9.5. After a long and peaceful night we woke up to a very dim weather. It was raining slightly but the wind wasn’t strong here in the harbor which is about a mile from the sea up the river. The weather turned out to be nice during the day and we finally had a very good place by the main pontoon to clean the hull and fix the damage on the gelcoat at the bow. After six hours of work the port side was shining after a wash and polish. The marina service building is only three months old and they had very good washing machines, big Miele professional ones with only 5 € for a wash and tumble dryer. We went out to a nearby tapasbar for dinner, the food was excellent and it would have been enough for four. After dinner we were invited to the other Nauticat for drinks. The boat is owned by a very nice Scottish-Belgian-French couple. The boat is about the same age as ours but the French sun and the salty waters have taken their toll on the teak deck. First they had problems with their injector pump but it turned out that one or two of the valve springs were also broken. We were joined in by a British couple from the next boat who were also northbound. They planned on leaving the next morning to Aveiro which is just 30 miles north from here. I thought that maybe we do the same. In the evening when Nina went to the showers she met our old Finnish friends from Tigs who had just arrived at the marina and were at the waiting pontoon. We told them to just get a place here in the marina and they moored right next to us.
10.5. The morning was nice and sunny. On my way to the showers I met the lady from last night and she told me that they were actually leaving for Aveiro. I had a look at the weather charts and after that we decided that going out wasn’t a good idea. We turned the boat so we could start working on the starboard side. The day was sunny and warm but the wind was chilly. It was a good day to clean and polish the hull and Nina was working on the railings and the upper deck. We still have a lot of work to do but the boat looks very nice already. Our friends on the other Nauticat had a bad day. It seems that the engine has some major problems and they are even considering changing the engine altogether. There were two other boats with engine problems. A greek trimaran had a new engine installed yesterday and another catamaran with the other engine busted. In the afternoon a Swedish boat arrived. He came to us and we gave him the other one of our keys to the gates. He actually came from Aveiro and said that during his 30 years of sailing this was the worst he has ever encountered, high seas with cross waves and too little wind to cease the rolling. He stayed at the tapasbar the whole afternoon and got drunk. I can’t really blame him, though. Three Russians on their way down took out in the afternoon for Cadiz which is to the south. Not clever but if they have s strong wind they can control the boat with sails to prevent rolling. It only seemed that the wind was right from behind so they have a very uncomfortable journey ahead, at least to Peniche. The strong northerly winds seem to last long so we are stuck here for a quite long time, at least for four more days.
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