Very early morning on July 3, we departed Villamoura Marina. Once out of the marina, we encountered a strong, anything but warm north wind. We are headed to Cabo de Sao Vincente, the southeastern corner of Portugal. It is a forty mile voyage and we will work hard for it today!
We arrived before dark, anchoring in a bay of Sagres on the south side of the Cape, protected from the swells and wind. There were two other boats anchored as well and it soon became obvious that they too were headed north. Rob called them on the radio to talk weather and itineraries. All the weather info was correlated between the three boats and it did not look good for a morning departure...very high seas and winds (just around the corner!)
The next day we did stay at anchor waiting for the weather to get a bit better. It turned out to be a good relaxing day for us, even though the wind was howling outside. Our anchor was holding well, so we could just get on with things. Rob caught up on paper work and I caught up on the website journal.
At dawn, the three of us heading north decided to stick our noses out around the Cape to see if we could continue north. It was rough, but the winds were down a bit (as they are in mornings) so we all decided to continue up the coast, keeping in touch on the VHF radio as to changing conditions. It was sixty miles ahead of us before the next anchorage and we wanted to get there before dark. We motor-sailed with the main sail fully reefed facing swells up to 2-3.5 meters (6-12 feet). It was a long day, but through the radio, we spurred each other onward to the port of Sienes.
I have to say, the lighthouse at Cape Vincent is one of the most
formidable I have ever seen. It is the epitome of what a light house
should be...strong, bright, secure, beautiful. Rob said it is one of the
brightest lighthouses in the world. Being on the southwest corner of
Portugal, it would be one of the first lights one sees when coming east on this
part of the north Atlantic.
We made it to Sienes, and met the people we had chatted to on the radio, all congratulating ourselves on a job well done in difficult seas. The weather for the next day did not look good, but Rob and I still plan to head on north in the morning.
We left the other two boats taking our chance with the weather. It was not as bad as predicted so the voyage was comparatively calm but the large swell continued to keep us alert.
Approaching Lisbon by sea is quite special as well as a bit of a challenge. Lisbon is several miles from the sea on the river Tagus. Rivers tend to have shallow waters at their entrances, as well as strong currents and tidal influences. Rob did very careful homework to make our entrance as drama free as possible. I was on the look out for the buoys which guided us safely past the shallow shoals and kept us in the central channel. Large freighters come into this river, so there is plenty of water, but you have to plan it right.
As we approached the city we see the Tower of Belem an ornate fortress of the 16th century. Over the centuries, Portugal has produced some of the finest navigators and explorers of all time. In commemoration of this, an impressive monument to Henry the Navigator (built in the 60's) looks out to the river. There are twenty eight personages lined up behind Henry who contributed in some way to the discovery of new worlds.
Further up the river is the 24th of July Bridge looking very much like the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco. Made me a bit homesick! We soon entered a marina and after a bit of a hassle, found a fine berth where we felt comfortable.
Our friend Bob arrived from Florida to spend a few days with us. The three of us had a wonderful time discovering Lisbon and other delights of Portugal.
The first three days of Bob's visit, we were the perfect tourists visiting in depth the Tower of Belem, Henry the Navigator Monument, the Portuguese Maritime Museum and the tile museum. We wandered the steep streets of the city admiring the tiled fronted buildings, shaded parks and river/city views. We came across a beer festival in the fortress high above the city. We had local fare for lunch (sausages & beer or sausage soup) while enjoying music and other festivities of the day.
Some people do not care for Lisbon, but we found it a very interesting city. It has variety! The city, buildings and people have their own character without the cosmopolitan influence of other European cities. The multistoried buildings with fronts covered in tiles portray geometric designs which boggle the eye. The Portuguese tile work is exquisite. We found simple tile motifs to intricate tile work covering many meters of wall. These tile murals depicted religious scenes or stories of everyday life. We came across an especially beautiful one in a market hall.
We departed Lisbon and head to Cascais a town to the West of Lisbon. Anchoring in the bay was a bit windy, but secure. Renting a car gave us the opportunity to explore inland a bit.
Driving
along the windswept coast we went inland to Sintra,
one of the more well known towns of Portugal. We found out why it is so
popular....lots of trees, lovely villas, hills, views, good food and wine. On
top of the highest hill of Serra de Sintra is the Castle of
Pena, completed in 1885. This castle is an eclectic conglomeration
of architectural sytles...somewhat of a folly I would say!
While Bob enjoyed one of the cafes and people watching, Rob and I visited the Palacio Nacional de Sintra. This palace once belonged to the Moors (10th century) continuing on through many reigns of various Spanish and Portuguese kings and queens until it became a national monument in 1910. The Palace houses art, furniture, woodworks, tile work from the different occupants over the centuries. However the most famous part of the Palace is the kitchens, which have miraculous huge conical chimneys built in the 14th century.
We travelled on into the mountains stopping on the way to visit some palace gardens hidden away in the forest. Lovely walk...
then a lovely fish dinner before we drove back to Sea Fever.
We set sail the following day with a pleasant following wind heading south. We anchored in a small bay on the southern side of Cape Espichel for one night, then moved to anchor off the village of Sesimbra. The next day we went up the River Sado to Setubal and tied up in a marina.
We took a drive out to the Cape Espichel, a barren but spectacular landscape. A weather worn church and chapel look out on the Atlantic. Cape Espichel has a lovely lighthouse as well.
The next day was sadly the time for Bob to leave us and get to
the airport for his flight home. Bob is one of our most frequent guests
and we always love to have him on board. We hope to see him again in the
Caribbean!
Thanks Bob for coming to visit!
Rob and I sailed south along the southern coast of Portugal. We passed Cape St. Vincent again in much calmer weather than we had before.
There is a leak in one of our fuel tanks which we have to fix. It is a big job as most of the saloon will have to be torn apart to get to the tank. On our way from Gibraltar, we looked at several place to get the job done. We picked El Rompido (Spain) as there is a small yard on the Rio Peidras which seemed to have most of what we would need. Also, the mooring fee was very inexpensive. There is a haul out, also reasonably priced, if we need it. The village is small and low key, hard to find now a days on the Spanish coast!
There was not much I could do to help Rob and it is good for the skipper to have the boat to himself when he has major work to do. I went to visit my daughter in California to help her welcome my new grandchild. He was born the day after I arrived. My two granddaughters and I (and everyone else of course!) were thrilled to have a new baby Ryan in the Family.
Meanwhile, back at the River Piedras in Spain.. a fisherman not looking where he was going rammed the side of our bow square on at 15 knots speed. Sea Fever is on a mooring and it is a calm sunny day, Rob is in town. He comes back to find a huge gapping hole in our bow. This we do not need!!! To make a long story short, we ended up being on the hard getting the bow repaired for 6-8 weeks...not a happy time. But the job got done and we used the time well to do other jobs to keep Sea Fever sparkleling! The bow looks really good and is as strong as ever.
We happily departed the Rio Piedras on 21 September 2002 heading south west for the Madeira Islands.
