ENGINE TROUBLE: The motor has served us well so far, but on the coast of Portugal, some wires detached from the generator and gave us a hard time trying to charge our batteries.
Biscaya is best navigated early, and before September, they say. We took no chances, and made the voyage already the last week of January! We had a great passage from Brest to La Coruna in Spain, except for the last 12 hours of, when we got hit by a strong gale. After a few hours, the situation became so grave that we decided to take down the sails completely and motor the last leg into La Coruna harbour.

In La Coruna, the temperature was 17 degrees centigrade, the sun shone and the sky was blue. We tumbled ashore in the marina there, soaked, tired, wearing wnter overalls and hats, our faces white with sea spray. We gazed in wonder upon the locals, strolling around in the streets wearing their summer clothes. They gazed equally bewildered back on us. We must have been quite a view.

SINES: Underveis has reached southern shores, at last. After having struggled our way through autumn storms, cold, rain and gale force winds. A fantastic feeling!
Southern - Europe at last
But we soon acclimatized ourselves to our new surroundings and temperature, and now we are walking around wearing shorts, sunglasses and flip-flops as if it was the most natural thing in the world for us. Lovely! We refrain from thinking that this, this is something we have really earned, after having fought our way through the Irish sea last autumn. When we didn’t loose our courage back then, we now know that it is unlikely that we will encounter anything else that can discourage us from our voyage after that. We spent two days in La Coruna, sleeping, showering and buying provisions before we set sail down the Portuguese coast and Lisbon. In Cascais, just east of the capital, we berthed after a three day idyllic leg down the incredibly beautiful coast of Portugal.

We saw gannets diving in herds down into the ocean fishing, we encountered whale families who lovingly caressed our hull in the most passionate and trusting manner. And we have finally started fishing, even though we haven’t had much success yet. But now we have bought real tuna hooks!

As this is being written, we have decided to go to sea again, towards Safi in Morocco. This means that we will miss out on the carnival in Sines, but so be it We are now ready to go to the Canary islands and refit the boat for our passage across the Atlantic!

Following a few lazy days in Cascais, we set course for Safi in Morocco. A few hours into our passage, the weather suddenly changed, and we had a gale hitting us in the bough. Instead of trying to cross towards Gibraltar, and then back again, we decided to go to the old smugglers cove of Sines, approximately 60 miles south of Cascais. Sines was the birthplace of famous sailor Vasco da Gama. There the beer cost 80 cents a pint in the local pub, and we met our first international ocean sailors. Kees and Anja from The Netherlands are sailing around the world the next ten years, and they have a lovely view on life. We invited them and a few others onboard Underveis for a snack and some cold beer, and we had a wonderful evening.

As this is being written, we have decided to go to sea again, towards Safi in Morocco. This means that we will miss out on the carnival in Sines, but so be it We are now ready to go to the Canary islands and refit the boat for our passage across the Atlantic!

Sines, Portugal, 12.02.2007
WINDY: The winds can be fierce on the coast of Portugal, something we experiences on our passage from Cascais to Safi. Here is the breakwater in Sines, and the windpilot, torn to shreds.
COMPANY: The dolphins have accompanied us ever since Brest. The beautiful animals are highlights for us on watch. We have also seen whales, turtles and many other species. We are looking forward to seeing the first flyfish!
BEACH LIFE: The good thing about traveling out of season is that you can have all the facilities to your self. There are no families, and no vendors.
OUT TO DRY: How can you tell a circumnavigator from the weekend sailors and charter boats? Simple. By their laundry hanging out to dry in the mast and rigging! We had months of fungus and mildew to exterminate, and the change in climate gave us the opportunity we needed.
WET: The passage from Brest to La Coruna went fine, except for the last 12 hours, as a strong gale hit us in the side. The rain was pouring down, and we were soaking wet upon our arrival in La Coruna.
NORSK
FACTS ABOUT PORTUGAL:

# Portugal is situated on the Iberian peninsula together with Spain. The capital is Lisbon.

# Approximately 10 million people live in Portugal.

# Tourism, olive production and fisheries are among the main industries.

# Portugal became democratic as late as 1974, after a military coup. Since then, all her colonies have been granted freedom. But Portuguese is still reckoned as a world language, spoken by several hundred million people in South-America, Africa and Asia.

# Portugal has been a great seafaring nation. Great explorers like Magellan, Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus all came from Portugal.

# The currency in Portugal is Euro. Bank cards are accepted in most shops, and there
are ATMs everywhere. The price level on food and drinks is at least half of that in Norway, often much less.

(Source: CIA World factbook)

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