Portugal

On Tuesday 20^th June we set sail from Baiona in calm seas, and after a few hours we crossed the border from Spain into Portugal. We were heading towards Porto, a journey of around 55 miles or 10 hours.

Unfortunately the marina near Porto couldn’t take a boat of our size, so rather than sailing up the river Douro we stopped 10 miles further north at a town called Leixoes. Our position in Leixoes marina was near to the outer harbour entrance and opposite a working dockyard, with boats being unloaded and shipping containers being unpacked throughout the day and night – interesting to watch and luckily not too noisy. The nearby town, Matosinhos, has a great fish market where we stocked up on provisions for a delicious Portuguese fish stew.

The next day we took the train from Matosinhos into Porto. Porto is a fascinating city full of history and beautiful architecture (and hills). We climbed the Torre dos Clerigos for a panoramic view, and walked across the Ponte Luis I bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia on the other side, home to many port producers. Back in Porto again we visited the bookshop where JK Rowling took inspiration for the Harry Potter books, during a two year stay in Porto while she was teaching English. Although the bookshop was beautiful, the queues to go inside were ridiculously long!

After a few days it was time to move further south again. We headed along the coast to Cascais, a smart resort which is around a 30 hour sail from Leixoes. We spent a few days anchored in the bay outside Cascais marina, which provided some shelter from strong winds.   

From Cascais we took a bus to visit Sintra, a picturesque old town in the hills where the Portuguese royal family lived (until they fled the country in 1910). We toured the colourful Pena Palace and the ancient ruins of a Moorish castle perched high in the hills.

The next plan was to get closer in to Lisbon, which from Cascais involved sailing a few miles up the Tagus river estuary. It was an amazing feeling sailing into a capital city, past Belem and the Monument to the Discoveries of the great Portuguese explorers and underneath the impressive 25^th April suspension bridge. We found a marina which is in between the suspension bridge and the city, giving us easy access to the city centre. From here we have travelled around Lisbon by tram through the narrow streets and by funicular up the numerous steep hills, taking in the architecture and the buzzing atmosphere of this lively city.

The next step on our route is to sail towards Spain again, but southern Spain this time, the bay of Cadiz. The trip should take us roughly two days and two nights non-stop. In this area there have been reported sightings of orcas which show interest in passing boats and have been known to cause damage to rudders and hulls. We are endeavouring to be careful and to keep close to the coast where possible. Hopefully we won’t see any orcas, and we’ll update the blog again when we reach our destination.