Hi Martin,

I have some work friends who are novices (they've had the odd weekend here and there on sailing school boats or jolly ups, an accompanied charter on a catamaran in the Virgin Islands and a flotilla week in Greece), who may be buying a boat in Calpe and sailing it back to UK via Biscay. Around Easter/May. Andrew Simpson (who you may know)expressed a look of horror when they told him that they planned to buy their first boat, get it antifouled, hop on the plane, go to the boat, fill it up and sail it straight back!

As Portugal is "your" coast are there any things you would say in words of advice! Andrew and I said put it on a lorry!!!!! Andrew then pointed out a bit of coast near Lisbon that he feels is treacherous close in; do you have any pearls I can add to the pot?!

Bye for now,

Myra

Dear Myra,

Thanks for your email, it was good to hear from you. Yes, I remember Andrew Simpson well,please say hello to him from me when you next see him. The rocks that he refers to must be the Isle of Berlinga and other small islands and rocks which extend for several miles ofshore from Peniche. There is an inside passage but I would advise your friends to go past here in daylight.

This a dangerous trip for your inexperienced friends to attempt in one go or over several months and I would advise a minimum of three years sailing experience being essential before attempting such a passage such as this.

I hope that they have got a good reliable engine because they will probably have to motor about 3/4 of the way. Firstly all the way from Gibraltar to La Corunna they will have 1/2 a knot of current against them, and the wind will probably be predominantly in the NNW during that leg. Tacking is not an option because with the current and their leeway they will make very little progress. One option is to sail about 600 miles west towards the Azores from Cape St Vincent, then tack and they should have a fair wind most of the way to the channel.

I don't know the size of their boat but if it is about 38 feet I would allow a minimum of 4 weeks for the trip and would prefer to allow six weeks. It is quite likely that they will be gale bound at either La Corunna, Benodet or L'Abervrach or possibly all three. At Easter/May time it is very likely that they will encounter north easterlies and easterlies in the channel which will slow them up.

Allowing a minimum of a month assumes a skipper and a crew of four. If there are only two of them I would allow much longer. If they are taking friends as crew, their friends should be made aware of the enormous dangers of such a trip with an inexperienced skipper.

With an unfamiliar boat that they have only just bought, I would be very surprised if they are not held up at some stage with an electrical or mechanical problem. If their crew are even even less experienced than the owners it is extremely likely that they will be seasick and /or frightened and have to leave the boat and continue on foot, this will make them short handed which will also slow them up.

I would strongly recommend that they get Navtex if the boat hasn't got it, it will be their only source of weather forecasts and navigational warnings. In Britain we are used to having the back up of the coastguard and the Lifeboat, in Portugal and Spain they do not have services like these, so they will be on their own.

I have done that trip many times and am very familiar with all the places they might stop. One of the most dangerous things on the Atlantic coast of Portugal are breaking waves in harbour entrances when there is any kind of a swell and particularly if an entry is made at half tide or below. The most dangerous places are Figueira da Foz, Aveiro and the river Minho.

It sounds as though your friends aren't even nearly experienced enough to go cruising in the Channel Islands, let alone the passage of 1,500 miles from Calpe. Yes, I agree with you and Andrew, tell them to stick their new boat on a lorry to take it home!

All the best,

Martin