38:41.59N 09:24.88W Figueira da Foz to Nazare to Cascais & Photos
Gaudeo
John and Prue Quayle / John Quayle
Tue 28 Aug 2007 09:45
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26th August: Avoidance of overnight
sailing requires that all yachts on passage up and down this
coast stop off at Figueira da Foz where supply and demand economics dictate
exorbitantly high berthing fees and mediocre marina facilities. An
excellent market and huge attractive beach nearby are compensations but the
highlight for us was Mike Stanfield`s fantastic paella (it tasted even
better than the photos suggest) and the lovely evening we spent aboard
Bluefin.
27th August: To Nazare, 38 miles south, by
iron horse all day, the first time since Sada on the N coast of Spain,
arriving mid afternoon at a smallish marina, well managed by an eccentric,
elderly ex UK marine board officer, Captain Mike Hadley, and his equally
friendly and helpful wife, Sally who is an unpaid volunteer. Though they
have a house nearby, they live aboard their steel yacht which is a replica
of Joshua Slocum`s Spray. Before a heart attack and mild stroke, Mike had
worked for many years in Ramsey, Isle of Man. Given my father`s Manx origins
and the 15 consecutive, long summer holidays of my boyhood,
I enjoyed the reminiscence. For those who know little about
the I.O.M., it was the governing seat of the Vikings` control over all the
Western Isles, later becoming a paradise for off shore
smugglers and a continuous troublesome sore for the British exchequer
since as a tax haven, and fathering such illustrious characters as
Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh.
Although Nazare for us was merely to be a
convenient overnight stop to break up the long passage to more
interesting areas further south, it gave us our first experience of
relative warm bathing off a very pleasant town beach. It was however,
fairly steep and whilst there was little swell there was a strong under current
which explains why bathing can be hazardous along this coast - 5 people were
drowned off an adjacent beach last year.
28th August: Fog horns were sounding in the
early morning just before we left for the next longish - 68 miles - passage
to Cascais which is near to Lisbon. Prue even needed a sweater during the
morning which was another first; but not for long as the mist soon
cleared, giving a tranquil passage again by iron horse, enlightened by
identifying unfamiliar birds such as Cory Shearwaters and 'Wilson`s
Petrels, and a cheeky Pilot whale which popped up beside to say hello
- anything to distract Prue from beginning "War and Peace" which
has remained unread on so many earlier sailing holidays; yesterday it was
fender cleaning and you can`t get more desperate than
that.
One of the disturbing features as we move into
warmer climes is the increased density of buildings along
an otherwise increasingly attractive part of the coast. It makes
us especially appreciative of planning control and organisations such as
the National Trust in the
UK. |
