Lisbon - Sines - Baleera

Thurs 24th Sept

Lisbon to Sines

We left Lisbon at about 10am after going in and out of a few marinas looking for a fuel berth. This is no mean feat as the current of the river was flowing very quickly and each marina entrance is quite narrow so you have to go through quite quickly to avoid ending up sideways. We took a lot more notice of all the landmarks along the river as we left Lisbon (always less stressful than coming into port.) It really is an impressive place to sail it makes you feel quite small to be surrounded by all the history.





We saw this motto painted on the side of one building and thought it was a rather apt message for Shetland at this moment…….




Then there is this statue ‘Christo Rei’ who looks down over the city from the opposite bank of the river.




We zoomed down the river as we caught the tide going out averaging about 8 knots which was great. There were lots of little boats out fishing and gathering in their catch from the unbelievably poorly marked creels.

We had a good sail at first and were getting about 5 or 6 knots then the wind died away about lunch time and the girls and I started pressing to get the engine on as we were only going about half a knot. Ali was in one of his puritanical sailing moods however so we drifted along until the wind picked up again just south of Cabo Espichiel. The cape has a lot of caves and the waves, even in the flat calm, were going in at the bottom and spurting out of holes higher up the cliff.

We were sailing along nicely with the spinnaker up but the wind changed direction and started coming too much on the side so we got the jib out instead. We were still making good progress until the wind started coming right on the nose so Ali reluctantly stuck the engine on as it was beginning to get dark.
We got into port at about 8pm as it was just getting fairly dark. We got tied up, had dinner and then Ali and I decided that we would have a glass or two of vino. At about 11.30 pm the maritime police came along to look at our documents and Ali told them to come back the next day., I think he was feeling a little cocky, must have been the vino talking!! The Welsh bloke who helped us tie up said that they have a huge problem along the coast between Sines and the Algarve with drugs and people being smuggled into the country and that is why the police are so vigilant. Still at 11.30 at night when you are tired from sailing and not to mention a little tipsy then they are the last people you want to see.

Fri 25th Sept Sines

We decided to stay a couple of days as the wind was southerly until Sunday and also we didn’t want to get to the Algarve until the ,magical date of the 1st of October when all the marina prices drop to under half price. There were a few other boats doing likewise hanging around at Sines. We met Charles and Penny on their yacht Rossetta whom we had seen in Viana Do Castelo in the North of Portugal. They came along for a couple of cuppas and we swapped stories, they seem to be very experienced sailors who have recently decided to go and live aboard too, so it was good to hear all their plans.

Sines (pronounced Cinch!) is a small fishing town about half way between the Algarve and Lisbon. The harbour is very sheltered, even the anchorage off the beach although there wasn’t much wind when we were there at all.
There is an old castle that is said to be the birthplace of navigator Vasco de Gama. We went for a look around and had lunch which was really nice in a café with a play area so the kids were delighted too until a little boy came up and tried to lock them out of the café. We found a really good play park too which the girls loved as we hadn’t found one in Lisbon. I think their dad had as much fun as they did!

Sat 26th Sept

We woke to a really misty morning and so Ali decided to take the bike and cycle to the LIDL on the outskirts of town to stock up for sailing on the Sunday (fog permitting!) it turned out to be quite a trek, he was gone for hours! The mist cleared at around lunch time so we all went to the beach, Kaylee and Ali swam from the pontoon and Alisha and I walked - somebody had to carry the towels! We had a play and Ali swam out to Charles and Penny’s boat then tpically it clouded over and so we went for showers at the marina office, probably the cleanest, biggest, well kept showers I have encountered so far on this trip! We went for another walk around town later and for an obligatory coffee and cake. The girls were playing on some of the exercise equipment for the elderly that is installed around the seafront when an old drunk fisherman appeared out from behind a tree and started rambling at us about boats and where we were from, I think he was trying to find a boat to take him South but thankfully the language barrier prevented us from having to say no!

We went out and anchored for the night as we were leaving in the morning to get around Cabo do Sao Vincente to Lagos. Charles and Penny came along in the dinghy for a chat as they were also leaving the next day at around 8 am we said we would see how we got on….

Sun 27th Sines - Baleera

We woke to the sound of thre of the other anchored boats leaving at around 7.30am so Ali ordered us all to get up and go just in case there was a race he was going to lose! Whilst we were getting ready to go another Scottish boat circled around for a chat. They were all air pilots who had flown to Sumburgh before and know a few people we do too, small world once again!

It was a fairly murky morning and the non existent wind didn’t clear the mist so we didn’t see any of the other boats until we caught up with Rosetta a few miles North of the Cape! It was engine on all the way as the forecast veering and strengthening didn’t happen. As soon as we got out of the harbour past all the anchored oil tankers Ali decided it was time for a nap and the girls followed suit after a while. This left me on watch in the murky morning. At one point I was just gazing down into the sea at the stern when a shark glided under the boat, what a shock. I was so excited and there was no one awake to tell it to! I turned out to be a great day for sea life, we were visited by pods of dolphins quite a few times until the girls weren’t too bothered about them! Imagine that, being bored of seeing dolphins, only a four year old could manage that. We also saw a minky whale, our first proper whale sighting of the whole trip, and then to top it all off a mass of fins thrashing around, it was too far away to see but we thought it must have been sharks. It turned out that all the other boats had seen them all too.

When we caught up with Rosetta Charles radioed over for a chat then without me noticing they came close alongside, another shock as we had all been sailing in our underwear as it was so hot! I quickly grabbed for my shorts and Ali went below to get dressed! We motored along with them and they said they had dedicded to anchor at Baleera as coincidentally had all the other boats from Sines It actually got a bit windier coming around Cabo Sao Vincente so we managed to sail (well we put the jib out but couldn’t be bothered with the main by that time of night!) The coast line gets much more dramatic than the whole of Northern Portugal at this point as there are caves and cliffs interspersed with beaches, very pretty. We spotted this guy fishing from the top of the cliff which we thought rather strange as he would have needed a fairly long line!

We got to the slightly windy, crowded anchorage at Baleera and managed to get anchored first time but we were quite close to the shore on one side and other boats on the other so needless to say I was up and down like a yo yo all night checking! Ali thinks I’m crazy but I like to be sure we are definitely not moving!