23 September: The Impulsive Decison
We were on a 25 miles leg from Cascais close to Lisbon southbound along the Portuguese coast. We just wanted to change scenery somewhat, moving on to a nearby anchorage after having lied still in Cascais for two weeks. During this time, we had visited Lisbon by train, and Sweden by airplane. We had merely returned to Regina and had filled her with food and water after a week absence in Sweden.
After such a long time ashore, Regina’s movements felt somewhat unusual. A shame how quickly you loose your “sea legs”. Yet, it was a fantastic freedom to, once again, hoist the sails and feel the water rushing by her hull. Being back to Sweden was like a dream. Or was it the other way around? Back in Sweden, the wonderful life onboard felt like a dream; far, far away! Had it suddenly come to an end? Was our adventure already over? Was it like this it would feel, that inevitable day, when we eventually would be returning to shore-life again? If so, please, don’t make it too soon!
Fortunately, Regina was still as real as ever. Nevertheless, having not sailed for so long, we experienced a slight feeling of “Harbour Rot” already. This disease is not uncommon among cruisers who have tied up for an unhealthy length of time. One gets used to harbour life, forgets about the wonderful movements of voyaging, gets lazy and slow to the extent that leaving port becomes less important and is hence constantly postponed. Maybe due to fear? Or pure laziness? We have heard of sailors who have stayed in the same port for years! The Canaries are said to be especially risky with a number of cruisers having been affected by “Harbour Rot”. The Atlantic lies next and they say that they will leave “later”. Some never leave.
“Harbour Rot” has nothing to do with the wonderful feeling of satisfaction, having finally found paradise, no longer needing to move on. Sailors who stay because they have found their dream destination are happy people. Contrary to this, sailors, who have caught “Harbour Rot” do actually want to continue, but don’t dare to take the next necessary step to let the mooring lines go once more. Stuck in planning and preparation, some even get “Harbour Rot” at home port and never leave, until possibly “later”.
Luckily, our sign of “Harbour Rot” in Cascais vas very minor. But to avoid it growing inside us, we planned to just sail a couple of hours to a nice anchorage just south of Cascais. It was wonderful to be out in the warm winds under a blue sky accompanied by fair northerly winds, as they are so often found along the Portuguese coast. Sailing conditions couldn’t have been better and we really enjoyed the daytrip.
“Why don’t we do it?” Karolina asked.
“Do what?!” I replied.
“Alter course, of course!”
“Karolina, please, we planned to sail for four hours, and now you’re talking about sailing for four days and nights instead?!”.
“Why not?” Karolina repeated, “The conditions are great, the weather forecast for the following 5 days is perfect, we have topped up with food and water, why don’t we sail to Madeira? Right now!”.
Well, she did have a point, actually. If one lies in port, knowing that a leg of 4 or 5 days lies ahead, one starts to get a bit nervous. At least we do. By altering course right now heading for Madeira, we would avoid this pre-casting off anxiety, wouldn’t we?
After all, belonging to the same country of Portugal, Madeira is just another island off the coast, isn’t it? The insurance company had been informed the day before about our planned route and I couldn’t think of any obvious restrictions why we theoretically couldn’t go on to Madeira at this point already. I sent off an e-mail to my Mom and Karolina’s Dad announcing our plans telling that they could reach us via Iridium if they needed to. Then, we changed course to 225 degrees direction Porto Santo in Madeira.
I had been dreaming about leaving continental Europe for the Atlantic Islands for years! I had read the pilot books, imagined how it would feel to set course out into the big Ocean. And now it was just a question of altering our course by some 40 degrees! It was so incredibly easily done! Wasn’t this a perfect example of a small alteration in course, giving a considerable impact with major consequences, without us really understanding how we got into this situation? Haven’t we all experienced it somewhere, sometime, before?
Chances in life have to be grabbed, don’t they?! Next time you feel you could perform a big step in life by just completing a small move, don’t miss it! Be it a great offer for a new job, a new friendship, a new experience, a voyage, or whatever. Don’t miss it! Don’t miss the chance to alter your course somewhat to head for another big step in life! It’s worth it!
The first hours of darkness were one of these fantastic warm nights you just dream about, sitting at home in your armchair reading the very books, expressing exactly what we are now experiencing. Sitting on my night watch with the stars above with just shorts and a T-shirt reaching in a northerly Force 5 wind, sailing in 7 knots heading for Madeira, stands in such a contrast to what I normally had been doing on a ordinary 13 September back home. Am I inside the books I have been reading? Dream and reality is sometimes closer than you can imagine!
I remember me sitting inside an office in front of a computer screen talking on the telephone. I remember the feeling of doing important tasks. At the same time, I remember that the more I did, the more I had the feeling of not doing enough. I recall me concentrating on things I should do rather than the tasks I had done or even was doing. All while the winter gales and rain was pouring outside on a September’s day. Maybe there were still others who were experiencing this right now, at this very moment, while we were cruising in the Portuguese Trades? Are you one of them possibly?
A new thought struck my mind. Had I disloyally fled for the cage into freedom, while other colleagues were left behind, still locked in? Am I living on their accounts? May I enjoy this only thanks to others don’t? Are others working for our pleasure? What a dreadful thought! I refused to believe that, since we have been working so hard for so many years, paid a huge amount of taxes via our company, privately and also had personnel employed giving them a job and yet more taxes. Still, it felt like being wealthy, while others were not. Should we be seized with remorse, or instead enjoy our healthy and wealthy situation? There have been enough members of our close family and friends who have been struck by cancer, even leaving this earth too early. With this type of first-hand experiences, living for the day gets a new meaning and importance. It must be permitted to enjoy our cruise, at least when we know to value and appreciate it. Especially when meeting so many other sailors expressing the same and we carry out our new profession educating our children, whom we hope will receive a good start in their lives.
Bang! Suddenly my deep thoughts on compunction were interrupted. Something hit the boat! What was that? It was all-dark and I didn’t see anything. The sound did not come from the hull, it sounded more like something had slammed against the coach roof. I went below to fetch a flash-light to lit up the deck outside the cockpit. I was quickly up again leaning outside the cockpit shining up the deck. What I saw made me smile: Our first flying fish on deck! A true blue-water sign! The poor thing was fighting for its life. The first flying fish is for the captain, I have heard, to be fried in the pan for breakfast. This was different. The fish was still alive and so was I, starring at each other. Life and death is so close, sometimes, and I had the life of this first flying fish in my hands. I gave him a second chance, and threw him back into the Atlantic. There will come more occasions for the frying pan, I thought.
I leaned back in Regina’s cosy cockpit. I became tired, despite all deep thinking, or maybe due to this? The radar confirmed my look-out: No traffic within 12 miles. We sailed into the half moon dead ahead leaving the Portuguese mainland behind. Portugal is a fantastic country, friendly, impressively modern and actually still inexpensive (except for the harbour fees, possibly). Maybe it is due to the cold water that northern Europeans have not yet discovered Portugal for vacations? Thinking of how few visitors actually do swim in the sea on their vacations, I don’t understand why not more are coming to Portugal to discover its history, scenery and people! Beaches is not everything, when it comes to visiting a country!
On the second night we passed the latitude of Gibraltar, a thrilling thought. Still, it felt more like sailing out to some island in the vicinity than doing the big adventure. How come? Had we become so blasé? Where was the anxiousness of the North Sea, not to talk about Biscay? This leg would equally be around 500 miles, but it felt so different.
First of all, the temperature and weather made a huge difference. The sea, the swell, the wind, the movements, they all felt so much more comfortable when the bright sun was shining and the wind was pleasantly blowing from astern. Our previous worries to run into fronts and low pressure systems hoping for them to speed up or slow down was something we definitely didn’t miss! Following the weather forecast was such a pleasure these days!
Further to the weather situation, the traffic was different. Gone where all the fishing vessels where we never knew which direction they would turn next. When a cargo vessel was being spotted, it was more regarded as a welcoming interruption on the endless sea. Tracking the echo on the radar with a possible amendment of the course to avoid close contact has suddenly become a game rather than a threat. With these stable trade winds, sail shifts are needed so much less, yet adding to our sense of comfort. After having trimmed the sails, we don’t have to do much more of that kind for hours, other than enjoying the speed with which Regina is flying over the waves.
Talking about speed, it is great fun to enjoy the modern design of the Hallberg-Rassy. She is such a great sailor, yet a true blue-water cruiser. Yes, I admit, I enjoyed leaving Cascais right behind another boat just to welcome the same in Madeira a full day after our own landfall, without even having motored! The speed of Regina also has the practical side effect of obtaining ample power from the DuoGen, which significantly increases electrical output with speed. The only drawback with the DuoGen is the amount of hot water that decreases with the engine running more seldom now!
Suddenly, it had become dusk again with the sun quickly disappearing behind the horizon. The rhythm of day and night becomes very obvious with the dark hours of the day just as natural as its light equivalence.
Catching sleep with only two adults onboard, does always have high priority. During the first two days, both Karolina and I were very tired, lacking sleep more or less constantly. After a nap on the third day, however, the tiredness had finally disappear for both of us and Karolina finally got rid of her sea sickness. We could, at last, fully enjoy the sailing.
We had to remind ourselves that six hours of sailing was more than a day’s sail back in Sweden and if we had been fortunate enough to sail with the gennaker for such a long period of time, it would have been considered as a very lucky and successful gennaker-day! So, out she came, our Nessie in her gennaker sock, allowing us to enjoy a wonderful afternoon under maximum of sails ghosting along in 6 - 7 knots in almost non-existent wind and hardly any swell. Was this the huge Atlantic? What a welcome to Madeira!
It almost felt a shame that we reached Madeira after just over three days with our wonderful Regina. Well, maybe more time for enjoyment on a longer leg one day!
Only the days that would follow could tell.
