Portugal - Here we come

Day 1 was a short hop down the coast but we had forgotten about the big Atlantic swell (after 4 weeks in the Rias) and the journey felt like a lifetime with neither of us feeling great.  But we had a good sail just over 30 miles, light winds so we had the Spinnaker out and we were whizzing along, well when it was finally up and set.  We had an interesting entrance into Viana Do Costelo where Amanda (yes me!) expertly manoeuvred (under sail) around the wind and kite surfers!

Our first Portuguese stop off was a lovely little town, people (particularly at Marina) we extra nice and helpful which was great since we only have 2 words of Portuguese! One of the funniest things was arriving during some local activity, looked like volleyball contest and there was a large stage and all we heard for the entire evening was 80’s pop, we couldn’t help ourselves but sing-along to Karina and the Waves, Rick Astley, Fergal Sharkey but we did draw the line at Buck Fizz!

The town had an absolutely lovely church on top of a hill, worth the walk for the view, neither of us really thinking that it was Sunday morning and there would be hordes of people doing the same. We popped our head in the church to find Sunday service in full swing!

We also visited the ruins of an iron age settlement; this obviously wasn’t something the Portuguese found of any interest as we were the only people there!

We decided to stay an extra day than planned and headed into Porto, which is the 2^nd biggest city in Portugal.  It did mean another early morning to catch the train but really worth a visit.  Amazing old and ornate buildings, the old town by the river is a maze of little streets, even the train station was in a fantastic old cloister.

Train Station - No idea who is in photo!

The next day we sailed to Leixoes which is the commercial port for Porto, but having already visited Porto we were just using it for an overnight pit stop. Shortish journey but took an age as the wind was light. We spent most of the day with our big Spinaker sail flying but could still only manage about 4 knts of boat speed. I think we flew the spinaker for about 6 hours in the end, a record for us.

Leixoes to Fig

After a good nights sleep we left for Figueira da foz (we called it finger of fudge as no idea how to pronounce it correctly) Today we had wind from the offset only about 12 knots but it built throughout the day to around 20 so we had a cracking sail. Covered the 75nm at an average of about 6.5 knots pretty good as we had a slow start and we are carrying the weight of a small African country in Amanda’s wardrobe !!  

Interesting arrival at F da F as the pilot book warns that all these west coast ports get closed if the swell is too big, which makes it dangerous to enter the harbours. As the swell had built and built during the day we were pretty nervous about the approach, we were also praying it was open as our closest safe haven was about 60 miles south!

They signal harbour closures by hoisting a black ball on a mast near the entrance, 2 problems with this

1.     you cant see the bloody mast until you are almost in the harbour

2.     they don’t hoist anything if it is safe so you are never sure that you are looking at the correct mast anyway !!

We couldn’t see any balls so we bit the bullet and went in with sweaty palms gripping the helm. As the water shallowed near shore the swell got steeper and steeper until we reached the shallow entrance and the water changed to a nasty brown colour as the waves churned the bottom up. The depth on the chart only showed 5m and as the 7m swell sucked back I was convinced that I was going to be looking at the bottom any second.

At the last minute we surfed down a swell at 9 knots executed a perfect bottom turn and arrived in the tranquil waters behind the breakwater. I expected an ovation from the fishermen on the wall but they seemed unimpressed, so we dropped sail and went to find the marina.

We arrived at the marina and were eying an empty berth when the customs official came out and signaled that he wanted a word, it soon became clear that we needed to tie up to the wall near him first and despite it being a difficult place to “park” strong wind blowing us off etc his gun and body language meant that we complied meekly.

Finger of fudge is a holiday resort with high rise accommodation, marina was expensive and generally we were pretty unimpressed with the place. There was a festival while we were there which sounded quite exciting so we wandered along the prom that evening only to find a small travelling fair, the usual array of tat for sale from street sellers and hundreds of people milling around expectantly, it never did seem to get going so we wandered off to bed and left the next day. 

Next off to Peniche

60 miles at an average of 7.4 knots excellent days sail, blue seas good winds and blazing sunshine.

Arrived mid afternoon and anchored in the bay as we weren’t stopping. Amazing clear water 8m deep and I could watch as the anchor sat on the bottom.

A sunny day sailing

Had a quick visit from customs in a dingy, all very civilized except yet again Amanda was in the buff showering when they arrived. I think they know and time their arrival perfectly !!!

Peniche to Cascais

Had to happen poor visibility and no wind, we motored most of the day but then luckily picked up a good breeze for the last couple of hours. Arrived at Cascais and came into the bay to anchor and were amazed by the number of boats already there. We have generally had places to ourselves but here on a Saturday evening the whole of boat owning Lisbon had come to play. We managed to sneak in very close to other boats but as usual night closed in and most people headed back to the marina.

Cascais looked pretty impressive as a playground for Lisbons rich and famous and we thoroughly enjoyed the banging disco that went on till about 5 in the morning!!!!!

Lighthouse at Cascais