The shortened journey

27-Jan: Oeiras to Sesimbra

In my original plan, on the second day was supposed to sail from Oeiras to Sines, a 53nm trip. However, on the previous evening, I went grocery shopping and then stay up until past 2 AM stowing everything and just left Oeiras after 10 AM, despite awakening early.

Sunrise in Oeiras Marina (Porto de Recreio de Oeiras)

While I was pretty comfortable with nightly arrival at Sines, before turning the Espichel cape I conclude that I was far too tired and sleepy to endure the whole trip. Indeed, thanks to nice sailing conditions, during part of the afternoon I was struggling to stay awake.

Perfect sailing conditions, heading to Cape Espichel

Thus, I decided to shorten this journey, deviating from my planned route and turn East to Sesimbra for an overnight stay.

Calm sunset before arriving at Sesimbra

Time to leave

26-Jan: Lisboa to Oeiras

After a completely crazy day, I was finally ready to leave for this adventure. Destination: Valencia. First stop: Oeiras. It's just a five nautical miles night sailing, that took less than one hour, but it reduced in one hour the next day trip.

Me and Trovoada, ready to leave Lisbon.

Introduction

The blog "Adventures on S/V⁽¹⁾ Trovoada" was created to recount the voyaging, sailing and living aboard a 31 feet boat. Trovoada is a Bavaria 31 - a german-made sloop, known for its robustness and cabin comfort.  We had a bunch of sailing adventures on the past couple of years and, from now on, I will share them on this blog. Enjoy!

The next Adventure

Next week, I will leave on the longest journey I have ever made on my sailboat, "Trovoada". This trip will take us from Lisbon (Portugal) to Valencia (Spain) trough the Strait of Gibraltar.

On this journey we will sail south from Lisbon on the North Atlantic, following the Portuguese coastline and then, after crossing Cape St. Vincent, we will turn East and head to the Mediterranean. After passing the Strait, we will sail along the Spanish coast to Valencia, More than simply an 800 nautical miles trip, it will be an adventure, facing the winter weather and many more challenges on the way.

If you want to know what will happen, just follow the blog,  In the meantime...
Fair Winds and Following Seas!

⁽¹⁾ For those unfamiliar with the maritime terminology, S/V means Sailing Vessel.