Cascais to Portimao

Hi everyone,

We retired and moved to the Algarve!  Or more accurately we retired and, so far, have sailed to the Algarve.  We arrived in Portimao this morning after an overnight sail from Cascais.

Kazi the WindPilot in control

Here are the plots...

Track

Arrival Track Detail

Graphs

And here are the vital stats for the passage…

    • Distances/Speeds

        • Route Distance = 136nm

        • Logged Distance = 121nm (log still under-reading)

        • GPS Distance = 148nm

        • Duration = 26.5 hours

        • Average speed over ground = 5.6 kt

        • Minimum boat speed = 3 kt

        • Maximum boat speed = 8 kt

    • Weather

        • Minimum wind speed = calm

        • Average wind speed = 18 kt

        • Maximum wind speed = gusts to 32 kt

        • Apparent wind angle range = 50 to 160

        • Seas up to 1.5m NW

        • Swell up to 1.5m NW

        • Cloudless throughout!

    • Engine

        • Total = 6 hours

We departed at 0900 yesterday.  The winds in the bay were light and we motored for 1.5 hours to get clear of the cape and into the wind.  For the rest of the day it was champagne sailing with a 15 knot NNW breeze and slight seas.

The weather was so good the AIS range was unusually high.  We could see ships 80nm away.

AIS range up to 80nm

As predicted, the wind picked up overnight.  We gradually reefed and furled down to 2 reefs (trisail size) and 3 furls in the yankee.  The sea state was a little nasty at times, especially when the wind veered to the north, setting up seas no longer aligned with the NW swell.

We gybed our way downwind, staying east of most of the traffic.  In the evening the night sky was wonderful.  Time to learn a few more constellations.  At 2330 a 3/4 moon rose and lit up the night nicely for us.

We approached Cape St Vincent in the morning twilight.  By then the wind was decreasing and we ended up under full sail as we passed south of the cape in the early morning light.  It's an impressive cape.

Cape St Vincent from the South

From the cape we headed ENE towards Portimao, staying offshore to avoid several charted fish farm areas.  There were quite a few fishing floats around too, including some in pairs perhaps supporting nets.

Reaching towards Portimao in vanishing breeze

Soon the wind died to a dead calm so we motored along gently to complete our passage.  Portimao harbour includes several anchorages as well as a marina.  We toured the harbour before selecting where to anchor for the night.

Entering Portimao harbour

Inside the harbour

Portimao looks like a busy little town with a lot of beaches and tourist facilities.  In our anchorage there's one very large yacht and one very large motor yacht, plus an assortment of regular yachts.

Interesting buildings and nice beaches

The sun is actually pretty warm here.  At last!!!  The temperatures are still in the 20s but we'd burn rapidly without sunscreen.

Anchored and boom tent out!

Trust all's well where you are!

Cascais and Lisbon

Hi everyone,

We spent two nights in Cascais marina.  One day was spent looking around Cascais and another visiting Lisbon.

Superyachts in Cascais Marina

Within the marina complex there are an array of cafes, restaurants and bars, marine service workshops, a travel-lift etc.  Some seriously big yachts are berthed here.  Any marina featuring a helipad probably caters for superyachts, and there's one here.

Refreshments at one of the cafes in Cascais Marina

Cascais's waterfront area is nicely done.  Touristy but clean and tidy.  Lots of interesting memorials and statues, and some interesting buildings.  There are several nice-looking beaches which appear to be very popular.  There's a significant expat community and an array of English-style pubs in town.

One of many statues in Cascais

Peninsula War memorial

Colourful Cascais waterfront

English-style Pubs in Cascais

Cascais is at the end of a rail line to Lisbon.  It's a 40 minute ride into the city.  From the Cas Do Sodre station in Lisbon we walked along the sea-front past an array of impressive government buildings and large squares.

Cascais - Lisbon Train

Spectacular Portuguese Government buildings in Lisbon

One of the waterside squares in Lisbon

There were several canned fish shops - the Portuguese are very proud of their fishing heritage.  This time we went in and bought some produce.

Canned fish goods store in Lisbon

In amongst the government buildings was a very old church.  Unlike parts of the building the facade had survived earthquakes.  Very ornate carvings in the stone.

Church facade

Inside the rebuilt church

We walked up the hill into central Lisbon through lanes of old houses with tiled facades.  We eventually got to the cathedral which was well worth the 5 Euro entry fee.

Inside Lisbon Cathedral

Inside Lisbon Cathedral

Inside Lisbon Cathedral

Saintly Artifacts in Lisbon Cathedral

Lisbon faces south across the North Atlantic.  The views from the hills are pretty.

View from a hill in Lisbon

We continued walking up to the fort.  Nearby we found a small cafe for lunch.  Very nice, especially the sangria!

Refreshments in Lisbon

After lunch we walked across to a tram route and caught a tram to Bairra Alta, the old part of town.  Lots of impressive squares, boulevards and shopping areas along the way.  We came across a steep tram line which takes passengers up a steep hill.

Special 'high rise' tram - we walked!

In Bairra Alto we paused at a cafe on 'pink street' for a coffee.

Pink Street in Bairra Alta in Lisbon

From there it was back to Cas Do Sodre and a train back to Cascais.  We did a bit more exploring on our way back to the marina, discovering more pedestrian lanes with posh shops and nice cafes.  The patterned stones fool the mind into thinking the surfaces is curved but it ain't!

Back in Cascais

Cascais town museum

Cascais Marina

Last night we met John, the OCC's Cascais Port Officer.  He'd been helpful in confirming we were welcome to visit Cascais and it was good to buy him a beer.

We also met Ian of sv Thistle Doo.  He's been in the marina for a month or more.  We first met Ian in Gosport over the winter.  He's preparing his boat for a single-handed trans-Atlantic.

Today we had another walk around Cascais and found the Wednesday morning fresh food market.  Nice produce at very good prices.  From there we made our way to the Aucham hypermarket before heading back to Zen Again.

Cascais fresh food market

Zen Again is now out of the marina and at anchor just outside.  Hoping to head south to the Algarve when weather permits.  Cascais was a great stopover and a good place from which to visit Lisbon.

Leixoes to Cascais

Hi everyone,

Gday from Cascais!  We had a good sail south from Leixoes.  No motoring.  Broad reached all the way.  Pretty sloppy at times but we got the job done.  The Med isn't feeling far away any more!

In traffic on Sunday morning

Here are the plots...

Track

Arrival Track Detail

Graphs

And here are the vital stats for the passage…

    • Distances/Speeds

        • Route Distance = 170nm

        • Logged Distance = 157nm (log still under-reading)

        • GPS Distance = 177nm

        • Duration = 32 hours

        • Average speed over ground = 5.5 kt

        • Minimum boat speed = 4 kt

        • Maximum boat speed = 8 kt

    • Weather

        • Minimum wind speed = 8 kt

        • Average wind speed = 20 kt

        • Maximum wind speed = gusts to 29 kt

        • Apparent wind angle range = 100 to 160

        • Seas up to 1.5m NW

        • Swell up to 1.5m NW and W

        • Cloudy initially, clearing up to clear skies with scattered small cumulus

    • Engine

        • Total = 1 hour

We departed at 0800 under scattered low and mid-level cloud and a high-level overcast.  The term 'anti-cyclonic gloom' comes to mind.  But there was a nice NNW breeze of about 10 knots, just enough to get Zen Again sailing nicely on a broad reach, bringing the apparent wind forward almost to the beam.

Morning departure under cloudy sky

There's always traffic moving in Leixoes!

Broad reaching under single-reef and yankee

As the day progressed the cloud moved off until by mid-afternoon the sky was clear.  The wind increased to 15G20 in the afternoon.  We tucked in a second reef (trisail size) and furled/unfurled the yankee to suit.  The seas got up too, making it a rolly ride even on a broad reach.  Reminded us of the southern Indian Ocean.  There were definitely two distinct swell trains running - NW and W(ish) which was ugly.  The sea state also varied a lot with water depth - much smoother when off-soundings.

We saw a few fishing floats initially but then very very few until we were approaching Cascais.  We deliberately sailed out into deeper water.

Clear sky at sunset

Overnight the winds peaked at 25G30.  We though the sea state worse than those winds suggest but Zen Again handled it well.  So did the crew, but it wasn't much fun!

By Sunday morning we were well offshore and getting into the shipping lanes.  We wanted to stay well clear of Cabo Carvoeiro and its off-lying islands.  There's an amazing undersea canyon here which narrows the continental shelf from 30nm to less than 10nm.  Apparently it can really mess up the sea state so we didn't want to go there.

We timed out gybe to take us inshore of the Traffic Separation Zone off Cabo de Roca.  As one approaches Cascais from the north one seas a high cape from far off.  This isn't Cabo Raso, but rather the land behind Cabo de Roca.  Cabo Raso is further south and much less prominent.

Cabo de Roca (Cabo Raso to the right)

Once around Cabo Raso its a short distance to Cascais and the marina.  The winds abated but were gusty as they came over the low cape.  We anchored E of the marina.  Being a sunny Sunday afternoon the beaches were busy, yachts were out for a sail and fleets of dinghies were out in the bay.

Cascais marina entrance from the anchorage

We expect to go into the marina for a few nights.  It'll be good to catch up with sv Thistle Doo.  We met Ian in Gosport over the winter.

Leixoes and Porto

Hi everyone,

We enjoyed two nights in Marina Porto Atlantico in Leixoes.  This gave us two full days to explore the area.  On day 1 we explored the local town.  On day 2 we explored Porto.

Sandeman Port Logo

The town of Leixoes is essentially a suburb of Porto.  It has all the facilities a yachtie might need - supermarkets, bakeries, cafes, laundromats and banks.  Leixoes is a busy commercial port, catering for oil (there's a large refinery just outside town), containers, general cargo and cruise liners.  There's a large area of dock set aside for import of wind turbine blades.

Church in the centre of Leixoes

Old fort adjacent to the marina

We had a very nice lunch at a cafe in the 'lanes' between the marina and the centre of Leixoes.  The staff spoke no English but luckily people on the next table could help.  We had sardines and octopus dishes with a Portuguese wine.

Lunch in Leixoes

In the evening we walked north along the coast.  There's a very nice promenade with modern apartment buildings above touristy shops.  There are a set of sandy beaches between rocky outcrops.  It reminded us of parts of the WA coast.  But then we noticed the sand wasn't entirely natural - looks like they dump truck loads of the stuff to maintain the beaches!  Lots of ice cream vendors.

Boa Nova lighthouse

View from north towards Leixoes

On day 2 we caught a bus into Porto.  The bus stop is right outside the marina and took us into downtown Porto.  We enjoyed walking around the centre of the city.  Unfortunately it was cloudy so the photos weren't great.  It cleared up steadily.

The Portuguese love their sardines.  We found several shops dedicated to them in the centre of town...

Sardine shop

We had a look at the railway station.  Imposing but not ornate outside, but the foyer was grand.  The Portuguese like their tiles...

Porto Railway Station foyer

The tiling extends to the outside of all sorts of buildings, from regular houses to government buildings to churches...

Tiled apartment building

More tiled apartments

Tiled church

We visited a famous 1800s library in the centre of town - Libraria Lello e Irmao.  It is quite spectacular inside...

Staircase in Libraria Lello e Irmao

From Porto we walked to the Douro River and across the Don Luis I bridge to Villa Nova de Gaia.  The bridge is quite high and provides a great view up and down the river.  The architect also designed the Eiffel Tower.  It'd be exciting walking across in a high wind - I'd recommend the metro which crosses here in that situation!

View back to Porto from the bridge

View of Gaia and its port cellars from the bridge

View downriver

Don Luis I bridge

From the bridge we walked down to the river front.  This is where all the port wine is unloaded and cellared after coming downriver from the wineries in the Douro Valley.  The river front is very nice with many cafes, restaurants and of course the 'caves' where the port is cellared.

We had a good lunch on the river front and then discovered the caves were all closed for another hour.  Oh well, we just found another cafe and did a port tasting there (with a cheese platter).

Port tasting while waiting for ... Port Tasting!

We chose Sandemans for a tour.  Due to Covid it was just the two of us on our tour, instead of at least a dozen.  The guide was very good and we learned a lot about the industry and Sandemans.  Their cave is extensive and houses port wines up to a century old...

Sandemans Cave lobby

In the Cave

Tasting the goods

From the cave we walked back to Porto, this time taking the lower level of Dom Luis 1.  The waterfront of Porto is packed with restaurants and cafes, with buskers providing a great atmosphere.

We caught a bus along the riverside and up the coast back to Leixoes.  We hopped off at Foz de Douro for a walk on the sea front and an espresso.

It was worth stopping in Porto.  It's a nice city but the port makes it a must-see!  I'd recommend Leixoes over the marina in the Douro River since the former has all-weather access.