Atlantic Portugal from Oporto to Cape St Vincent stretches 300 miles and Adventuress handled easily the swells and the vagaries of useful to useless winds. This is an unforgiving coast and so one plans the stepping stones of sheltered ports quite carefully.
Figueira de Foz was one such sheltered harbour, and had a handy market across the street from our berth. This is excitement for us! A real market, with everything you could possibly want, including fishmongers, butchers, cheese and wine shops. And a sunny cafe with umbrella shades just outside, where we recovered with an expresso and cake after some serious provisioning.
Nancy's rose (note the fancy vase!) being upstaged by .....what? Look at the shape over the skipper's right shoulder.....
.......to see a pigeon! Now here happened a sequence of puzzling events: first came two, flying around us as we sailed about 5 miles offshore, before the cheeky blighters landed on top of Nancy's beautifully crafted dodger (English: "sprayhood"). Well, the Admiral was sleeping below so the skipper had a free hand to shoo them away, A minute later they landed on the back of the dinghy! There they rode for half an hour, before hopping down into the dinghy to shelter from the 18 knots of wind. The Admiral awoke from her snooze, and so pigeon pie was off the menu!
This was a first: this pair of "ringed" pigeons were settling in and Nancy was having none of the skipper's plans to eat them!
But here's a mystery: after a couple of hours a third non-paying blighter arrived! And then another! And as we approached our next port, several hours later, here came a fifth!
This is the entrance to the stunning natural harbour at Sao Martinho do Porto.
Did we hire a helicopter to capture this shot of Sa Martinho? No of course not! We strapped a camera onto Percy the biggest Pigeon, and up he went to snap it for us.
He at least earned his keep! By early morning the next day they had flown the coup...or rather the dinghy, and all that remained was a blanket of poop! No prizes for guessing who was in charge of the dinghy that morning!
The "teddy bear" look of Cape Carvoeiro, around which we sailed to an outside anchorage at Peniche. From there we sailed to Oeiras Marina, in the Rio Tejo mouth on the approach to Lisbon.
And off to Lisbon we went by train......and even the front of the train was "decorated" with the graffiti that seems to be taking over from soccer as the chic pastime of the Portuguese youth.
In one of Lisbon's majestic squares, with our Dutch friends Ad and Werner, whom we had arranged to meet for lunch....
...and we did not have to search long to find grilled sardines (sardinhas assada) potato and salad.
The sights of Lisbon include the traditional arches and columns....
...and the more whimsical stuff that demands a second glance. Is that a bull trying to get out of a china shop?
Lisbon, like Oporto, enjoys the benefit of quite steep hills that create a roofscape of myriad styles.
We anchored In Cascais harbour and enjoyed this old seaside resort favored by the nobility from Lisbon. Here is some beach art that won a prize of 50 centimes from Nancy.
Above the old harbour in Sines, the last stepping stone on the Atlantic coast...
....and we were off to Cape St Vincent and The Algarve. Here a large sleek Swiss yacht named GORDON'S with a sail number SUI 5006 took a bold line inside us as we sailed past Cape Espichel.
And so here we are, sailing past the South West tip of the Iberian peninsular, Cabo de Sao Vincente, marking our 100 degree turn to the East and the Algarve. Sunny skies welcomed us, and so did.....
....a lively pod of dolphins that put on a private show of flamboyant antics, leading the way lest we should get lost and end up in Africa.
Our very best,
Nancy and John
