Diary 1 August - 16 August

Saturday 1st August 2009

Posn 41deg22'.311N 08deg45'.910W

Our trip to Povoa de Varzim was quite uneventful as we motorsailed to clear the area where there are experimental wave power turbines - nothing to see other than some cardinal marks and yellow buoys. The Alamanac says they are semi-submerged so difficult to see. We were able to sail the last six miles to Povoa. We were met on arrival by very helpful red-shirted marineiros and quickly tied up. We don't have a lot to say about Povoa other than the marina is run by very friendly people, it is clean and efficient and is extremely good value for money. So much so, that there are people here who sailed south from England some years ago and never got any further. The town itself is geared for Portuguese holidaymakers who want sun, sand and sea. It has few charms and little to offer by way of pavement cafes and restaurants. The wind tends to blow a bit and it gets a bit chill in the evening, so Bayona it ain't. However, it does have a Metro connection with Porto, and we managed to find someone to do a gravity re-fill on our 4.5kg Calor gas bottles. Gas may be an issue in future and we are reviewing our set-up and the options. There is so much contradictory information about, but we will work through it.

Thursday was domestic day - washing clothes and sorting a few things on the boat such as the pole downhaul system.

So, yesterday we went to Porto - Portugal's second city - excellent and worth the visit. The Metro from Povoa arrives at Trindade station and is at the top of the hill. This must be borne in mind when exploring as you have to get back up to the top of the hill. Our first stop was the open space of Avenida dos Aliados where there was more street sculpture celebrating homo sapiens and our diversity. Someone had even anticipated our visit and one of the statues looked just like Norma. Then our day was made up of viewing such as Igreja de Santo Ildefonso, Torre dos Clerigos (and climbing some 200 steps to the top), Igreja de Sao Francisco and its catacombs, and the Se Cathedral, along with stops for coffee at the Cafe Majestic and lunch in the Ribeira district at Adega Sao Nicholao which we recommend for the small sardines (a bit bigger than whitebait and you eat the lot) and the bacalhau which is dried and salted cod - all splendid. Of course this being Porto we had to finish with coffee and a glass of Port. Then we got the funicular back up the hill and walked across the higher section of the Ponte Luis I (bridge) to Vila Nova de Gaia where all the great Port wine houses have their Caves, or warehouses, in which they age the port before bottling. We visited Taylor, Fladgate and Yeatman for the tour and tasting - since we were the only people with English as a first language we had to join a French group. Norma did best at understanding what was said. There's not a lot to see other than some very large barrels, some medium sized barrels and some smaller sized barrels. There is a great view across the Rio Douro to the Porto side and it's nice to taste a couple of Ports. After the walk back down the hill to the river, we got the funicular back up the other side again to cut down the walk back to Trindade station.

We had hoped to head south to-day to Figuera da Foz - 75nm - but the forecast was for SW wind and rain. Yuk. We stayed put and did administrative tasks as the forecast is for Northerly F4/5 tomorrow - much better.

Friday 7th August 2009

Posn 38deg41’.750N 09deg24’.910W

We are at anchor off Cascais having left Povoa de Varzim (cheapest marina yet) on 2nd August, calling at Figueira da Foz (40deg08’.849N 08deg51’.578W) for one night (twice the price of Povoa) and at Nazare (39deg35’.017N 09deg04’.481W) for three nights (3rd, 4th and 5th).

We have had some great sailing. We left Povoa de Varzim at 0730 for the 75.5nm to Figueira da Foz. For the first six hours we motored and then motor-sailed but as the afternoon northerly came in we were bowling along nicely, goosewinging with full main and preventer on and the genoa poled out, in F4. We arrived in Figueira at 1930 and first had to register with the authorities and then find a berth in the marina. The town is quite pleasant, with some fine architecture and tree-lined avenues, but we did not linger, and headed south for Nazare at 1130 on Monday with a Northerly F3.

However, the wind was somewhat inconsistent and dropped to F2 -3 in the early afternoon, so out came the big pink cruising chute for the first time on this trip. It’s a bit awkward setting the chute as the removable bowsprit cannot be fitted with the anchor in place, so the latter has to be stowed and it’s all a bit backbreaking and “oh bugger, don’t drop it in the sea/on the deck/on the toes”. Nevertheless, it’s fun. We tried it on the same side as the mainsail and with the wind dropping our speed fell below 3kts, so then we tried poling it out on the opposite side and we got an extra half knot. We reminded ourselves we were cruising and it’s not all about fast sailing, but sailing as fast as possible in the given conditions.

We arrived in Nazare at 1900. Then there was trouble.

We rafted up outside a Norwegian boat with an English guy, Chris, and a friend. One of the uniformed authorities came down the pontoon and asked a few questions but didn’t write anything down. We had a discussion about registering but were advised that the office was closed and since we were a bit tired, we decided to leave it until the morrow. At 0740 there was a knocking on the boat, and Chris told us the harbourmaster had been down and was threatening keelhauling, being up before the committee and possibly even the Spanish Inquisition (“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition”) unless we were up at the office by 0800 to register, as we should have registered the night before with the people on the security gate. Oh dear, so it was out with the ‘calm irate client’ behaviour – lots of apologies, smiles and the utmost respect. Well, he calmed down and was very helpful. The harbourmaster is an English guy, Mike (ex RN) and he runs the place with his wife, Sally. They arrived 11 years ago, liked the place and stayed. Now he advises the Portuguese government on harbour and marina issues. Interesting people – the Pilot book says that “nothing is too much trouble”. We think there is a meaning in the message.

Anyway, we liked the place too. It was a bit of a trek into town, albeit there is a fairly regular bus service. We had visited Nazare in 1982 when doing Iberia in a Renault 4 van with a tent. It has been extensively developed and is now a very popular beach resort. There are still the older women in traditional dress of knee length skirts and aprons, bulked out by lots of petticoats, but the colourful fishing boats on the beach have gone to be replaced by lines of beach umbrellas and rows of shade tents. The view from Sitia over Nazare and south is still spectacular and best reached via the modern funicular. The main reason for staying was to catch up on a few chores and to visit a couple of important historic sites.

We took the bus to Batalha where there is the Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitoria, built to commemorate the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota when 6500 Portuguese, supported by a few hundred English soldiers beat 30,000 Castilian troops of Juan I who was claiming the Portuguese throne of Joao d’Avis. The monastery is built in the English perpendicular style, and the interior is actually very similar to Exeter cathedral, while the cloisters are striking also for the 15th and 16th century Manueline (as in during the reign of Dom ManueI I) additions which are hugely decorative and creative.

Then it was on to Alcobaca and the Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaca founded in 1153. It is full of very interesting features such as the kitchens with an enormous chimney, a door to the refectory that is very narrow and if a monk could not pass through then he had to fast until he could (curiously, the religious orders were dissolved in Portugal in 1834 because of, inter alia, the increasing decadence of the monks).

Most interesting though, are the tombs of Dom Pedro and Dona Ines. Dom Pedro turns out to have been a Yorkshireman at heart. Dom Pedro was the son of Dom Afonso IV and he fell in love with his wife’s lady-in-waiting, Dona Ines de Castro – a Galician. Even after his wife’s death, Dom Afonso would not allow Dom Pedro to marry Dona Ines because of her Spanish connections and the king had her murdered, unaware that the lovestruck pair had married in secret. When Dom Pedro succeeded to the throne two years later he ripped out and ate the hearts of Dona Ines’ murderers. Then he had her exhumed and her body crowned, ordering the court to pay homage by kissing her decomposing hand.

That’s what you call not forgetting. Alcobaca is a pleasant town and the area outside the entrance to the monastery has lots of cafes, but it is done in a few hours.

Then on 6th we sailed the 71nm from Nazare to Cascais. Captain Mike had advised us that there are both north-going and south-going currents and how to avoid the former and take advantage of the latter – this involved laying a course for a point 5nm off Cabo Carvoeiro at longitude 09deg30’ and then to a point 2nm off Cabo da Roca. Well, we did the trip in just over 11 hours, starting in F2 and motoring for the first hour and then a broad reach for the first leg. The wind built to F5 and we took advantage of the lee of Isla Berlenga near our first waypoint to shorten sail. Then it was goosewinging dead downwind for 38nm, but after a while we shook out the reef in the main and maintained a speed of 6kts. When we turned on to a broad reach at Cabo da Roca the wind picked up to F6 and we were creaming along at 8.5kts, hitting a top speed of 10.2kts. We and Minnie B loved it – not that we are racing but it was great to overtake a French catamaran that had previously overtaken us on the dead downwind leg.

We anchored on the outside of the flotilla of boats here at Cascais for the night and then said hello to David and Suzanne on ‘Suzie Too’ as they left for the Algarve. After breakfast we moved to their much closer in spot and now have shelter from all but the east.

Sunday 16th August 2009

Posn  38deg26’.128N  09deg’.806W

We arrived yesterday in Sesimbra after spending a few days (6th t0 10th August) at anchor off Cascais and then in the Doca de Alcantara in Lisbon (Posn 38deg42.097N  09deg10.178W; 10th August to 15th August).

We had a splendid time in Cascais – the wind blew a steady F6 for nearly two days so going ashore was a bit wet, albeit we never left the boat on Saturday 8th and had a very nice time just chillin’.  Cascais is an amenable place with some small sandy bays and pleasant streets, albeit not entirely photogenic .  We met a lovely couple on a nearby boat and the craic was mighty as they visited us on Sunday evening and we had a return match on their boat on Sunday evening – they were Jan and J*** - he’s travelling incognito apparently and their boat is B*********.

We were still trying to make sense of the calculation on a sunsight we had taken on the way to Cascais – yes, the numbers were correct (Norma’s job) no, the observed altitude taken with the sextant was rubbish (Phil’s job) – our latitude was nearly 200nm out.  Still the wind had been blowing F5 and we were sailing downwind.  Hm, not much of an excuse really – must try harder.

On Monday 10th we made the short trip to Doca de Alcantara, where we had pre-booked a berth, as advised in the pilot book. On the way we saw this – it’s called ‘The Eye’.

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We motored the whole way as there was almost no wind, and having left at 11.30, anticipated that we’d be enjoying a leisurely lunch by 1400. Wrong! When we finally located our berth, number 605, it was to find that it was not a finger pontoon as anticipated, but instead required fore and aft berthing with a pick up buoy. This was not possible immediately, as our dinghy was hanging at the stern, so we went back out to the marina entrance to lower the dinghy. Next, we had to try to locate the correct pick-up buoy, and were fortunate that a helpful Dutch man we’d seen in Cascais helped us to do this and secure the boat, since no-one from the marina appears ever to help with berthing. Our technique was not perfect but we have ideas for improvement !

Then we found we could not attach to shore power because our connector was the wrong size. The marina staff had no connectors for hire and simply told us that we needed to go a chandler y near Cais do Sodre station in the city centre. So after a very hasty bite to eat, we set off into central Lisbon. To cut a long story short, after visiting five chandleries and taking two train trips, we finally found what we needed in an excellent chandlery in Belem, west of the marina, and got back Minnie B at 2000. The chandlery is Lisnautica, on Rua da Junqeira, not listed in the pilot book, but the best chandlery we’ve found since arriving in Portugal.

We spent Tuesday and a good deal of Wednesday getting ready for daughter Julia’s arrival, as we needed to clear sufficient space for her to sleep and store her gear – when it’s just the two of us on board we manage to occupy pretty much every inch. We met her at the airport and it was lovely to see her. She’s with us for a week. We did sightseeing in Lisbon on Thursday, visiting the twelfth century Se (cathedral), the Moorish Castelo de Sao Jorge, and generally wandering the narrow streets  before lunch in the Alfama district. Lisbon is an exhausting place to walk – everywhere seems to be uphill – so in the afternoon we took tram 28 so we could explore the squares of Rossio and Praca de Figeira. We were very impressed with Lisbon’s public transport system and had bought 24 hour travel cards, which proved to be excellent value. The late afternoon saw us take the metro out to a gigantic shopping centre in the suburbs (‘Colombo’ at Colegio Militar), as we needed to buy a replacement printer for the computer, its predecessor having died on Wednesday.

On Friday, we took the tram to Belem, and had a great day, visiting the fabulous Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and lunching at the Antiga Confeitaria, reputed to bake the best custard tarts in Lisbon -we agree. The walk by the river is very pleasant, with three impressive monuments, the sixteenth century Torre de Belem, built to defend Lisbon’s harbour, the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, marking the triumphs of Portuguese explorers, and the Portuguese War Memorial.  Belem is also home to the Presidential Palace and has Life Guards at the entrance, but Horse Guards Parade and Whitehall it ain’t.  We completed our visit to Belem by calling at the Museum of Contemporary Art where there are works on display from Picasso, Warhol, Lichtenstein and our own Anthony Gormley.  It was by turns interesting, challenging, boring, rubbish and wow.  How it should be really.

The day was rounded off with a visit to the restaurant ‘Senhor Vinho’ in the Lapa district not far from where Minnie B was berthed.  This was chosen as we wanted to listen to some Fado music which the guidebook describes as “infused with Moorish song and the ditties of homesick sailors, bluesy, and bittersweet ...it encapsulates the Lisbon psyche like nothing else ... Recurring themes are love, destiny, death and the omnipresent (Portuguese) saudade or nostalgic longing for better times.”  We had five different singers (male and female) who, accompanied by two guitarists and a viola/mandolin player would sing three songs and then we would get on with stages of our meal.  The evening was really well structured.  The highlight was the Fado star Maria da Fe singing – she is also the owner of the restaurant.  We ate well, having a variety of fish and finishing with more pasteis – the custard tarts.  Two in one day!  We walked back to Minnie B through crowded streets and bustling bars.  We like Lisbon.

Saturday we sailed the 30nm from Doca de Alacantara to Sesimbra – motoring down the Tagus and most of the way to Cabo Espichel when we had enough wind to sail.  The low sandy coast to the north of Lisbon has given way to dramatic cliffs and the trees have become scrub.  It is getting hotter too – Lisbon was 33/34 degrees and it’s the same here, albeit a strong breeze kicks in around tea-time and cools things down a bit.