Inês & Carmo sailing together again!

So after nearly 3 months at sea, I decided to fly to back Lisbon. There I met again with Inês and we decided to hitchhike again, together!!! We found a skipper sailing up the west coast of Portugal and we joined him during 3 sailing days!

His name is Will and he is a mechanical engineer who used to do professional sailing too. He owns a Rival 32ft called Mangata from 1983. You can check his sailing page here. Together we sailed from Olhão to Portimão. Light wind, dolphins and shooting stars, that sums it up!

It was so good to be together again, sailing and listening to Will’s best sailing stories. Now we are both in Lisbon, and who knows what comes next??

Keep posted while we pursue the goal of finishing the 100 days on board!

Sea you soon,

Sailing into a natural reserve

We got a permit, and sailed to Cabrera Island! Cabrera with its islets and well preserved nature, is nowadays one of the most important destinations for ecological seaside tourism. As in the Middle Ages, pirates looked for sanctuary in this island, the Mallorcans, in the 14th century, protected the island with this fortress. And nowadays it is considered Spanish national treasure. The harbour is sheltered, was the perfect day for end of season weather! 

Sea you soon,

Why I love having the night-shift

We did night sailing yesterday. It was memorable but left us exhausted! My shift was from 1.30 to 4.30 am. Alone, I was steering with everyone more less asleep ‘in the corners’. I did not use the auto-helm once. There were big, side and back, waves against us as the boat sailed downwind with 25 to 30 knots. I love the thrill of having it in my hands. What a night, what a feeling!!

Eventually it got too windy, I needed to jibe and for that I had to ask for help. The waves grew higher, the wind was blowing stronger and it was time to reef the main sail!

By the time we did so, my shift was over and body was asking me to go to sleep. When I woke up, the sun was rising and we had already arrived to Palma. That’s where we’re now. We’ll be staying here for a couple of days, enjoying the comfort of the RCNP marina and all the land distractions that come with it.

Tonight there’s a crew member birthday to celebrate so... it looks like we’re having a different kind of long night!

Sea you soon,

Arriving to Calla Galdana, Menorca

It's our first night in this anchorage. We barely have time to shower, as we are going for a "bring-your-own-dinghy" restaurant for dinner. It is actually a normal restaurant with a proper land entrance (I suppose), but we are sailors and we arrive by dinghy!

Our own 'office'

We feel like we have our own office here in Yacht Port Cartagena. An office with WiFi, desks, air conditioning and a view! We've been working in a container. Yes a proper container. It is where sailors exchange books, old items and also where they post window messages for everyone to see. For us this book container works just as good as an office. You can find us here every day, working for Mooringo!!

We were supposed to set sail and leave today but due to a winch that needs to be fixed, and a mechanic that came too late... we are delayed until tomorrow morning! And that's actually a great thing because we need a good night of sleep.

Sea you soon!

1 month has passed

We were exhausted after our arrival in Cartagena, at 4 am with 32kts headwind gusts.We were so tired not even the strongest coffee could open our eyes. As soon as we finished mooring the boat, all we needed was a good night of sleep. However the leak was still there, the pumps still needed to be activated and Inês decided to cook for everyone. Between sleeping for short periods of time, waking up to take care of the pumps and eating no one got much rest, again.

Less than 4 hours after arrival, the boat had to be moved to the ship yard where it can be fixed. Which means that we were temporaly homeless, and had to find a new sailing ride or a place to sleep as soon as possible. This first night on shore, we had no other option than going for one night at an hostel in the city centre. It felt good yet strange to be back on a regular room with beds.

The next day we headed back to Cartagena Port were we spent the day walking in the pontoons. We had a beer with Neil and Gail, who we met the first time we've been here. Then we continued our journey: talking with sailors and asking around for the next sailing ride.

We spoke with many many people until we found a really nice couple, with a matching really nice boat. They were kind enough to let us sleep on board for the night! We were relieved to have found a place to spend the night.

It's our 30th day of this adventure and we are definetely being spoiled on this 55ft sailboat. We can't wait to set sail with them towards the Balearics!

Sea you soon!

We have leak, yeah, but where?

We were aiming at a long day and night of sailing. After a few hours with the three sails up, a steady speed and some waves, the skipper seems worried.Spending more time downstairs than navigating...Odd!

At some point he comes upstairs to the cockpit and says, very calmly and joyful as he is: "We're sinking!"

No one took it very seriously. We all looked at each other laughing in ignorance and relaxed despite the bad news. Eventually someone asked: "What do you mean?" And he answered: "I've been pumping water out from the engine room, during the last two hours. But it seems to keep leaking in..."

Now everyone took the message more seriously. One by one, we went down with the skipper to see the water under the engine, and to learn how to use the bildge pumps properly. The sails came down immediately after these news.

During the rest of the day we've been pretty busy. Our main concern was to find the leak, and keep navigating with engine towards a safe bay. Check the video, to see as we sailed still unaware of the seriousness of the situation. We kept the bildge pumps on and off, and timed the flow of water leaking in. We needed to understand if it was steady or increasing.

Finally, way past midnight, we arrived to the bay. At this moment the pumps needed to be activated every 24 minutes. And the leak was nowhere to be found. After opening all the floor boards, we knew the water was coming in from somewhere closer to the bow. But we couldn't identify the exact place.  So we decided the best option was to dive under the hull the next morning.

Already half-sleepy-half-awake we agreed upon night-shifts to turn the bildge pumps on and off.

No one slept much. And the next morning the curse went on. The swell made it impossible for anyone to dive. So we had to motor towards the next sheltered bay, while keeping the pumps working every 24minutes.

At Cale de San Pedro, near Almería, we could finally have a look at the hull. The crack was huge, and impressive! And inevitably the skipper had to activate the insurance. We were told to go as soon as possible to Cartagena. And that's what we did, motoring 80 nautical miles, leaking, non stop for the next day and night!

What an adventure...

Warmest day of our lifes

Today was one of  the warmest days of our lifes. There is no wind and our boat is probably reaching 40ºC inside! We were hoping to find another sailing ride here but there are way too many motor boats and not enough sailing yachts.

The marina is full, but they don't deny us a place. Instead we were given the ferry place, meaning... Everytime the ferry comes in, we have to take our boat and wait until it goes away. Funny hum? We've already done it twice today, and we'll have to repeat it in the morning tomorrow.

Curiosity: there are only female deckhands on board of the ferry, which we aren't used to see, at least in Lisbon. We wave at each other, with a non obvious women-at-sea connection and end up giving them life ON board/Mooringo cards with our contacts.

The night doesn't bring any breeze... It is as warm as a Summer night in South of Spain should be, and the mosquitoes are eating us alive. There are only two options: sleep inside and melt but no mosquitoes, or sleep outside slightly fresher while being tortured by mosquitoes? Well Inês chooses the first and I choose the second. We are very different, which makes it always easy with this kind of daily decisions between us. It feels good to travel with such a friend! She woke up dehydrated I woke up swollen with mosquitoes bites. It is already the next day, early morning, and Almuñecar here we go - again!