The last leg, from Lisbon to Torquay

The crew celebrating Derek's birthday



 

Cliff and Derek left the marina at Oeiras on the 11^th August and sailed up to Leixoes, near Porto, making  overnight stops at the ports of Peniche, Nazare and Figueira da Foz. The journey was mostly under engine into a northerly wind and uneventful except for a persistent smell of rotten eggs coming from down below. At first they thought the smell was coming from the toilet, but they eventually tracked it down to an overheating starter battery. This needed replacing, an unwelcome expense given that we were about to sell the boat! 

 

At Leixoes they replaced the battery and then picked up their third crew member, Richard. Cliff had crewed for Richard and Rowena on Galene in 2012 , when they sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and now Richard was returning the favour by helping take Sandpiper across Biscay.

After an overnight stop in Viana do Castelo they sailed on to Bayona in northern Spain.  They spent three days here waiting out bad weather, but they did manage to fit in some good walks and an excellent seafood dinner to celebrate Derek’s birthday.

Strong winds kept them in harbour at Bayona

On 22^nd August they sailed past Cape Finisterre to Camarinas on the north west tip of Spain. This was an ideal jumping off point for their passage across Biscay, so now it was just a question of waiting for the northerly winds to move round to the south or west to give them a good chance of making it all the way to the UK.

Derek and Richard waiting for the wind to change in Camerinas

Eventually, on 27^th August, the forecast looked good and at 9am they motored out of Camerinas into the Bay of Biscay. At first the winds were too light to sail, but by 7.30pm they had the engine off and the sails reefed. Early in the morning of the 29^th August the wind dropped again and the engine went back on. With little wind they were forced to motor sail for most of the next two days, and on the morning of the 30^th August they decided to divert to L’Aberwrach on the north coast of France to refuel. They finally sailed into Torquay harbour at 12.15pm on Wednesday the 31^st August.



Torquay harbour

20^th September Today we made our last trip on Sandpiper, taking her from Torquay to the Retreat Boatyard, six miles up the River Exe.  Mike Lucas had recommended the yard to us and offered to come along for the ride. A boat with our depth can only get up to the yard on a spring tide, and even then we needed to time our arrival for the top of the tide to be sure there would be enough water in the channel.

We left before sunrise and arrived at the mouth  of the river at 8am. This was where things got interesting as not only was the river shallow, but there were some strong currents which sometimes made it difficult to keep within the narrow channel. All went relatively smoothly as we managed to spot the buoys which mark the very windy channel up to Topsham. But for the last half a mile between Topsham and the Retreat Yard there were no markers whatsoever, so we were left zigzagging through the moorings, with me hyperventilating each time the depth gauge hit zero and the  keel gently grazed the muddy river bed!  We gave a huge sigh of relief when the yard’s jetty finally came into view with the staff ready to take our lines.

Sandpiper is now on the hard, ready to be given a scrub and polish before she goes up for sale. It’s the end of a wonderful, four-and-half year adventure, but I’m sure there will be more adventures to come.