Porto to Figueira da foz
15 June 2015 | Figueira de Foz
Sean
Us at the Mayors House
This passage is about 50nm, so an early start was planned. We woke up at about 06:15 for a 07:00 start and it was a chilly grey morning.
We had put our wet weather gear away thinking that we were done with it, as the last couple of days in Povoa was starting to warm up....!
We got off to a good start but the prevailing northerlies had abandoned us. We were close reaching into a stiff southerly wind of about 20knots. We sailed out on a long tack for about 10nm and then back in on a non making tack........ at this rate we wouldnt get in untill the next day. So (like most of the others) we put the engine on and motor sailed into a short sharp chop. It was back to life jackets and harnesses.
I had put a way point into the plotter and it was saying that we would not get in to Figueira until about midnight.......we got in at 23:45 and were very glad to tie up.
A good point about the rally is that the ARC people namely Joel, is always on the dock to tell you which side to moor up and even how high to place fenders .....no matter what time you get in.
A sardine BBQ was planned for the arrival evening but only two boats made it. All the others got in almost as lat us.
The next day we had a tour of Montemor Castle and the city of Coimbra, famously known for its university. Coimbra dates back to the Roman Empire and was the first capital for 200 years.
We were invited to dinner on yacht Chanto and were having drinks in the cockpit when we heard music from Yacht Tazkeena. In the party spirit, Peter from Chanto thought it would be a good time to test his loud hailer which is half way up his mast.........with ABBA blaring and Peter singing along we were invited over and the music got louder with YMCA and everybody dancing on deck. The Champagne flowed and a good time was had by all.
The next day we were invited to see the local Mayors house which although beautiful was under renovation. The weather had brightened up and we had wine and canapes on the lawn. Then we had the afternoon to ourselves........John went for a walk.