Once out past the headland just to the west of Baiona we started our journey south ensuring we were at 20 metres or less as much as possible. Sometimes this looked like we could touch the shore but was in fact at least a half mile offshore. The prevailing winds down the coast are from the north and so close in meant any breeze was very light… you guessed it more motoring!
Our first stop was Póvoa da Varzim which we first visited back in 2018. Back then the marina was scruffy and in need of major renovations but it was extremely cheap due to an ARC discount of 50%. There were plans for a new marina right next to the casino and we were interested to see how it looked 5 years later. Having called on the radio to ask for berthing instructions, the marineros came out to meet us and guide us into the new marina…. With fingers of about 7 metres meaning half the boat was stuck out. The berths were very tight indeed & our beam meant another boat couldn’t have shared the same space. The marineros were very helpful speaking excellent English and once we’d tied up and settled in he said he’d come back in his boat to take us to the reception. It then dawned on us that the office and facilities block were still in the old marina, this brand new one had nothing AND was a good 20 minute walk away!!! All the staff were extremely helpful and embarrassed at the setup hoping every visitor would complain. I asked who I should complain to and she laughed and said “the Mayor” 😂
We stayed for 2 nights giving us the opportunity to do some provisioning & pick up a unlimited data SIM card for the router (40€). There’s been uncontrolled wild fires in the area and the smoke filled the horizon. On our first night an air raid siren went off which after some research was a call for every retained firefighter in the town to attend their fire station!! I told Charlotte that the siren took me back to my childhood when our local air raid siren would be tested. This was sadly at the height of the Cold War between the west & the old Soviet Union 😳
Having sent an email to the Douro marina in Porto to check for availability for us & Jeremy (Right Turn) we booked in for 4 nights. We’d not been here before & having read about the strong currents in the river on approach to the marina, were a little apprehensive. In the end it was a piece of cake as we were given a hammerhead berth!
Whilst there Jeremy and I had a boys day out including a free port tasting session at Taylor’s house courtesy of the marina, a few drinks & dinner in the old fishing village which was amazing.
Saying goodbye to Porto we continued south stopping briefly in Figuero da Foz, Nazare & Peniche. Nazare was a surprise, we didn’t stop there in 2018 but decided to this time to break the trip up. Very helpful marineros, great holiday town with a lovely Irish bar together with live music made it well worth the stop over. Climbing over the security gate to get back to our boats at 11pm wasn’t ideal though. Our access cards wouldn’t work !!!
Oh & Nazare is the place where the tallest wave in history ever surfed is. Over 85 feet high 😳
Peniche was as expected in that it was and is only good for (in our opinion) the shortest possible stay. We arrived on a holiday so there was no way to actually leave the marina… such as it was, as nobody was there to check us in!! We left at 7am the next morning & as there wasn’t even a security guard on duty through the night, we didn’t pay anything.
Back in 2018 we spent almost a week in Cascais using it as a base to explore Lisbon. Once again we wanted to spend a few days in this very upmarket resort. As we rounded the final headland before Cascais the promised wind arrived and screamed along at at steady 9-9.5 knots which was very exciting.
Cascais didn’t disappoint & we stayed for 6 nights feeling quite at home anchored just outside the very expensive (too expensive for us) marina. The day before we left, fog hit and boy was it thick. We couldn’t see yachts anchored next to us, so used the app what3words and a compass to get ashore!
Forcing ourselves to leave Cascais was a 43 mile sail to stop overnight at Sesimbra. It should’ve been 30 miles but due to Orca activity increasing we had to stay extra close to the shore meaning we had to go around the bay. We didn’t go ashore as we were leaving early in the morning so can’t comment on the town but it was certainly a tourist town & very busy too.
Waking up early in the morning we were greeted with thick fog. The forecast was for it to clear within 2-3 hours so I was quite happy to get going to reach Sines, the last stop on the west coast of Portugal. This was the first time we’d had the radar on continuously as visibility was extremely poor. Radar picked up “targets” and displayed them on the chart plotter giving us time to alter course as necessary. It was quite bizarre because most targets were actually small pleasure boats with locals fishing….. in the fog !!! As forecast, the fog lifted after 3 hours, but not as forecast it came back in earnest about an hour before we were due to arrive in Sines, a huge commercial port with a very small harbour for yachts to anchor in.
Together with radar, chart plotter & straining eyes, we slowly passed the breakwater at 50 metres (not that we saw it) & turned into the huge commercial harbour en route to the anchorage. Luckily as we were about to enter & as we were saying “how are we going to see yachts anchored?” The fog lifted and we had a clear approach in…. Phew ! Jeremy followed within 10 minutes and declared he was not happy with the fog 😂.
Next stop would be the Algarve…
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