“
At all times we trusted Miss Tippy
OWNER REPORT
would carry us safely to Spain
whatever the weather. She sails
so well and is able to cut through
the waves so gracefully that even
our voyage against headwinds
“
and the big Atlantic swell
was comfortable.
in North West Spain before reaching Isla de Cies near the pontoon in Lagos told us of winds of 55 and 67 knots
Portuguese border, where we spent a week anchored off respectively although we only recorded a maximum of
the gorgeous beach. 37 knots. Annie celebrated her 9th birthday in Lagos with
friends from England who had a villa there. Marina prices
The spell finally broke and we left for Baoina for a touch were a bit of a shock at over €100/night but we had a great
of civilisation and re-stocking before heading onto Portugal. time there. Oyster had arranged for local boat-builders,
Porto was our first stop in Portugal. It was Freddy’s Sopramor to come and fix a few minor warranty issues for
11th birthday and he was keen to sample the cultural us (including our wind instrument!). They were very
delights and museums on offer in a major city. We moored professional and quickly solved our issues.
outside the city in a fairly cramped marina, in Leixoes.
An over-ground metro whisked us effortlessly into the City The Algarve offered us the opportunity to sample a number
Centre and we enjoyed a day wandering the ancient streets of secluded anchorages, which we took advantage of at
and even visiting a port bar where we were persuaded to Alvor, Faro/Ohloa and Tarifa before a long leg to Cadiz.
buy some vintage port to lay down in our ‘cellar’ aboard Our final jaunt took us into the Straits of Gibraltar under
Miss Tippy. cruising chute. Wind suddenly accelerated off Tarifa and it
was all hands on deck as we subdued the chute. Just as
We had thick fog all the way to Lisbon and tested our new we got under control again a fast catamaran ferry hurtled
AIS, automatic foghorn and radar. We managed to avoid out of the harbour at Tarifa bound for Tangier. The pilot
tangling with the multitude of lobster pots off the book had warned that the ‘might is right’ principle rules in
Portuguese coast and arrived at the river leading to Lisbon this area and this was soon proven as we had to jibe to
at dawn with a gale blowing. The Rio Tejo gave us shelter avoid being run down by the aggressive ferry.
and we motored upriver under the suspension bridge
straight into the heart of the city and then spent a night at That was our last test before sauntering into Gibraltar and
the rather soulless marina of Doca de Alcantara. We had tying up in Marina Bay later that evening. John our teacher
had enough of City life by then and slipped back along the joined us in Gibraltar and soon got to grips with the
river to the lovely town of Cascais before venturing to a demands of teaching our children aboard (more about that
remote beach at Portinho de Arabida. Strong winds of over in later articles!). We have been in Gibraltar since early
30 knots tested our anchor during the night while we September but are now just a few days away from departure
stayed there among shallow channels with ominous looking to Lanzarote. The Blue Water Rally boats have gathered, we
rocks all around! have run out of things to buy when we visit the chandlery
... we must be ready to leave!
After a few days at the beach we headed south again and
came around Cabo Sao Vicente in very heavy winds and Readers can follow our daily progress as well as seeing
confused seas. Boats before and after us on the visitors films from our trip on our blog at www.Rock2Rock.co.uk
www.oystermarine.com 31
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