We Love Madeira!

Passage from Cascais, Portugal to Madeira

We have had a slight change of plan on our route south.  During our initial planning, we had contemplated (and planned on) a trip to Morocco from Portugal.  This route would have taken us farther south down Portugal to Lagos, then across the Straights of Gibraltar to Morocco.  Morocco had always been an “optional” stop on our route, with the possibility of bypassing it and continuing straight on to the Canary Islands. 

We had heard a few reports and news stories of some unrest in Morocco and even reports of women being beheaded.  To be honest, I did not research these very much, so cannot attest to the validity of these stories.  Nonetheless, it did make for a little discomfort on the part of the girls of the crew.  Having visited Morocco and Tunisia many years ago, my bigger concern was for the security of the boat while unattended and our ability to buy the type of “western” provisions that we would need.  I had communicated with a couple of other cruisers that have been to Morocco recently, and the first-hand reports on all fronts were good.  So, it was a bit of a dilemma. 

Arrival Madeira Archipelago - the Deserted Islands

I have to say, we have fallen in love with Portugal.  Isn’t it nice to visit a place where you have no real strong expectations only to find that it is beautiful, interesting, and the local residents are so welcoming and friendly?  Well to date that has been our experience in Portugal.  The people are so nice; most speak great English; they are helpful; proud of their country (except their politicians!);and they have this wonderful fluid called “Port”……..I’ve always liked a small quantity of Port at Christmas, but I have become very partial to it here in Portugal.  The white Port is a great afternoon aperitif; ruby port is as the locals say “dangerous” because it has the highest alcohol content but is quite sweet and  shippable; and  the tawny port is a wonderful after-dinner drink or great with a nice steak.  Food here has been wonderful.  Portuguese meats and steaks are as good as any I have had and they have some very nice preparations.  If you like fish, the selection is excellent – tending more to cold-water fish such as Cod, and stronger-tasting fish such as sardines.

And there is a point to all of this - on the topic of trip planning; so many locals have been bragging on how wonderful and beautiful the Portuguese island of Madeira is.  On further inspection, it is on the way to the Canary Islands, although a bit farther west that we would go if headed directly to the Canaries.  Well on balance, more things were pointing us to Madeira than Morocco.  So that’s where we are headed.  I am writing this section of the blog off-line as we are out in the Atlantic ocean about 140 miles from Madeira.

Passage Conditions (January 7, 2019)

Madeira in View

As I write this, we have experienced light winds and calm seas – somewhat of a difference from prevailing conditions we have experienced thus far on the trip!  Its nice!  The total passage is about 500 miles from Cascais to the waypoint I have set off Madeira.  So port-to-port distance is a bit over 500 miles.  Thus far, we had a great sail for the first 125 miles, making 6 to 7 kts with the generally behind us to our beam.  Then unfortunately, the wind went dead behind us, and we are finding that Midnight Sun III (like most boats), does not do great dead down wind.  Our progress towards the mark slowed significantly.  We have tried jibing a couple of times to get a better wind angle, but its taken us 40-60 degrees of course each way, and then the wind dies to 4, 6, or 8 kts.  So reluctantly, last night we rolled up the sails to prevent the light wind flogging and boom banging and became a motor boat.  We are hoping we will see a little more wind today as I really don’t want to motor the rest of the way in these otherwise great conditions.  So, for now, I will leave this post and add to it as we get closer or Make Landfall.

Stay in Madeira (January 11, 2018)

Porto Moniz - Madeira

We love Madeira!  I think it has been one of the more delightful stays so far, and that is saying a lot as we have pretty much enjoyed everywhere.  Portugal and the Portuguese Islands are definitely top of our list – largely due to friendly welcoming locals that are really proud of their little spot on earth.  We have now been here several days and made the most of our stay.  We have visited the top of the mountain by Gondola, seen the street toboggans (no we didn’t actually take a ride so far, but I am tempted to go back).  We also rented a car and pretty much circumnavigated the island.  The scenery, landscaping and general topography is breathtaking.  And amazingly the highway infrastructure is   They must have spent billions on roads over the past 20 years or so and work is still ongoing.  When it comes to transportation infrastructure and investment in the future, the US could sure take a lesson from the Madeirans!

Natural Pools at porto Moniz

impressive – with tens of tunnels connecting roads through mountains to mountain passes.

We had originally planned to leave today, but on further study of the weather and wind, its looking like tomorrow will give us better downwind sailing.  And since we have done our share of upwind bashing, that’s the decision – we will wait to see what tomorrow brings.  I am currently researching and contacting marinas in Las Palmas to find a spot to stay – it seems space may be limited at this time of I suspect it’s a popular wintering spot for European and Brit cruisers.  We shall see when we get there!

Santana - Madeira

Stunning Coastal Scenery

More scenes from Madeira:

Market - Funchal

Fish Market - Funchal

Happy New Year from Crew of Midnight Sun III

January 3, 2019

Time is marching on and we are now in Cascais....or should I say still in Cascais.  As expected, the

boat/marine industry closes down for a few days around New Year and this is the spot where we need to get our first engine services.  So we anticipated being here for a few days.  We now have 7 people on the boat - which is a little tight, but we are coping just fine.  In addition to engine service, we need a couple of other repairs that have cropped up, including some window leaks, adn a chafe issue on our first reef line.  We also have a broken line clutch - but that was due to operator error.....but still needs to be fixed. We are anticipating technicians to arrive this morning....or well, some time today - this is europe!

Cascais is beautiful mid-sized tourist town.  In the center, there are dozens of "touristy" restaurants. 

So yesterday, we took a train ride to Belem - partly in search of some boat items, and partly just to explore.  on our return we found a wonderful "off the beaten track"restaurant called Terroso (Rua do Poco Novo).  We had a great meal - the place was the size of a front room and definately "family run" with mama doing the cooking.  but great food and wines.


Of  course, I should also mention that on New Year's Day, we did go for a day sail on the boat as the wind was light and we wanted to try out the Code Zero sail that had been made for us by Schurr Sails, Pensacola.  The sail fits great, and flew well.  In very light wind we were making 4 kts in 6 kts of wind and about 7.5 in 10 kts of wind.  So this will be a great addition (we hope) for the main Atlantic crossing.  Thank you Hunter Riddle (Schurr Sails) - nice job!

Thank you to everyone that sent us New Year messages via email, what'sapp, inReach etc.  Its always great to hear from friends, adn from the entire crew of Midnight Sun III:

Happy New Year!

Great Sail to Cascais

December 29, 2018

We had a  great sail to Cascais yesterday - sailing overnight from Porto.  AS predicted, the wind was initially on the nose and clocked overnight to give us a downwind sail in the early morning with 15-20 kt winds.

The boat did great, with speeds around 7 kts and up to 9.5 down waves - it was stunning.  We passed by the steep coastline near Cascais/Lisbon and arrived safely in the very protected Cascais Marina.

So far, only a little exploring.  But the town looks tasteful, but a little touristy.  Quite different to Porto which was very traditional.  We like it.  Should be here a few days as we need to get engines services on the baos and holidays will of course delay that.  This is also the spot we are picking up extra crew - Ron and Julie and our of course our son Austin!  We are all very excited to see them.

BTW - I will not be able to post to this blog while we are at sea, but we have managed to establish a Facebook page for Midnight Sun III.  We will be able to make short text posts to this, but we will not be able to see any feedback until we have internet in port.  Please check it out on Facebook.  i will try to post more on Cascais in a couple of days.

Merry Christmas!... Feliz Nativ!...from Midnight Sun III

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Crew of Midnight Sun III.  Thank you to everyone that has sent us emails wishing us well on our trip etc.  It's great to hear from you.  We probably had emails that we have not seen, as I found out the other day that the contact form link was not working - so I have fixed that and included my email on the right pane of the blog.

So from the crew of Midnight Sun III, we wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

What were we up to on Christmas Day?.......well its a boat and there are always projects.  Even on a new boat (especially on a new boat).  So today, while the girls made a fantastic Christmas feast of turkey (peru in Portuguese) with most of the trimmings, we also got the name on the boat.  We had brought it with us to install, but still need to give her an official naming ceremony.  I think we will save that for New Year when we have more crew arriving and I think that would be a fun thing to share!

Looking Like Christmas in Porto!

Although we liked Povoa de Varzim a lot, we decided to move on after just one night  - and yes, I have probably spelled the name of the town a couple of different ways, but I think the former is correct.  Marina Povoa was very nice and certainly reasonable to cheap (23 euoros for a cat is not bad at all).  However, our big surprise was that although the marina shares a harbor with a small fishing fleet, there was apparently no fuel dock and the closest spot was 12 miles away - maybe.  This was a big surprise, and with Christmas Holidays almost on us we didn't want to be caught low on fuel.  So, with near calm seas and no wind we decided to motor the 18-20 miles to Porto and Marina Douro, thinking that at a bigger more modern marina, the fuel issue would be solved.

It was a beautiful day - still a little cool, but remarkably better than anything we had experienced since leaving La Rochelle.  In these conditions and based on our last few passages, motoring was a pleasure - even though we are a sailboat!.....I think.

Arrival in Porto, Marina Douro

As suspected, fuel availability was not an issue at Marina Douro.  Once again, we were greeted by super nice staff and everyone seems to speak great English.  We were given maps, local information etc. by the marina office.

The marina is situated about a 1/2 mile inside the breakwater to the Douro River.  The river entrance was ok, but we were just after high tide and the current was running pretty good against us.    Nonetheless, it was a straightforward entrance , but I bet it could be real sporty in any kind of weather.  The marina is situated just west of a very spectacular concrete arch bridge, Ponte de Arabida.  The marina is actually located in the town of Gaia, and Porto is on the north side of the river.  Access to Porto is by small ferry boat, by walking 3.5km along the river to the Eifel Bridge.  It can also be done with a combination of taxis, busses and/or trams. 

We enjoyed a brisk walk along the river to the old part of Gaia, and explored the small streets, local shopping and  the Croft Port  Wine ceWe were given a great tour by our guide Maira together with samples of pink, tawny and ruby ports.  Excellent!  We also had a spectacular lunch at the adjacent port cellars restaurant (Taylors).  

So - today is Christmas Eve!  hard to believe.  Since we still have more exploring to do locally, we will be staying at Marina Douro.  And who knows, Turkey on the boat?  we will have to see what we can find today before the stores close!  Merry Christmas!

Traditional boat building on the river Douro

Rounding Finisterre - the End of the World

A Coruna to Viana do Costello

We decided that we had seen a brief weather window for the next leg of our trip and this leg was quite a daunting one in that we needed to get around the headland (top northwest corner) of Spain and around past the notorious Finisterre Rock.  Finisterre is renowned or notorious for fierce storms and seas and indeed the Romans thought it marked the end of the world.

Lagoon 45 passes by us 

Stock photo of Finisterre - it was dark!

As we left the dock and raised the sails we had our first minor rigging issue.  The shackle at the end of the boom came away and we also managed to break a rope clutch on the reef line.  After some maneuvers and work, managed to replace the shackle and rig a temporary solution for the reef line.  We were then able to make way.  The winds were not too cooperative so we were motor sailing, but making progress.  During the night as usually is the case, the winds clocked on to our nose and we had to drop the sails to avoid flogging.  We motored on through the night.  The sea state was not pleasant at all and progress was slow but steady.  Hard to say what our speed was as the boat slowed to less than 4 kts going up the big disorganized swells, then raced to 7 or so on the downhill side.  Winds stayed in the high teens, to low 20s with occasional bigger puffs.

Unfortunately it was dark as we rounded the notorious rock, but we had a sad reminder of the fierce nature of the seas.  We heard announcement of distress calls in Spanish and English.  Unfortunately a fisherman had been lost overboard and all mariners were asked to keep a look-out.  We saw search and rescue operations in progress - a 230 ft long boat appeared on the scene from somewhere.  The announcements continued through the night until we were no longer in radio range of Finisterre.  

As daylight came, it was cloudy with some rain.  The coastline was changing to smaller hills.  We decided to pull in at Viana do Costollo in Portugal - we had made it beyond the end of the world and were ready for some rest.

Viana do Costello

The marina is located on a river and since our plan was to stay just one night we stayed on the reception pontoon.  The weather was settled and this was ok.  The town of Viana was very friendly, neat and well decorated for Christmas, with piped music throughout the town streets. 

Definitely a roman flavor to this town with great architecture and quaint streets.  They had even put out the red carpet for us!

We wandered the streets, visited some extremely ornate churches; of course we found a bar or two and then scoped out a restaurant for dinner.  Getting used to the European way of things with timing of meals etc is a bit different.  The town tends to close for a long lunch around 1 pm, then again, things start to close at around 4pm and the restaurants start to open at 7pm.  But we are slowly figuring this all out!

We had a wonderful dinner at "Three Pottes" which we found a recommendation for.  It was excellent - the crew all shared Fondue before turning in for a well needed rest.

Povoa da Varzim (Dec 22, 2018)

After and overnight stay in Viana, we headed south with the goal of making Porto.  Unfortunately the seas were very disorganized and while not huge, we were crashing and slamming in the pouring rain with winds around 20.  It supposed to get better after Finisterre!  What's happened!!!

Making very slow progress in the churned up messy seas, I elected to cut our day short and try heading in to Varzim - its always good to have a bail-out plan!  The entrance was a little tricky in the high swells with wind from the south.  We were surfing in on rollers reaching up to 11 kts in speed.  We made it in ok and found a spot in the marina.  First we were told the marina was closed, then we were offered a discount to stay!.....i am not sure what the initial confusion was but the people are nice - another great town, but more of a summer seaside resort I would say.  Not so picturesque as Viana, but still seems great.  We will do more exploring tonight.  We did have perhaps our best meal of the trip so far last night at a restaurant called Theatro - very much recommend this place if you make it to these parts!

Downtown Pavoa de Varzim

'A Coruna - Spain.... Big-ass seas!...nice town

The Bay of Biscay has a reputation that I was aware of....and last night it lived up to it.

We did our "due diligence" on weather checks and it did not look great - but it did look about as good as it gets for this time of year.  15 kt winds, and...errrr 3-4m seas?

We left the river mouth of Ria Ribadeo after an amazing lunch at a reasonable price at the "green restaurant near the marina".  San Miguel's I think it was called.  This was the beast meal we have had so far!

I guess it was around 5pm after we had fuelled up and cast off the lines.  Exiting the pass,waves were big, but organized and Midnight Sun III rode up them quite happily and ran down the other sides.   While the waves were big, it was smooth.  So big waves were not bad at all.

Marina - Ria Ribadeo

But alas, as is typically the case, after dark, things went pretty bad.  The wind picked up into the 20s, the waves got very disorganized, and the boat crashed around pounding into the seas.  It was very noisy, at times quite scary, as it sounded and felt like the boat was being dropped from 10 ft above the water.  if you have never experienced pounding and crashing like this - you are lucky.  While pounding and hobby-horsing is an issue with catamarans in general, these wave conditions would have put any boat - cat or monohull to a test.  We also had a lot of commercial shipping on AIS, so had to keep a vigilant watch.  The night was long and grueling - but the boat did fine, despite the pounding.  I don't think any of the crew got much rest, and a couple were sick.  Fortunately not too badly.  To help put in perspective - at one point in the morning when things seemed to be improving, we made coffee.  The pot was clamped to the stove, but as we crashed down a wave, it leapt 2 ft. into the air.  Yes - big clean-up in rough seas!

As daylight boke, we were about 3 miles offshore.  Really not enough for "comfort", but I had found that there actually was a little more "comfort" in terms of pounding by keeping closer to shore.  As we approached the entrance to 'A Coruna, the waves started to organize somewhat more, and although they built in height, they were predictable.  I think its fair to say without exaggeration, these were the largest waves I have sailed in.  They had to be 20+ ft.  Put it this way, when we were in a trough, a wave ahead of me obscured mountains on the shore.  And at one point, we had a 450 ft tanker, about a half mile ahead of us, and again, I could only see it when we were on a wave crest..  of course, no photos, but they would not have done justice - and I had white knuckles holding the wheel.

I steered and Larry watched for traffic.  We  played chicken at one point with the 450 ft tanker - not by choice.  He did a 360 degree circle waiting for his escort, and was escorted in by a convoy of tugs.  We followed as waves started to  break onshore in a spectacular, but  scary display of the power of nature.

But, we made it in and are now docked at a great marina in the heart of downtown A Coruna.  The town is a lot larger than I anticipated, and seems delightful, with friendly locals and great bars- - yes, what would you expect after a day and night like that!!........multiple bar visits before I crash in about 5 minutes!  Here's a few shots of town......goodnight for now!

Town Square - A Coruna

Downtown A Coruna

A Coruna - near harbor

By the way - track our real-time location at:
https://share.garmin.com/Midnightsunii