Peniche
Jigsaw
Thu 13 Sep 2007 11:56
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We have spent a week in the town of Peniche, a busy
fishing town about 50 miles North of Lisbon. Having arrived here under tow with
a busted gearbox, we were not in the best of humour when we arrived.
However, a week later and we have been pleasantly surprised by what
Peniche has to offer. The stay for a number of reasons has been
delightful; we have got to know the town reasonably well and the people that we
have met, particularly Antonio and his colleagues from the Brigada Fiscal
boat and the staff of the decorating firm Cortotal, with whom we had lunch
yesterday, have been fantastic fun. Sharing their humour and their take on
all things Portogese (including their love of sardines cooked with lots of
salt) over a few beers, has been a special feature of our time
here. The town has a stange quality to it, we keep finding other bits that we
were not aware of, like the Stella Maris Mission exhibition and the old
fishermans house. Good shopping facilities make it easy to supply the boat and
the restaurants do a good fish dinner!
For sun worshippers, and surfers, the beaches
are fantastic, long sandy and very uncrowded with very good waves for the body
boarders in the crew. It is now 11:20 and still foggy so another day in
Peniche beckons. This is not a massive problem, girls both working hard on
school work and adults doing boaty stuff. This includes talking to the
neighbouring boats about just how foggy it is and why it is far more sensible to
stay put and have another beer, rather than to venture out to sea in
the fog. One boat left at 06:30 and made 4 miles in two hours in thick fog,
headwinds with loads of mosquitos following the boat prompting a swift return,
leaving the venture to Cascais for another day.
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