Yesterday was not one of the best. Unfortunately, the sea state did not abate during the day which failed to bring the hoped for relief to those with the ‘mal de mar’. The swells passing under the stern made the galley only suitable for accomplished jugglers and I do not begin to qualify. First a... Continue Reading →

There is quite a lot to tell so this is an ‘intermediate’ blog whilst enjoying a summer of visits to the Algarve coast. Lagos proved to be something of a gem with excellent facilities, charming (if a little touristy) old town, an excellent chandler and superb beach. Following a brief trip back to ‘Blighty’ I... Continue Reading →

Would you believe that after my last missive off Cape St. Vincent, as we rounded the corner, the wind picked up and we had a short sail in flat water to cap off our cruise in the nicest possible way. We filled with diesel (for the nerds in the readership (?), we had used exactly... Continue Reading →

There is only the one practical port of refuge with a marina to break up the passage from Lisbon to the Algarve Coast and that is the shipping port of Sines. Thankfully, within the main arms of the port, EU funding has built a leisure harbour with an under-used marina. We were to be the... Continue Reading →

Our ‘lay day’ in Cascais was very welcome after relentless daily passages down the Iberian coastline. An unhurried reveille was followed by an amble through the pretty streets to the train station. There is a feeling of affluence to the town which appears to have an active fishing fleet while being a destination for the... Continue Reading →

While France was quite relaxed about paperwork (in contrast to 15 years ago), Spain and Portugal have been excessively bureaucratic, demanding ships details and copying the passports of the crew members – in every port. It has been conceded by several marina managers, when challenged, that it is an exercise in ‘jobs for the boys’.... Continue Reading →

Figueira da Foz was a very welcome destination after a pretty unpleasant, overcast day of motoring for over 60 miles into a headwind. The coastline south of Porto is just one long sandy beach and un-remittingly boring when you are just slowly plugging on. This was alleviated to some extent by a couple of episodes... Continue Reading →

Our passage from Viana do Castelo to Porto started in a promising fashion with good sailing in 14kts of wind – for 20 minutes! This was followed by a period of motoring on a glassy smooth sea. The clear water and smooth surface provided visibility as if through a pane of glass and this revealed... Continue Reading →