5th June - Cacais beckons

I was greeted on my 2 a.m. watch with another moonless night and as a result it was a very, very dark one because of the dense cloud cover. Numerous pods of dolphins were visible in the dark water throughout the night. Arriving in groups of 4 or 5 alongside the boat, their bright trails of phosphorescence kinked, twisted and pulsed as they propelled themselves through the water jostling with each other and the motion of the boat as they raced to get to the bow of the boat.

With 148 nautical miles to run to Cascais, the breeze was quite fickle as it built and died away. As the wind built we tried a number of sail combinations until we were reaching making 9 knots boat speed in 10 knots of wind with the asymmetric spinnaker up. The atmospheric pressure had been consistently high and stable for the last few days rising from 1016 on the 1st June to 1025 and only reducing to 1023 by midday today. A clearance on the northern horizon made its way south bringing with it consistent sunshine as the cloud cover dissipated and the breeze gradually rose in strength during the day.

By now the water has become a lustrous deep shimmering blue and very characteristic of the deep water we are sailing in. Steering a course of 185 between the 1000m and 2000m contours, just before midday we began sighting pods of whales (possibly Brydes Whales with a prominent but small dorsal fin visible) crossing our track at 42 45" N 9 35" S. We continued to see pods throughout the day with our most southerly sighting at 41 46.6'N 9 31.1' S.

Coming across dolphins is of course a great experience but having whales at close quarters gets the adrenaline running. The first pods contained whales in the region of 10 to 12 meters long. The final sighting contained three whales up to 20 meters in length. Their sizable long dark evoke a entirely different reaction as a result and as they break the water in front of the boat, rolling, turning and diving slowly, leaving oily calm voids in the otherwise choppy sea as the descended. The final pod ambled slowly in a north easterly direction away from us and we managed to get a glimpse of them three times as they casually surfaced on their way.

As the day goes on we inevitably converge with the Portuguese coast. The islands of the Forcadas and Isla da Berlonga appear on the port bow and as the sea shelves upwards from 1000m to as shallow as 70m off the islands we hope some fish will be caught and our barren patch will be at an end. Unfortunately our speed and quick progress to Cascais denies us a catch. We reach Cabo, Carvoeiro which quickly gives way to Cabo Raso and our fast approach to Cascais set into the north shore of the mighty Tagus river.

Closing with the land brings anticipation and a number of new sensations, the most impressive of which is smell. The land cultivated or not always carries a scent, sometimes rich with rosemary, thyme or even livestock, and on other occasions probably not so pleasant! On this occasion the scent was welcoming. We eventually docked around 9 p.m. and after a refreshing shower we ventured up to the town to acquaint ourselves with our new found surroundings.