Dinner with the Nilsens

Last Monday night, as I sat reading a book, I heard a tapping on the deck of the boat and a hearty, “Hello!” It was Bengt and Stefania Nilsen who had come to ask me over to their boat for some chips and conversation. I was the start of a great “sailor in far flung places” experience. They own a Dufour Classic 38 built in 2002, one year later than Remedios and they were anxious to compare notes. For this lonely boat guy, the answer was an easy, “You betcha!” I told them I had to freshen up and I would be right over. I changed out of my day shirt and shorts, grabbed a bottle of chilled Vino Verde and off I went. It was the first of three special evenings spent with them and their children, Martin, who I met the first night, and Cathrine who flew in to Lisbon to join them for part of their trip.

The first night we sat in the cockpit of their Dufour, learning about each other and talking about sailing. They were on their way to the Canary Islands for the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, which will leave in late November from the Los Palmas on Grand Canarias sailing to Rodney Bay in St. Lucia. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
We share the same start but different destinations. Bengt is a retired police officer who met Stefania in Italy while he was there questioning “persons of interest” in one of his investigations. She was serving as the interpreter and I asked if he made up a lot of unnecessary questions so he could spend more time with her. His response was, “Not while working, but later, maybe.” Stefania is a writer who works for a power management technology firm and also writes articles for Norwegian sailing magazines. Both of them have a lot of sailing experience, but I thought it was neat that Bengt’s first sail across a large body of water was when he sailed their brand new Dufour from Belgium across the North Sea to their home in Norway in 2004. Stefania has actually sailed the Atlantic Rally before on a catamaran with an all woman crew.

After we had finished the wine, I got a tour of their boat and we had a great time comparing notes on the quirks we had found in our boats and the modifications we had made. As the happy hour wrapped up, we agreed to meet at Remedios the next evening for a repeat.

During our happy hour the next night on Remedios we spent more time talking about our families, work, and homes and I gave a full tour above and below decks. Before it was done I had an invitation for a third night, dinner at the Nilsens!

The finale came on that third evening. We had a lovely dinner of “Fisherman’s Risotto” prepared by Stefania with fresh cut parsley they had growing aboard, and a lovely wine to complement the dish. Cathrine and Martin even made a run to the local patisserie to get some sweet baked goods for dessert, which we had with some coffee and aguardiente, the Portuguese version of Brandy. Cathrine and Martin capped off the evening by showing photo montages, set to music, each made of their sailing experience this summer. It was a real treat and left me a little homesick. The evening was great fun with all of us speaking English(except for an occasional flourish of Norwegian) with Minnesotan, Norwegian, and Italo-Norwegian accents. I will not forget the Nilsens and the time I shared with them. In case anyone is wondering, they definitely got one of our gifts of Minnesota grown wild rice and Shakers vodka, also from Minnesota. When we get to the Canary Islands we will try to reconnect with them for dinner or happy hour again before we both head west across the Atlantic.

Cathrine, I wish you good luck with that new job. Martin, don’t break too many hearts. Bengt and Stefania, thanks for showing me a wonderful time with your great family. Have a safe adventure!

The first picture below shows Stefania and Bengt seated at the dining table in Remedios. The next two pictures show the Nilsen family in their boat the next night. A quick look at the background shows how similar the two boats are inside.

Remedios High and Dry

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High and Dry

From time to time, though built to be in the water, a boat needs to come ashore for a little spa treatment. Remedios, feeling as if she had worked hard getting us safely across the Atlantic and needing some work on her underside, asked if she could spend a couple of days fully exposed to the warm, dry air of Portugal. She needed some paint on her drive unit (think pedicure), a new zinc ring on the drive unit to prevent corrosion by the salt water (think sunscreen and a wide brimmed hat), new gear lube in the transmission (think fancy drink with a paper umbrella), and a general inspection (think health maintenance including colonoscopy). Tom and Pat elected not to tell her about the colonoscopy before we got her out of the water where she couldn’t get away.

So, last Tuesday morning, around 10:00, the crew at the Cascais Marina wrapped slings under Remedios’ hull, gently lifted her up in the air, drove her to a pleasant corner of the yard where she had a view of the city and the beach, and set her carefully in a cradle. She was now ready for the aestheticians, Pat and Tom, to go to work. The biggest job was painting the drive unit. Over the following 48 hours, we sanded it to bare metal in spots where paint had failed then primed and painted. After that we applied two coats of anti-fouling paint to prevent growth of algae and other marine nasties. Remie (she lets us call her that when she is feeling relaxed) chose black for her drive unit color – very goth.

The condition of the zinc, which is meant to sacrifice itself and corrode away as protection for the other metals in the engine and transmission, was a surprise for us. Living her first nine years in cold fresh water, we had become accustomed to very slow dissolving of the zinc. Saltwater is a much better conductor of electricity than fresh, meaning the current that causes the metal to dissolve is much stronger. When I dove under Remie to cut away the rope that had fouled the prop near Horta in the Azores, I was shocked that the zinc I had installed just a few weeks before had melted like a breath mint to less than half its original size. In the picture, Tom is holding three zincs and the zinc on the left is the one just removed from the drive unit. The one in the middle is one we used to hang off the side of the boat to temporarily help the smaller one protect the drive until we could do the change(sailors call this a zinc fish). The one on the right is the new one. This is what the smallest one looked like when I installed it. It was a great relief to put on the pretty new one to continue the protection through the rest of the trip. To get at the zinc, we had to remove the folding propeller giving us a chance to completely disassemble it and give it a good cleaning and lubrication. This also provided a good opportunity to replace the gear lube in the transmission. After our work was done and the paint was dry, Remedios slipped quietly and gracefully back into the water with the help of the Travel Lift crane, ready for the next phase of the trip.

During our time on the hard, we got some advice and help from the folks at the Cascais Marina and we were also able to send pictures to Eric Thomas and the rest of the crew at Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. They were great about reviewing the pictures and giving us advice on removing a stubborn part of the propeller assembly and other feedback on the drive unit and keel. It was a fun way to use the internet for some very practical advice and to connect again with the crew that gave us so much help in the preparation for the trip. We send many thanks to you, Eric, Scott and the rest. The picture shows the Cascais yard master giving me some opinions.

As an aside, both of us get creeped-out and our legs get a little shaky when standing on the deck and seeing concrete below instead of water. I think it actually makes us even more careful, with an immobile deck, than we are when we are bouncing around on the waves. In our minds, there is a significant difference between the sound of a splash and the sound of a splat. We are much more at ease now that we are floating.

To see an edited video that we shot during these heavy machinery episodes check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQU-fHcCla4

Seeing the sights

A quick update from the boys on the boat -

Rob had a nice time in northern Portugal and when last heard from was boarding a train, hopefully with Mary, for Paris. He is due back in the USA Wed Sep 8. Rob - call us when you get home safely!

Pat had a busy and exhausting week with his daughters and a couple grandkids in France. He sent this intriguing message (which he did not approve me posting...)

All is going well here. Yesterday we went to Bordeaux and saw beautiful old churches and other buildings. Then we went to visit catacombs in a more rural area. No vineyard tours, but with the kids in tow, that would have been a challenge. We left at 0800 and got back a little after 2100 and the all five of us collapsed. The next day was spent touring the famous "Three Towers" of La Rochelle and walking the streets of old town. Nicole made us a nice dinner and now we are all ready to collapse again. The babies were great but they add to the workload a lot and wear out the three of us quite completely. Tomorrow we are going to a nearby national park/nature reserve where we plan to release the babies into the wild.  See you Sunday.

Did you know Portugal was neutral during WWII? I didn't. Since Portugal was neutral it became a home for exiled rulers, deposed monarchs, overthrown governemts, spies and counter-spies. A lot of them settled around Estoril, the village next door where I had dinner the other night. Estoril also has a big casino and for a time was where Ian Fleming worked chasing a German spy. He was inspired by his time here to write the James Bond novel Casino Royale. Here is the casino and some shots of the surrounding area.

Don't they look retired?

I should have brought a book!

This is the best city park/plaza around

One of the things that I just love about Europe is how everyone parks their cars.

Park like your pants are on fire.

Walk away from the vehicle.

Don't look back.

It's like this in lots of places (OK, except Germany)

This is a sidewalk, the street is to the right of the photo..

Do small cars get small tickets? Those are not tickets by the way, they are menus for a local Chinese resturant. Seriously.

OK, we'll share the sidewalk.

That car is parked on the tram line - he is in big trouble.

I'm sure he's saying "Nice pants, and love the shoes, but YOU CAN'T PARK HERE!"

As for me, I have been living the idyllic life of an unemployed sailor whose cash card still works. Not a bad life. Run in the morning. Read and do boat chores in the day. Visit museums in the afternoon. Eat dinner in the evening. Repeat. This is a pretty place with a wide variety of architecture.

Remedios is about 100 yards to the left!

Looking towards the ocean - remember the ocean?

This is an old house, an art museum, and a lighthouse - all together!

I always take my camera to dinner - it's fun to take some pictures I call "Views from my table."

Italian place in Estoril

Under the umbrellas in Cascais

This is next to the marina - those are sailboat masts outside!

Check out the hat on the ice bucket

Nice place but the neighbors need to paint!

Restaurants and shops in Cascais

Now that I am done eating the place starts to fill up!

Pat comes back today so I have to clean the place up. This week we have big boat repairs. We will have the crane lift it out of the water and we will spend a couple days on land with the boat on stands while we fix stuff. Pat will get to go up the mast again and we will replace the zinc on the motor housing and in general check stuff out. Next update will have photos of Remedios IN THE AIR !