Paikea A Whale's Tale

The plan was no plan and that seems to be working well. We had a treat with friends Barbara and Piet joining us in Vigo, Spain for 5 days and also Rosey and Raymond who stayed for 4 weeks and Charlie for the last 10 days. Raymond is now a salty sea dog, sailing before he was crawling!
Highlights in Vigo included a torrential rain soaked train trip to Santiago de Compostela, best ever tapas there and a visit to the most gold laden cathedral to compensate! The cathedral is at the end of the pilgrim’s trail, Santiago de Comino.
Then ‘Festa do Marisco’, a seafood chow down in O Grove, a feast of ostros and zamburinas , oysters and scallops ,very happy day for Jonny and Charlie!
Obtaining an anchoring permit and visiting the National Park Island Ile de Cies, voted by the Guardian in 2007 to have the most beautiful beach in Europe.
Taking Raymond in his new lifejacket for dingy rides.
Refreshing, invigorating (short!) swims off the boat.
After cruising the ria’s around Vigo we sailed Paikea down to Porto and Rosey, Charlie and Raymond traveled by train to spend a few days there together with us.
We had an exciting entrance across the bar into the Douro River with 4 metre westerly swell and 6 knots of outgoing current. When we checked into the marina office they said the bar is closed today but you are here… so welcome!
We arrived back to the boat one afternoon to find the maritime police looking for the boat Paikea, dressed in full black fatigues with side arms. Can we come to your boat? We were a little concerned! It turned out to be a regular custom’s clearance visit, a little daunting at first but a very friendly visit.
Had a fantastic week in Porto, bike riding around the coast, taking the train up the Douro Valley with steeply terraced stone walled vineyards lining either side of the river, it is the oldest demarcated wine region on earth and has been producing wines for centuries,wandering around the cobbled lanes with colourful tiled buildings and eating grilled fish and homemade cakes with a glass of port in the small fishing village Alfurado near the river entrance . Fishing is the way of life here slowly being eroded by big companies buying up the quotas. The intimacy and sociability of small community life is apparent with old men sitting around repairing the nets , the women still wearing the traditional checked pinafores and washing clothes in the communal laundry then hanging them up on lines along the waterfront.
Porto to Lisboa we got to set a spinnaker and had a nice kite ride! Anchored in the bay in Cascais, a small town on the northern side of the river up to Lisbon. We visited Sintra from there, a world heritage Unesco village high in the mountains with palaces and castles set in green forests and magical gardens…a real fairyland ! Lisbon was great to explore, a city of beautifully tiled buildings and vintage trams with that exciting edge that old cities have.
Lisbon to Lagos…. best sail yet, 160 miles in 20 hours on a close reach with a steady breeze 15-25 knots and 4 meter swells.
So for now we have left the Western Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal and plan to sail along the southern coast of Portugal before heading down to Rabat in Morocco where we will leave Paikea and travel home for Christmas. Ooh that sounds like we have made a plan!