South to the Sunny Algarve!

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

Au Revoir! Iberia Here We Come!

To head South was always the goal, but perhaps first to Bordeaux?

No way! Said the Admiral! Let's hop directly to Spain, to revisit A Corunna and escape the cold and the wet. So off we set, from Benodet, where we had gone to make some Westing and get a better angle on the westerlies to cross the Bay of Biscay. Our little ship was effortlessly prepared for a 400 mile mini passage, and after a good night's sleep in a fine flat anchorage just inside the mouth of the Odet river, off we went.

One last bite at Adventuress by the French Customs! At mid-afternoon this French customs ship came through the rain when we were 25 miles South of Benodet, steaming at us at 15 knots. An extract from Adventuress' log reads: "French Customs approached to 100 yards and radio'd us: JFK explained our Helgoland trip and afterwards our two inspections last summer. They asked last port and final destination: answer 'Benodet to Smir Marina, MOROCCO! After 10 minutes checking their records they radio'd back and wished us bon voyage to Morocco!"

Crossing the Bay of Biscay on a grey day........

......Admiral Nancy takes an afternoon nap behind the lee cloth on port side of the main cabin.

A Corunna!  52 hours after leaving Benodet, we tied up on the visitors' pontoon at Club Nautico Marina, next to the berth we were in four years ago after crossing the Atlantic.

 This pic of evening in the big square 300 yards from the boat at A Corunna is a fine memento of our return visit.

And so we sailed round the corner to Finistere.

Rounding Cabo Villano, we found ourselves in company with a Brit boat "Hepzibar".

Finally sailing in blue skies as we crossed into Portuguese waters.

Our second port of call in Portugal was Povoa de Varzim, where we found a warm welcome at the Marina.

On Saturday June 16 we caught the Metro and trained South 24 kilometres into the heart of Oporto, where we had a fun day being tourists, enjoying the vibe of this ancient port, including patterned streets,,,,,,

....the street buskers.....

 ...the street art,,,,,

.....and the decorated architecture.

An unusual bike stand, hanging off your second floor balcony!

 Two happy sailors seeking out shade under an olive tree: finally it was warm, but Nancy still has her fleece round her shoulders!

A welcome surprise! James and Bex on "Hepzibah" arrive next to us at Povoa de Varzim marina.

And what fun to find a December 2017 pic among the camera downloads! As if Nancy isn't already homesick for family and friends in Lancaster PA!

Very best to all, and a happy English Father's Day to Dad!

John and Nancy
Povoa de Varzim Marina, Portugal.

Back to Houat!

We enjoyed a peaceful anchorage in the Vilaine River and then we were ready to take on the French at The Battle of Arzal Lock!  We were psychologically ready for them this time, but still it is quite tricky with the Admiral on the bow wielding a boat hook and quite oblivious to the French words coming at her. We came out unscathed and were off to the island of Houat (pronounced "what") where we found just Houat we needed...five bars on the cell phone, so we can check the weather for our little passage to Spain. 

8.15 am and the Battle of Arzal Lock is in full swing.....here's a crazy mishmash on the bow.....

.....while astern more sardines are being crammed in. About 20 boats in total.

Fine day but little wind so it was a motor sail.

The beach at Houat is pristine and a couple of miles with no houses or roads nearby.

Some people just have to leave their mark!

Another beauty spot on the way into the village and harbor....

...along a coastal path enjoying the perfume of wild flowers.

The village is full of opportunity for Nancy to make photographic art.

So we enjoyed our walk around Houat, even though at noon the restaurant was out of food for lunch: apparently the ferry had arrived without the food order!

So the Admiral said "Let's make a selfie from the dinghy!"

If the forecast holds, we will be arriving in A Corunna, Spain, middle of next week.

Best to all, 

Nancy and John 

Commissioning Adventuress and an unexpected swim!

We flew in from London six days ago and have been busy commissioning Adventuress after her hibernation up on the hard at Foleux boatyard. The first two days we worked on cleaning (Nancy) and painting the bottom (John), and stayed two nights in a hotel in the nearby small town of La Roche Bernard, which was a delightful treat, rather than sleeping on the boat in the yard.

We did the all our usual commissioning: cleaning, bottom painting, installing the dodger and bimini, fitting all the running rigging ("lines" that hoist and control the sails) and bending on the three sails. We checked and tuned all equipment, and tested all the instruments.  We found a small air leak in our inflatable dinghy and patched it. And the starter battery for the engine had finally conked out so we replaced it.

Our 75hp Yanmar diesel started up immediately without having to prime the fuel, so no air in the diesel lines....Hooray!

Yesterday was exciting.  John came up with a brilliant idea.  He would return the rental car to Nantes Airport, take a bus to the Nantes train station and catch a train to Redon. There Nancy would drive the dingy 14 miles up the river to pick him up ... Oops!  That’s a 28 mile round trip for Nancy on our ten foot dinghy! See the photos for the rest of that story.....

La Roche Bernard is a medieval river town and very well kept.

Dining at L'Auberge de Bretagne, a small hotel very well managed by its owners Audrey and Benoit.  Benoit is a superb chef with extensive training, and we could find no fault at this charming hotel: gets 5 stars from us!

The dinghy going for a test drive after repairs and before a long trip up the Vilaine River to Redon.....

...and here's Dinghy Captain Nancy trying to get enthusiastic about it. But she was rewarded......

....with a splendid opportunity to capture this action photo of John climbing back in the dinghy at Redon after falling in off a wobbly finger pier!  Note that Nancy was too busy laughing and taking photos to throw a life ring!

So John took an unexpected swim....and so did his cell phone! Fortunately his jacket and back pack had been left safely on the dock.

Zooming back down the river to Adventuress, the clouds gathered but John didn't care ,,,he was already soaked.

So today we put up the mainsail and staysail, and all went well: here we have just taken the main out of its winter storage bag. 

Tomorrow we leave the marina to have a shake down river cruise towards the Atlantic, and thus our adventure begins.

Our very best,

Nancy and John