CoastguardKitKat

Short stop in Lisbon, and a late morning arrival in Portimao, for another short stop. The port website says destination Funchal, Madeira. But, the VVO website says Cadiz, Seville (up a river/creek). Let’s hope they take a paddle.

Looks like they pinged AIS off Bilbao about 8 minutes ago.

Well, I wouldn’t want to be in Biscay playing dominoes tonight, even with 14 drinks for $14.95!. They’ll be cleaning those 20 year old Braemar carpets tomorrow morning. It’s a crisis of confidence. Once people start leaving, even on a temporary basis, more will start worrying and want off/out. No one will want to buy in. Why would you sink £500k into VVO. In that sense the CEO is pretty tuned into this confidence problem, hence he’s trying to quell any dissent. My money says this venture is already heading on a straight course for the proverbial rocks. As for Belfast, I think they had to sail after sitting offshore for 3 days.The confidence in the company would have been completely shot if it had to return, better to make a run for it. Brest isn’t the best port, but they could have stopped there for a few days to iron out a few issues, bunker, take on water and sit out the storm while the passengers got to see rural France and eat crossiants.

I’ve been watching the VVO drama for a week or so. It all smells rather fishy. Little things like docking at Brest at the mineral dock for a single day - cheap berthing. Why Brest, Bordeaux is much nicer - cheap berthing. Docking at Bilbao tomorrow morning, why not berth this afternoon to get out of the storm in Biscay - cheap berthing. Most noticeable is the AIS track - i know it only works reasonably close to shore, but the propagation plots for AIS across Biscay are pretty comprehensive. - other ships show? The boat must be mid Biscay and travelling at less than 10kn to not be picked up - save fuel. Why slow down when the wave heights are increasing in the next 6 hours (2.9 increasing to 4.5) and wind picking up (20 increasing to 30). I do feel sorry for the people who invested in this - those that were unaware. Metaphorically speaking the water at the drinking hole that is VVO is now poisoned, and I’d very much doubt there are many investors now queuing up to buy an apartment, on the back of what appears to be a floating Ponzi scheme. As someone wisely wrote above, there won’t be many businesses looking to extend credit lines to this underfunded venture. The capital expenditure costs may sink this ship in a week or two.