31 Aug 06 - 05 Sep 06 - To Portugal

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We departed the nice city of Aquadulce and decided to go as far as we safely could without stop, preferrably to the south west coast of Portugal.

The weather was really nice... if you were a motorboat... not a wind in sight and almost glass smooth sea. That ment that during 99% of the trip we went by engine. We decided to anchor near Furo, which we by the way also hoped to refuel at. It seemed that it was mostly a fishing harbour, so we decided to continue on another bit to Vilamoure (37N04.56, 8W07.32) which we arrived around midnight. We decided to anchor outside the harbour due to the nice weather and the time of the day.

Our fuel indicator was in the read area (the meter have a scale of about 1/3 red and 2/3 green). But fortunately I think that when we are in the read, we still have about 200liters of fuel left. But there is no reason to gamble, so refueling was important. We refueled about 467 liters of fuel in total (15 liters of them for the generator). We also topped up water. We actually have plenty of water now... but I guess it shows on my smell ;)

My normal cellphone seems to have been closed. I guess that is what happens, being out of the country for 2 months and not having a chance to pay the bills.

Instead use +45 26 21 05 17 which is Esmeraldas number, or the combined GSM/satellite phone number as shown on the communications page.

During the way we passed Gibraltar, at which time we also had our dinner... mash potatoes (2 types... one made of powder... urgh.. and the other made of true potatoes... jum jum) and fried sausages with ketchup and mustard.

Its something of a show to sit at first row eating dinner with a famous place in the background.

Our watches was as usual... I was taking the night turn and Esmeralda some of the day turn. At Gibraltar I again saw dolphins. One was swimming right under our bow and made a couple of splashes.

On the 2. Sep at night, we hit something while sailing. It was a relatively small, but noticable hit. It was probably either a sea animal or some trash floating around. In the morning I checked for damaged and found none.

Our schedule now indicates that we will try to be in DK by Sep 21. We continue to make 300+nm legs which takes around 2 nights/3 days, so unless something unforseen happens, it should be possible.

While we went around the marina area we noticed a telephone number for a marine electrician. We decided to call him to check out the solenoid for our electric hydraulic gangway. Would be nice to get it working again. It stopped working over night in Mallorca where some supposedly electrician Noel Dyne was to fix it.

Anyway, we made an agreement with the electrician (originally polish, but moved to Portugal 15 years ago) that he would come check it out same day (4. Sep. 06) in the late afternoon. So we decided to stay on or around the boat (got some food in a restaurant nearby) and wait for him.

When he came, I told him the story I was told about the solenoid by Noel Dyne in Mallorca. He shaked his head, and said... not likely, but he would measure it.

It turned out to work perfectly. The solenoid wasnt the problem... instead it was a simple corrosion problem on the high power cords going to the pump motor. The screws were simply too rusty. We made agreement he would come today (6. Sep. 06) and fix the problem. And indeed certainly he did!

So Im a happy man this morning. Got the gangway working and thus could raise the dingy in our davits (cranes) easily. Will give us some more speed as we dont have to drag it after us all the way.

The gangway is quite crucial to have safe access to the dingy, specially when the boat is rolling sideways due to waves etc.

So I can only say... DONT USE NOEL DYNE AT MALLORCA. He is a cheat! He simply didnt care to fix our problems, but were only out to earn some money selling a pump he had lying around.

We went shopping late yesterday, and got a few things needed for a 10 day stay on the waters. The weather charts looks fine... no storms approaching etc. So we may choose to take it from Portugal to UK in one long go. About 10-12 days sailing time on open waters.

During that period, only contact with us is SMS via our sat phone.

In evenings its starting to get cooler, although in daytime its still around 30 degrees C.

More later.

Kim, Esmeralda and Katharina.