On to Portugal: Povoa de Varzim & Porto

Amoret
Sat 27 Sep 2008 09:58

Baiona was enlivened by the company of others heading south, including Willum on Basjoc (single-handing his Maryland-based yacht) and Arnie & Sally (in a large catamaran named Salarn) who had come from Nova Scotia and were heading for Barcelona to be an exhibit in the boat show there. We spent an interesting and mildly horrific evening with them, first sharing their wine and cheese then using Amoret's old calor gas regulator (drilled out) and a calor-campingaz adaptor to build a chemical engineering plant that would transfer liquid propane from a european bottle into Salarn's american one. To our mild surprise we survived the night and found in the morning that the transfer had worked. Just before leaving we saw Arnie & Sally heading up the pontoon to get more supplies of propane!

Fearing that a further day in Baiona would mean having to eat another bargain lunch of chipirones (fried baby squid) and paella in one of the charming alleys shown in the photo, we headed off in light and variable winds and warm sunshine down the coast, hoisting the Portuguese courtesy flag as we passed the Rio Minho. We comfortably made it in daylight despite the best part of a knot of contrary current and a wall-to-wall display of pot floats and other fishing gear. Unusual wildlife was represented by a sunfish - a strange circular job that lies on its side on the surface ineffectually waving one pectoral fin in the air. Presumably the other one is doing something more useful under the water.

The harbour of the day was Povoa de Varzim, a well-protected affair with a fishing harbour at the downtown end and a comfortable marina further along. After gettting sorted, we headed for the nearby Clube Naval where beers are a euro each and the waitress never has change.

Part of the point of stopping at Povoa was that it is at the end of a new metro line to Porto. Our inability to handle the rather Oyster-style ticket system was sorted out by a couple of nice old guys, after which we enjoyed the cheap hour-long ride to the big city. Downhill seemed like the right way to reach the Rio Douro waterfront from Trindade station. On the way I surprised Liv by screeching to a halt, pointing into a shop widow and gibbering. Quite by chance we had stumbled over a shop specializing in water pumping equipment, and sitting in the window among much mightier machines was almost exactly the water pressurization pump that I needed to replace Amoret's item which had failed in Falmouth and proved irreplaceable there or in Camaret. (This morning was spent doing the necessary pipework modifications to instal it.) Though the pump was plainly the highlight of our visit to Porto, the city itself turned out to be delightful. A beer in a waterfront cafe was shortly followed by lunch. I had tripe and beans (a Porto speciality) while Liv had an excellent pork cutlet. Refuelled with this, we crossed the two-level bridge to the side where the port wine lodges operate. We felt that port-tasting in the afternoon would be a recipe for a headache in the evening, so we had a beer instead then re-crossed the river for a 50-min boat trip (yes, I know, we can't keep away from them). this was fun but revealed that one would be optimistic to try to moor a sailboat in Porto - unfriendly stone walls largely occupied by the grockle-boats, a current running at 5Kt or more and plenty of evidence that the Douro still serves as the sewer for Portugal's second city. 

Our trip back to Povoa during the rush hour got us back too late for the english-speakers' weekly barbecue, so we retired to the Clube Naval terrace (see pic) for an evening beer. 

As the marina lacks a diesel pump (planned for the last 8 years but not here yet, we topped up the tank with a couple of cans this morning and are about to set out for the filling station to get them refilled. We'll probably move on Sunday if the weather (which is currently hot and with only a moderate breeze varying between E and N) looks suitable.