Day Skipper ...

In November 2010 I had a week's sailing off the coast of The Algarve - my first time in this area.

Starting 14th November I flew out to Faro to drive over to Lagos - the marina there - to take up the place, with Martin Northey, that I had signed onto. Martin Northey had founded his (and the first) RYA sea school in Portugal over fourteen years ago. In addition to being a maritime journalist Martin is an RYA Yachtmaster Examiner and Instructor for sail and power with a commercial endorsement and well an Advanced Powerboat Instructor and holds the top qualification for sailing in Portugal (Patrao do Alto Mar). Martin has coached literally thousands of pupils to success in RYA courses and examinations up to Yachtmaster standard and beyond. He has owned several boats himself and helped many others with their purchases. I was to spend a week with him to gain my Day Skipper - Practical - certificate. Met at Café do Cais, which is on the east side of Lagos Marina opposite D pontoon, near the washrooms etc. Found Martin there with Paul Guess and almost immediately, Alex Fortescue. Paul and I were after a Day Skipper qualification but Alex was after Yachtmaster - mind you he had a 67 ft Discovery, and some impressive sea miles logged including an ARC.


We were joined daily (though he stayed one night on-board), by a German ex pat - an eco-engineer specialising in water technology. He was also a champion glider pilot ... and very opinionated - on green issues as well as rather odd ("organic" type) dietary / medicinal cures.

We ate out most nights - at least Paul, Alex and I. Our favourite was a discovery of Paul's in Lagos town centre - great sea food and nice wines.

We sailed and motored quite a lot, but not very far from Lagos, in fact only one night away from the marina. We visited a number of estuaries, marinas and rivers, to practice anchoring, pilotage, fixes, position finding, man overboard, close or tight space maneuvering and mooring. Also taking charge of a crew ... and passage planning. All of this stood me in good stead and, thanks to Martin's confidence in us I felt I gained a lot - both experience and confidence in myself. I next need to feel just as comfortable on sail setting.

We visited few spots as we were concentrating on our skills, not cruising but included trips into Portimao and Alvor.