the dark to tow me as the current was against and no wind forecast.  They traveled about 10nm to reach me and towed me all the way to Belem Marina.  I did not ask for any help but they did this as a curtesy. What can I say but Im humbled by their hospitality.

I have seen this river many times out of an Airbus window but it is another experience to see first hand.  Very interesting with many historical features.

This is a monument to historic sailing discoveries at the entrance to Belem Marina.  I tied up in the marina at about 10am feeling very tired as no sleep the previous night.  Antonio took me to the Marina office to sign in and get the shower block codes etc. I just had to present the boat registration card, insurance document and my Passport.  (in fact didnt present my Passport just my Portuguese Permanent Residents card)  

Was invited to a lunch at the Club restaurant.  Had a nice hot shower and had a huge mixed grill with a glass of wine then back to Nuts for a sleep.

I was very fortunate to pick a good weather window.  The seas were a bit rough and choppy as I was following a depression but had favorable winds.  My plan was to go to 40North and drop down to Lisbon when I got close  There are normally winds and current from the North on the Portuguese coast and didnt want to end up beating there.

Im very happy to be in Lisbon early to avoid autumn weather from the Azores.  Was actually hoping to be earlier in Portugal but had a very nice sail.  Sailed 1063 Nautical Miles in 12 days with 2 days in go slow mode.  Was very pleased I made the decision to get starlink to check on the Orca situation.  Maybe I would have arrived at exactly the wrong time without.  50w of solar was a challenge using Starlink.  It is plenty for my AIS and Tri color nav light plus a bit of compass light and a little of led interior lights.  Also charged up tablets and phone.  I watched a lot of downloaded video on my tablet and did a lot of reading.  Only connected Starlink for a few minutes 3 times a day to monitor the weather and Orca.Pt.  Also chatted to friends on Whatsapp -voice and video.  Did a speed test and got 460mbs. 

Now going to make more dehydrated meals and get my house sorted for Mrs Nuts over winter.  (firewood etc)

I fly back to Lisbon on the 2nd November and looking forward to meeting other Setka Skippers and starting the adventure.