41:06.999N 008:43.000W
SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Fri 10 Aug 2018 10:07
Local time 0900
It is August 10th ( already) . Friday… Most of the people are looking forward weekend.
We — SV Eleonora and myself — are leaving the Leixoes, and set the sails towards Cascais. I’m not sure if we are going to make it in ‘one short’ or we will make a pitstop somewhere. We will see how the passage unfolding.
In my opinion — Leixoes is a bit ’strange’ place. At least for the cruising yachts.
The harbour is shared by multiple entities — big commercial port, gas and oil terminals, big fishing fleet harbour, big commercial cruising line ship terminal, and, finally, a marina for the the small cruising boats… The benefit of the multiple commercial entities — the infrastructure of the harbour itself is well maintained. It is noted to be one of the best — all weather opened — on the Portugal West coast. Indeed, we were there in a mild weather, during the summer. And I can only imagine what the winter storms may look like there.
The downside — from cruising yacht point of view — no matter how ‘deep’ you are at the anchorage part of the harbour, you are considered to be the nuisance for all those commercial activities — pilots boats, which are running just around, with no even thinking to slow down… marina, which is trying to force you to come into by refusing any services if you are not in… but at the same time — do not even listening that the boat may be too big for their place, and the skipper may have the problem to dock / or even to reach the dock…
My discovery has been — one have to be patient with the first impression which the port may bring over you. On the second glance — the picture is quiet different…
In general, the people are very friendly, and ready to help, to answer the questions, to give advice.
You can still drop the dinghy into marina — and explore the shore. And there is plenty what to explore… The place is about 15-20 minutes bus ride / metro ride from the Porto…
Probably, the city Porto is the must to see if somebody would like to explore Portugal…
The Matosinhos — the city where the Leixos port is — has a nice long beaches, all kind of shops, plenty of small restaurants… I’ve visited only one but if they are all similar… Well, you may stay here forever! ;-). And being close to the Douro Valley — guarantees no shortage of good local wines… ;-)
There is some traffic of cruising boats passing by… But at this point fo the year — seems to be not too much. Which may influence the marina business… but seems do not effect the local businesses… It is still the ’tourist season’.
For the reasons, related to Montreal, I stayed at the place a bit longer then it was initially planned. But no regrets at all — got some rest, some recovery from the previous passage. Finally, we are on the move again! ( Thank for my good friends in Montreal, who took care about the issues and helped to resolve them! )
We left Leixoes today morning.
At first, I was thinking to leave yesterday… But it was consistently blowing 18-19kts in the harbour… The forecast has been — should calm down to 10 knots by the morning…
Which influence my decision — to stay one more night at the anchor…
At seven o’clock in the morning — indeed, the wind calmed down… even further then ’no suitable winds for sailing’… Flat water, and only the seagulls are making some ripples here and there, anticipating the return of the fishing boats… A nice blue sky, with no clouds… Sun… Is it warm? I do not know… The previous day Northerly wind has brought some cold air… And being in warm socks, two layers of shirts — I’m feeling comfortable working on the deck, preparing to leave…
By 8 o’clock — as the first fishing boats started to return to harbour, the wind started to appear… Very light, about 3-4 kts… But I already learned the trick — it seems to be the sign that the wind is coming back shortly. Time to leave…
By 0830 — we are out of the harbour. The sails are up… We are in front of the biggest beach in Leixoes area… It is already feeling with the people… Some are walking and doing the exercises, some are taking the early morning Sun bath… some are enjoying swimming… I’m on the deck, just finished to raise the sails and settling the boat to move… I’m feeling comfortably warm, in my warm socks, boots, shirt, light sweater… Something is wrong with that picture… I would definitely do not want to swim… even if I have a choice to be on the beach…
The wind is picking up slowly… For a change, it is coming from the right direction… About 10+ kts — as now…
We are sailing towards our next destination — Cascais…. Kind of the middle point of the Portugal coast…
Everything is OK, and we are happy to sail again!
Talk to you soon,
M.