Location: Cascais, Portugal
During night watch, we steered our course straight for Lisbon, towards a strange and distant glow that was neither moon nor sunlight. Although weve seen some otherworldly things in the middle of the ocean, city lights are now for us the unnatural. Finally, at the break of dawn, land was spotted off the port bow! It was the rolling hills of Lisbon and its sprawl. We saw it through the haze before the fog descended on Vela. One last weather trial before landfall, nothing we cant handle at this point.
Land means a great many things for the inhabitants of Vela. One thing for sure is that weve got to get safe on the dock and we have to GET CLEAN. There are many tasks that one just doesnt want to do in a rocking, swaying boat, so when we get to land its time to kick into high gear. In anticipation of a busy day, everyone was woken at 10 am to start with BA- Boat Appreciation. That means cleaning deep in the bilges, cleaning the heads, cleaning the deck, putting the sails away, cleaning the tenders, scrubbing the floors all while preparing for docking, which entails getting the lines and fenders out from the depths of the anchor locker, inflating the fenders, arranging them all in the way the captain likes, turning on the hydraulics for the bow thruster. Lets not forget that Vela is a big heavy girl, and she cant just turn on a dime. Thats where I (Jaime, mate) came into play today. We launched the dinghy to help Vela dock. First, I picked up Henry to be my trusted bowman. We took off full speed in the dinghy to ensure her outboard engine wasnt out of sorts after a long rest (engines hate rest). Then we ran some reconnaissance of the marina, which resulted in a funny moment of lost in translation with the Portuguese marina staff and also a decision to dock on the port side instead of the starboard side. I dropped off Henry at our dock so that he could catch lines, and I stood by to see if Vela would need a little push while docking. I love watching the Vela team in action as they dock, and being on the dinghy gives a special vantage point for these tricky maneuvers. In the end, everything went well, and we all touched land for the first time in 18 days. Our first walk? To immigration, of course.
After a long time at immigration, we pushed through with the rest of BA, had a great meal by Jerry, and then finally got to kick back and enjoy a little shore time. Now its time to sleep in the clean environment weve created for ourselves, and start to let the impact of this massive accomplishment sink in. We have crossed an ocean!