Sunday 18th July ( From Figueira da
Foz to Porto da Nazare) Fig da Foz had a charm, and around
the marina it was very pleasant with a couple of well situated coffee shops and
bars. As usual, no chandlery! There were about 5 stores in the
marina. One was selling fishing tackle, another (closed) sold engine
spares, and the rest had gone out of business! No charts!
Thankfully we have a new chart plotter with up-to-date electronic
charts - the plotter seems to show everything - even car dealerships in
every town, though heavens knows why! I'm not a keen fan of electronic
navigation, but it isn't half easy! I am intending to get my sextant out,
put the parrot back on my shoulder and try and re-learn the art of celestial
navigation, which I haven't done for 35 years.
After a lazy start and late showers and coffee ashore,
we slipped the mooring at 1315, set the main and motored out to sea. We stopped
engine outside the harbour, set genoa and set off a 6 knots on a close reach -
it had the makings of a great sail. Then the wind dropped and on went the
donkey again - for 5 hours, with no wind along a feature-less coast of low-lying
sand dunes that went on for mile after mile after mile. It was an
unexciting trip south, but eventually we rounded the final cape and entered
Porto da Nazare at 1930 hrs, dropped the main and tied up in the small marina in
the SW corner. It looks pretty desolate, but the pilot book tells us that
there is a very efficient chap who runs the marina. I went ashore to
register with the man in a booth on the main gate, and discovered a huge
boat yard, but it all looks so desolate! Tomorrow will tell.
Monday 19th July (At Porto da
Nazare) At about 0830 as I was lying in my bunk reading the
pilot book, when an English voice was heard on the pontoon. A Capt. Mike
Hadley, the marina manager was down to greet us, since we had arrived too late
to meet last night. He was full of local knowledge, with sharp intakes of
breath at any suggestions, shakes of the head and scratching of beard at any
question thrown at him. A former Merchant Navy master mariner, who, with
his wife Sally have somehow been washed up on these Portuguese shores some
10 years ago, both receive a very complementary mention in the 2005 pilot
book. We soon met Sally in the office who, almost immediately
produced large amounts of information relating to local
services + maps. As soon as 'bus' was mentioned, out came time
tables for the express bus to Lisbon tomorrow for Dave and Jill. Both Mike
and Sally were a mine of information, and it was wonderful to be able to
obtain it all with such ease, since we usually have to prise it
out of the locals on this coast.
After showers, we strolled into town, a 3/4 mile
walk. With a wonderful beach and the usual array of grim
Stalinist-style modern holiday flats that seem to dominate the coast, the town
had a certain charm. It had been principally a fishing port, but
now the summer brings thousands of holidaymakers, who pack the beach in rows of
peaked, brightly striped tents - looking like a medieval festival. At the
northern end we took the funicular railway up a steep cliff some 360
feet to the older upper town called Sitio. A large square
with a pretty little chapel, built to commemorate a miracle in 1182.
A beautiful 17th C. church was well worth a visit, and the views were
splendid. The square was full of old ladies, mainly dressed in black
pleated skirts selling nuts and dried fruit, or hotel rooms or other tourist
related items.
