It's getting cold

Lera(hen3ry)
Malcolm Cann
Wed 7 Nov 2007 16:29
38 41.472N 09 25.148W

Figueira da Foz (I wish I could spell), another marina cut into the side
of a river, was quiet except for the occasional boat moving up and down the
river to the docks further up.If the boat was going down the river the wash
was directed straight into the marina and bounced the last two pontoons
about a bit, but not that badly. There was a corner shop style supermarket
pretty close but it had really quite a good stock. As I explored further I
found about three more of these style supermarkets and then there was the
big one, this was bordering on the style of Eroski in Santander but was much
too far from the marina if you have to make the trip every three days. The
town is picturesque with the usual share of notable churches, statues, and
pretty sea/river side walks and beaches, but it has one thing which made it
stand out, a coliseum(Bull ring) which has been used as recently as Aug this
year according to the posters and is well maintained and kept locked, so I
expect there will be more exhibitions there in the not too distant future.
Since I've been in Portugal I have seen more real bullfighting than I
saw at all in Spain. In Spain they have downgraded to a sport of making the
bull look stupid. They take the tips off their horns, and then goad them
into charging and get themselves out of the way somehow. The winner is the
one who does it most flamboyantly and with most style, in Portugal the
bulls are armed but will die at the end of the day, maybe damaging a
toreador in the process.
Come Monday Nov 5th I had had enough of Figueira so I awoke incredibly
early, got up at 0530 ( same time for us as for you now) and left the marina
at about 0730.
Initially there was some wind and I started romping along, dodging fishing
boats and pots as I went. The afternoon came and the wind went until finally
there wasn't any wind, motor along. After 12 hours I had covered 50 miles,
not bad, there's only 58 to go. I plodded all the rest of the way on the
engine. Before the wind had died I calculated I would arrive here at 0420 on
Tues, but ultimately I got here about 1000 on Tues, so it wasn't too bad. I
had a couple of moments on the way. A fishing boat came directly at me from
about two miles away, with miles of open sea around, he had right of way
except that at the time I was sailing, so I had right of way. He wasn't
playing by those rules so in the end I had to divert violently. The other
incident was weird, as I was approaching a fishing boat was tending his pots
so I passed him with loads of room to spare, shortly he came roaring past me
and stopped directly in front to tend some pots, I had to pass him again,
this time I chose the wrong side and was a lot closer. As I came up to him
on his stbd side they were waving arms and shouting something, I now assume
it was NO. As I passed him there was a bloke on the other side frantically
dumping pots back into the sea. I now assume I was crossing the line as they
were taking it in and was in danger of getting caught in it. I didn't and
nothing untoward happened so that's that.
I'm now in Cascais. The nighttime temp last night was about 15
considerably better than in Figueira when it was 8, daytime its getting to
25, and this is only 100 miles further south. There's a dedicated piece of
land with tarmac laid on it for the use of motor cars it called Estoril.
It seems to be another A Coruna and is a jump off point for Madiera and
The Canaries, so lots of visitors are here. I've seen at least three of the
boats before and some others which seem very familiar.
Once again there is no internet access, but they do have a good selection of
shops on site, with a mini mart, about 40000 bars and restaurants( don't
know how they all survive). I been to the village and found the local
supermarket(real one) and a Jumbo hypermarket, so food is not a problem. I
might stay a while and get the engine serviced and maybe the anemometer
working again.
We'll see!