Offshore from Ireland to Spain/Portugal

Ya know how when you're at a really fun wedding, and someone's old Uncle Fred who has had a wee too much to drink or old Aunt Helda who brought her own flask of whiskey to the wedding, gets up and shouts, “Conga Line!!!!” and everyone, including the old fuddy duddies, start dancing with hands wrapped around complete strangers hips, singing “Da..Da...Da..Da...Da ..DA!” Well, that's how Paul and I felt when arriving in Sunny Spain! We had left a beautiful, but wet Ireland,and arrived in Spain to find sunny skies, and mild temperatures. We were beyond excited at the prospect of great weather, wearing t-shirts without fleeces on top, sandals and shorts!

Let me digress a little bit. As you know from the blog, we had been waiting for weather to head down to Spain. We finally, after stocking up and finishing off last minute chores, left Castletownbere, Ireland. Northwest winds were forecast and for the first 24 hours we had a brisk 20-25 knot breeze on the quarter that pushed us right along to our destination. Winds became 10 knots from the West, Northwest after that, but we were still able to sail along nicely. As we got into the routine of being offshore, we learned that we needed to scoot ourselves down a little quicker if we were going to avoid a strong low pressure system that would bring strong Southwesterlies (that means yucky headwinds!). We made the decision to turn on the engine, and we motorsailed for the next two days. Although motorsailing is a noisy business, the wind and swell were mild, the weather was grand, and we saw a Fin whale (this sucker was HUGE) one day and loads of dolphins. Paul, one night, saw hundreds of dolphins and an enormous school of fish which stayed with the boat for about 40 minutes. The dolphins were having a gorging feast and we think the school of fish was trying to use Quintana as protection.....totally didn't work....poor fishies. It took us five days to arrive in Bayona, Spain, and the trip was an easy one, and we missed the low pressure system just in time. It arrived behind us and hit our anchorage four hours later. We were blissfully secured with the hook down, and to celebrate, I made fish and chips, and cracked opened an ice cold beer!

The next day, Paul and I woke up to (hark...can it be...) sun in our eyes!!!! This is where we got up and danced around like crazy fools. We found shorts that had been packed away into the farthest recesseses of our drawers, found the sandals, and threw on t-shirts. I even put on sunscreen!!!!! We enjoyed revisiting our first continental European port (this is where we arrived last year from the Azores) and even caught up with some friends (s/y Clemmy) who we spent the winter with in La Rochelle.

After a few days of rest, we pulled the anchor and left on a sunny (I just love saying any word with sun in it) day bound for sunny (there I go again) Portugal. We are now slowly cruising down the coastline and enjoying some of the ports along the way. I went to Porto (where they make port wine) with some friends, and enjoyed viewing the local architecture and flavor of the historical city. We are now on our way to Lisbon where we will play tourist for a while, and maybe catch up with some friends.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary to Paul and I!!! It's been two years since we tied the knot. July 29, 2005 was the happiest day of my life, and it was spent with wonderful friends and family. This anniversary was a quiet, but happy affair. We enjoyed a candlelight dinner with shrimp, salmon steaks, and a chocolate cake! Paul bought me some really nice port wine and also some local white wine, and I got him lots of chocolate!!!

I put some new pictures on our picassa link so check it out! Miss everyone, and hope everyone is doing well.

My Grandfather is doing well, and my grandparents have made the transition to the care facility nicely. I would, however, ask everyone to pray and think good thoughts for my brother Steve who just had a major eye surgery. This surgery might save the eyesight in one of his eyes, and he just needs all the help he can get. Thanks a bunch.

p.s. As I post this to the internet, we are currently in Cascais, Portugal, which is basically next to Lisbon. We arrived this evening (August 3) and the place is very nice. Can't wait to take pictures and write another blog.