News from Caladh

Baiona to the Algarve

We weighed anchor in Baiona just after 9am on 27 July to sail south towards the Portuguese border and into the port of Viana do Castelo, a passage of about 40 miles. Although it was sunny when we left Baiona, it soon clouded over and became grey and showery. The forecast was for a westerly wind force 3-5 but we found it funnelling straight up the coast. The predominant winds are from the north, so with no making tack going south we ended up motoring into a head wind and lumpy sea making for a slow and rather tedious passage. Our arrival in Portugal lacked the sunshine and blue skies we had anticipated for as we moored on the reception pontoon at Viana do Castelo the heavens opened and it rained heavily for much of the evening. Nonetheless it felt good to be in Portugal. Viana has a small marina lying between a modern lifting footbridge and an impressive steel road/rail bridge designed by Gustav Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame.

Eiffel's bridge at Viano do Castelo

The staff were charming and helpful and made us feel very welcome. The next day dawned bright and sunny and we spent an enjoyable day exploring the attractive old town and taking a funicular railway up to a large church high above the town, whose design is based upon Sacre Couer in Paris. From here there were spectacular views of the coast and surrounding countryside.

The following day we enjoyed a gentle downwind sail 21 miles along the coast in warm sunshine and a gentle north westerly wind to our next port of call, Povoa de Vazim. Nonetheless, care is needed on any passage along this coast due to the large number of fishing pots laid, including in surprisingly deep water well offshore. Povoa has a sizeable but very quiet marina with lots of space and good facilities. It also has a noticeable English community with a number of yachts having been there many weeks or months and in some cases, years. This must be due to its very competitive rates which, at 12 euros a night in high season and cheaper if you stayed longer, were the best value all season. Povoa is a busy seaside resort with a long sandy beach, large casino and sizeable fishing fleet reminding us a bit of Deauville and Trouville in Normandy, although not so upmarket!

Oporto

We planned to stay a few days because Povoa is at the end of the excellent metro into Oporto and conveniently situated for visiting the City. We loved Oporto. Its historic centre has been declared a World Heritage site and is a fascinating maze of narrow, winding, steep streets topped with red tiled buildings leading down to the river Douro, spanned by a number of impressive bridges. On the south bank lie all the Port wine houses. Fortified by a lunch of the local speciality of salted cod, we enjoyed a very pleasant tour of the cellars of one of the port distributors, Offely, rounded off by port tasting of course! We did of course have an Offely good time ……

While in Povoa we also experienced the Nortada for the first time. This is the Portuguese trade wind which blows north down the coast for much of the summer, particularly in periods of high pressure and often reaches force 6-7 in the late afternoon, making for fast passages and exciting arrivals in unfamiliar marinas and harbours! It was with this wind blowing that we had a fast, brief downwind passage to Leixoes, some 16 miles south of Povoa. Leixoes is a large commercial harbour serving Oporto with a small crowded marina but surprisingly it still has a good anchorage inside the high harbour wall and we spent the next 2 nights there. It was breezy, with winds gusting up to 30 knots, but with flat water and good shelter and holding, we were very comfortable. Our original plan was to spend one night there but we awoke the next morning to thick fog (another occasional hazard of the Portuguese coast in summer) and decided to go back to bed! It was foggy again the next morning but by 11am it had cleared and we weighed anchor and motored out of the harbour, manoeuvring carefully not to impede a large tanker trying to enter the busy harbour. However as we motored away from the coast the fog came down again and visibility reduced to less than 100 metres. We put on our radar to monitor the movement and position of other boats but nonetheless had close encounters with 2 fishing boats racing back into Leixoes with their catches at a speed of about 25 knots. Thankfully after an hour or so the sun came out and the fog cleared and it turned into a hot, windless day when only the motor got any use. After 34 miles we reached Aveiro.

The Portuguese coast here is long, straight and flat and navigation is straightforward. However, entering some harbours can be challenging when there is any offshore swell due to their narrow, shallow entrances. The pilot book warns that Aveiro can be dangerous to enter as the entrance is shallow and windswept with shifting sandbars and strong tides, which can whip up a vicious sea in any swell.  However this day the conditions were benign, despite a strong tide running into the entrance at 3-4 knots. We were soon anchored off Sao Jacinte, a small sheltered and quite busy anchorage within a somewhat industrial landscape of oil refineries and commercial shipping. It also has an active local population of fishermen who fish at the river mouth in small motor boats and we were awakened in the morning before first light by their noise and wash as they buzzed out of the anchorage at speed. We were keen to press on south and once the early morning mist lifted we pulled up our anchor and motored down the river. It was another day of light winds and we motored until off Cabo Mondego when the wind filled in enough to sail the last 10 miles to Figueira da Foz. Figueira is a nice town and has a pleasant but surprisingly expensive marina (28 euros a night compared to an average of 18 – 20 euros or sometimes less on this coast.) However we needed to do shopping and laundry so splashed out on a 2 night stay.

The following day was forecast to have a good breeze of north force 4-5, occasionally 6 in the afternoon so we rose early and motored out of Figueira at 7.30am in company with a number of other yachts. The wind was already blowing north-west force 4-5 so we decided to run downwind on the genoa alone. It turned out to be a lively sail in a fresh breeze which whipped up a 2-3 metre swell and a large following sea. Nonetheless it was good to sail after doing a lot of motoring on our last couple of passages. The sun was out and after an enjoyable 7 hours we reached Nazare, a seaside resort and fishing harbour 31 miles further south. Nazare is surrounded by high cliffs and as we took down our sail and surfed through the harbour entrance the wind gusted up to 25 knots, making berthing a challenge. Nazare marina is quite small and busy but we found a spot alongside a French catamaran on the hammerhead of one of the pontoons.

Fishing boat arriving at Nazare

Although it was not an ideal berth, later arrivals were being turned away so we were pleased to be in. The marina is not picturesque, being located alongside the fish dock and warehouses, where boats come in at all hours to land their catch which is immediately auctioned – interesting to watch but very noisy late into the night.

The marina is also very bureaucratic in its administration. The pilot books warn about Portuguese bureaucracy but other than having to show boat papers and passports at every port of call, we had not found it an issue so far. However at Nazare we were required to register separately with the marina office, passport control and the customs and excise. Marina fees had to be paid at a fourth location. We didn’t encounter this anywhere else and never really fathomed out why it was not more efficiently managed with sharing of information as elsewhere.

However, despite the frustrations, we spent a pleasant day exploring the hilltop village of Sitio, where we had an excellent lunch in a fish restaurant and enjoyed beautiful views of the coast and hills beyond.

Coastline near Nazare

The following day we sailed on to Peniche, another fishing port where we stopped overnight before heading south again towards the Tejo river and Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. It was a long and not very pleasant passage of about 50 miles in cloud, rain, several thick fog banks and no wind, only enlivened by visits from 2 groups of dolphins, who continue to be a common sight down this coast. The other highlight was rounding Cabo Roca, which lies just north of the Tejo River and is the most westerly point in mainland Europe. We decided to spend a few days in Oeiras, a seaside resort near Estoril about 5 miles outside Lisbon, where the marina had been recommended to us. It was very pleasant with excellent facilities and helpful, friendly staff and we spent an enjoyable few days there. This included taking a bus to Sintra, a hill top village where the Portuguese royal family used to spend their summers escaping from the heat of Lisbon and where there are several interesting historic palaces to visit.

Ponte 25 de Abril in Lisbon

Lisbon

We had been warned that the main visitors’ marina, Doca de Alcantra in Lisbon, was very noisy with bars and cruise liners berthing nearby and that the other local marinas rarely had spare berths. However as this was August it transpired that many local boats were away on holiday and spaces were more readily available. We were therefore able to secure a berth in the Doca de Belem, located in the Belem district of the City. This is a very pleasant area with a number of museums, historical monuments, a beautiful monastery and a large park nearby. Lisbon has excellent public transport and it is easy to get into the City Centre by tram, bus or train and we enjoyed several interesting if tiring days exploring the capital. It is a busy, lively and attractive city but after a while we wanted more peace and quiet so after 4 nights we sailed back down river to Cascais, a seaside resort at the mouth of the Tejo. A fresh breeze was blowing up the river so we had a lively beat into the harbour where we were able to anchor off the town beach. Cascais marina seems to be the haunt of the local wealthy boat owners – it charges 39 euros a night for a 10 metre yacht and is full of enormous motor boats. However the anchorage was free and comfortable even in winds gusting up to 30 knots and we enjoyed a relaxing couple of nights recovering from sightseeing overload!

Finally we felt it was time to leave the Tejo River and head further south, so the following morning we were up at 6.30am for a 50 mile passage down to Sines. As we headed across the mouth of the Tejo the wind was already gusting up to 20 knots with a forecast of north force 4-5 winds, occasionally 6 in the afternoon, so we set off under reefed sails. However the wind must have just been funnelling down the river and within 20 minutes the wind died away to almost nothing and we were motoring again! However by late morning it had freshened to the promised force 4-5 and came round dead astern so we put a preventer on the boom and ran downwind on the mainsail. With a 2-3 metre swell, a lively following sea soon built up and we surfed down the waves towards Sines. Sines is another commercial harbour with an oil refinery and container terminal so as we closed the harbour in an ever freshening breeze there were several large ships manoeuvring. However we managed to enter the outer harbour safely ahead of them and hardening up the sails, we roared into the inner harbour with the wind gusting up to 25 knots. This made for a challenging entrance into a very tight berth but with help from the friendly marina staff we were safely tied up by 17.30 in time for a reviving cup of tea!

Although Sines is a commercial harbour none of this is visible from the inner harbour which has an agreeable marina, surprisingly good beach and old town above, dominated by a large Moorish castle. The town is well off the tourist trail and we enjoyed a relaxing few days there before our last major passage of this cruise, rounding Cabo de Sao Vicente to reach the Algarve. Our planned passage to the anchorage at Sagres was just less than 60 miles (rather than 76 if we continued all the way to Lagos) so we left Sines at 6am before it was light and motored out of the harbour, keeping a careful eye out for large ships, the fishing fleet and most hazardous of all, the ever present fishing pots. The forecast was for north force 4-5 winds but for much of the day the wind didn’t exceed force 2-3 and we motor sailed all the way to the Cape. It was only when we hardened up onto a beam reach to round the huge cliffs of Cabo de Sao Vicente that the wind freshened quickly to be gusting force 5-6 by the time we reached Sagres. The bay below the cliffs where the Portuguese explorer, Henry the Navigator established his school of navigation in the 15^th century is a popular anchorage for boats heading both north and south and there were another 8 or 9 boats anchored there. However sheltered it was not! The stiff breeze was gusting off the cliffs and blew hard until the early hours of the morning. We put out 50 metres of chain and were secure on our anchor but during the night a noticeable swell came into the bay and we had the most uncomfortable night we have had all season! We were up early in the morning and keen to leave for Lagos as soon as possible, a short and uneventful passage of 17 miles. Lagos has a good and popular, if expensive marina at 38 euros a night – comparable with some UK south coast ventures. We visited the town many years ago and liked it but this time found its busyness and abundance of mainly English tourists a bit of a culture shock after the quieter less touristy harbours of the west coast of Portugal. After three nights we were pleased to move on just 5 miles to Alvor where we have been anchored in the harbour for the last few days. It’s lovely here. The harbour is very tidal and at low water many sand spits appear and local fishermen and women come out to dig for razor-clams, clams and winkles as well as long lugworms for bait. Today we tried our hand at digging for clams and we successfully did so, enough for a tasty lunch for 4 people. A similar amount in a local supermarket cost upwards of 7 euros.

Caladh at anchor in Alvor

Fishing for razor clams at Alvor

We plan to spend the next 2 – 3 weeks exploring the Algarve which as well as having plenty of large expensive marina’s which we hope to avoid, also has some interesting and unspoilt anchorages. We hope to get as far as the Guardiana River at the Portuguese/Spanish border before laying up for the winter back in Faro and returning to the UK in mid-October. 

Although not without its challenges we’ve very much enjoyed our cruise of the Spanish and Portuguese coast. We have also met lots of interesting people and enjoyed spending time in their company – fellow sailors from as close to home at Portsmouth and as far away as the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. We particularly enjoyed meeting the crew of Arco Iris III who were all the way from Tokyo and gently cruising the Portuguese coast. The skipper Kakimi was en-route for somewhere but it was forever changing! His friends from Japan came out to crew for sometimes as little as a week at a time. In Lagos we enjoyed a very interesting evening of cultural exchange including eating various sushi dishes prepared by his wife on board their Dufour 39. We have also seen two other Victorias on our travels. In Pavoa we met fellow Victoria 34 owners in Babilonia who were heading north from the Med and in Lagos saw a beautiful Victoria 38 Tamar Swallow, although its crew was not on board when we were there. 

Next year we look forward to continuing our travels east into the Mediterranean towards Greece and Turkey. 

Simon and Jo