On the move again

We are on the move again! 

Dave managed to get a new shaft manufactured and installed within a week. We had to get the port police down to inspect the repair, although I’m not convinced they were any the wiser for looking... It is amazing that in such a small town, we could get such a tricky job done, and in record time. We had the new shaft installed before the Italian company who made it were even available to answer the phone…

The broken shaft, which was re-made from new

V-drive getting put back together

This was mainly down to an old friend of Dave’s, Alec, who sailed up the Exe 16 years ago. He has since set up a boat business in Nazare, and knew exactly where to find the right materials – chrome nickel steel and oil seals -  and also the man with the knowhow to do the job – and with the right tools, including a 60-ton press!

Celebrating the successful installation of the V-drive 

So all in all a successful week in Nazare. While Dave and ‘the boys’ were busy on repairs, boat school continued as normal along with afternoon excursions. Rachel joined us for another trip up the funicular and out to the end of the clifftop headland. The flat roof of the lighthouse gives fantastic views along the coast, and is a perfect platform for watching the Big Wave action. There was nothing to see when we were there but photos on display showed incredible scenes of surfers on unbelievably HUGE waves. 

 Lighthouse at Nazare

Loved these seagulls

Photo of a surfer on a Big Wave - he's the white streak on the right!

On the beach below the lighthouse was a beach with a wonderful roofless ‘cave’ that had been scoured out by the sea. Reuben enjoyed a splash in the safe lagoon of water washing into a dip in the beach while Katie, Rachel and I sat and sketched the scene. A memorable afternoon.

View of the sea caves from the lighthouse

Looking down on the sea-sculpted cave             
              

Looking out from inside the 'cave'

We were all in Nazare for Bonfire Night and decided we ought to celebrate the occasion. Rachel took the children beachcombing for wood in the day (tricky with no trees, only scrubby bushes and bamboo around!). We managed to find a semi-sheltered spot at the end of the beach and, despite strong winds, soon had a lovely fire roaring. Red wine was drunk, marshmallows were toasted and our thoughts were with the Topsham crowd at the rugby club. Hope you all had a good night!

Bonfire Night

Once the engine was back up and running, we had one day of good weather before a big Atlantic swell came in again, so we took the chance to move 25 miles south to the next port, Peniche. The crew were all laid low with motion sickness during the trip but the new shaft performed perfectly!

Sadly, Rachel was unable to join us as she was booked to fly out and rejoin the ‘Bessie Ellen’ in Tenerife. We have all enjoyed having a new face on board, it is quiet now we are back to the same old crew! 

Bon Voyage Rachel. Thanks for putting up with us!

Peniche is a pretty cool town. It sits on a knobbly peninsula, almost cut off from the mainland by a strip of water and seriously solid old city walls. The original castle was converted into a prison for political prisoners during the 40 years of dictatorship until 1974. It has now been turned into a museum.

Castle walls and entrance at Peniche

                         Castle walls at Peniche

typical Portuguese scene of laundry drying. Love the colours 

We walked around the coast to Cabo Carvoiero on ‘the day of big swells’ and saw some impressive waves and spray crashing up along the cliffs. The children were captivated by a blow-hole up in the cliffs. It was only 6 inches across, but as the sea crashed into the seacave below, a jet of air came whooshing out of it with such force that you could barely hold your hand there. Dave experimented by dropping an empty plastic bottle down the hole and on the next wave, it came flying out at great speed – straight into Katie’s leg! Ouch.

Katie by the 'blow-hole'

Waves crashing up at Cabo Carvoiero

Looking down from the cliffs at Cabo Carvoiero

As an aside, we were sad to miss seeing the ‘big waves’ for ourselves at Nazare (we left the day before). It must have been quite a sight with a strong wind and 4- metre swells. Out of interest, we googled ‘Nazare big waves 8 November 2017’, and were shocked to find about the British surfer (from Devon) who got injured there that day. There is video footage of his wipeout, which would put me off for life, but it sounds as though he will make a full recovery. Full respect to all who are brave enough to take on those massive waves.