Slightly Singed

Ahoy,



as you may or may not have expected the Ol' Girl and me set off from Cascais, I met some very talented boaties there and some old friends making leaving no easier than any of the wonderful places I have had the pleasure of visiting, being of guest status didn't help leaving either.

The sail on to Sines pronounced "singe" was quiet and peaceful at the beginning, as soon as I was enjoying a relaxing sail the wind and the sea conspired to liven things up. Suddenly the wind and sea state increased dramatically, I needed to reduce sail, I asked "Dave" the autopilot to hold fort on the helm but due to the tricky nature of the waves, he had one of his turns and decided not to work in a useful way as it was not easy.
Eventually the sails were reefed and the Ol' Girl was flying so to speak and despite being fully reefed we were making a good speed.

This little episode, it would seem, was not the major part of the learning curve on my way to Sines, much more was on its way.

As I neared Sines Marina a large increase in commercial traffic was observed, this is OK by me as it was now dark and it made identifying the best course a little easier.

In the same way I always do I called up the Marina on VHF and due to the strength of the winds at this point asked for the direction to a berth and assistance with my lines, the voice coming out of the radio said he would meet me at the entrance and direct me.
After circling the Ol' Girl for what seemed like an age through and round many boats at anchor, I caught sight of a man with no torch, no radio but with quite wavy arms. I headed towards him and into the Marina. He shouted at me "TURN" this I did into what seemed like a very tight channel, then the man was screaming"NO, NO, NO" I put the Ol' Girl hard astern and I thought I had gotten away with it, well, this is what happened next, just as I thought all was well a rather large and pretty boat at the entrance to the that channel decided to become intimate with the Ol' Girl. I had caught it's anchor on the Ol' Girl's pulpit( this could be a euphemism I realise) and the noise was quite remarkable. So with brisk winds, the staff shouting things at me in Portuguese and the Ol' Girl stuck to another boat, I was in a bit of a pickle. As I do not move quickly at the best of times and being on my own, my options seemed limited. I put the Ol' Girl in slow reverse, clambered as quickly as I ever have up to the the bow of the Ol' Girl whilst fending off the other boat with my shoulder and with as much force as I could muster freed the Ol' Girl from the clutches of her unwelcome admirer. Then scurried as quickly as I have ever scurried back to the cockpit to gun her forwards before she hit the Police boat, which was full of Police all staring at me and the Ol' Girl and shouting other things in Portuguese. Later I discovered she only missed them by inches.

Due to all the noise and excitement as soon as I found a place for the Ol' Girl and moored up the Police were very helpful. They checked my papers, the Ol' Girls papers and her admirer and declared all well, how nothing serious came of such a moment I will never know. The following day I met with the Police and the Marina staff who told me that the night before I was being directed to the bend. Bend, turn, whats the the difference.

As luck would have it all was well and all became friends, I even stayed as a guest for a couple of days before heading off to Portimao.