Portugese Trades :

[Wansworth]

According to data the northerly winds off Galicia have reduced 30%.They start later and finish earlier;this means that the shell fish industry is suffering from a lack of nutrients for their stock and the more frequent apparition of the red tides, which bring toxins making the shell fish uneatable.Still there is pleanty of wind yet,but maybe not the same wind that early voyagers enjoyed!!

 

[jimbaerselman]

Hmm. Whose data? Got any sources?

The nitty gritty is often very interesting . . . which months affected, are peaks affected etc etc.

 

[Wansworth]

Info comes from the Galician section of the EL PAIS Jueves13 Marzo.According to the study i the sixties the northerlys set in in on 10 march andfaded out on the 17 november whilst now they start in april and finish late september the upshot is warmer waters etc .One theory is the change in the position of the azores high.Galicia is gettig remarkablely dryer and there seems to be a tendency for the azores high to divert the wet south westerlys either further north or further south causing wet weather for the Canaries ad South and east Spain.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Thanks. Better get my dictionary out and review investments in Galician mussel rafts!

 

[wagenaar]

As a matter of fact it was also indicated that the change in the direction of the wind would result in less food for the mussels and other animals and a greater possibility of deceases.

 

[Ariadne]

Well I thought they didn't bother turning up at all last year (August & September in any case), we motored/motor sailed nearly all the way down from Bayona to Portimao. On very few days did have enough wind to make more than 3-4 knots, although when we did we averaged 6 or 7.

I got the feeling that most people we talked to on the way down seemed be searching for decent wind to bring them down. Although on saying that, there appeared to be plenty of wind when over 5 miles offshore. Maybe we just missd it being to close inshore 2-3 miles off most of the time.

Still its blowing 15-20kts here at the moment, fine if your heading West!!!

 

[buxx]

Had exactly the same experience as Aberman in October/November 2006. Not one day of northerly winds in the six weeks we took between La Coruna and Portimao. Lots of strong SW winds with us motoring south in the lulls between the SW winds.

 

[davidbains]

This is good news for skippers wanting to bring their boats back from the Med!!
In fact way back in 89 I had to sail to windward from Cascais to Sagres.
It's hasn't always blown form the north thankfully.