11th to 12th October 2017
We moored to a mooring buoy as the field was virtually empty when we arrived – the slimey-lines attached to the top of the buoy were not QUITE long enough to cleat off on our bows because of the beam of Mistoffelees, so we had to improvise using our “normal” mooring stop (attached with a large snap-shackle through the top of the buoy, in this case) and a line led to our anchor cleat which is purely there in case the snap shackle fails. It hasn’t yet, as the bridle is rarely not-under-load (which is when snap shackles fail, we hear), but for peace of mind the additional 2 minutes of setup time is invaluable.
In the night we were treated to another mooring buoy banging off the hull, repeatedly. Looking at it the next day, it was clear to see why. The buoys are laid in two parallel lines, and the spacing within the row is not particularly large, so when the wind swung us in the direction of the next buoy some contact was inevitable. In the morning, I moved us from one buoy to the other (which had drifted alongside our bow!, so I was able to do this without even starting the engines) which put us on the end of the row furthest from the wind. Hey presto, no more noise. Something else to watch out for in future when approaching a mooring field, especially if the winds are forecast to change overnight, too.
Isla Ons itself was nice – the rock pools on the beach are excellent. The path we took, part of the “Faro” walk, gave excellent views but didn’t have much in the way of interactivity en-route for the kids as the vegetation and other ‘stuff’ adjacent to the path wasn’t as interesting as that on the other islands. And, we had left it too late in the morning before setting off, so were all somewhat roasted/tired by the time we got back to the beach and nice, cool, sea. I get the impression from the number of picnic areas and quality of the path that Ons is considerably busier than Sálvora in tourist season.
