Where were we the last time?? Cascais? I think so, bloody hell, where does the time go, I am in Sydney now, just about to go back to work to get more money to throw into the big black hole in the ocean that is the boat 😊.

So, what have I been up too? From Cascais, we headed down the coast to Praia Ribeiro do Cavalo, which is a beach just along the coast from a town called Sesimbra.


Praia Ribeiro do Cavalo

Super steep cliffs to come down if you're coming from the land side, but it's still chockers with folks (and boats) during the day, but empty at night. The Nortada ("north wind") is a summer wind along the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula from northerly directions, which occurs mainly between June and September, it goes from "nae wind" overnight and early morning, to "blowin an absolute hoolie" late morning to late evening, makes things a little interesting at times.


Sesimbra

Pushed along the coast a wee bit to Sesimbra next, sneaky wee overnight stop only.


Sines

Next, it was south again to the town of Sines, super sheltered and famous for being the birthplace of Dom Vasco Da Gama, who, for those of you who never paid attention during history classes at school, was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the first European to reach India by sea.


The Man.

Impressive bloke, he was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans.


Great anchorage too, very sheltered, nice town, well worth a visit.


Under the guns at Sines.

Next it was off south again and around Cape St Vincent or Cabo de São Vicente to give its Portuguese name, then heading east to Sagres.


Cabo de São Vicente (when it is'nae foggy).

Cabo de São Vicente is the south westernmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe.

Cape St Vincent is also famous-ish for being the site of a naval battle back in Nelsons day, when the Royal Navy gave a far larger Spanish fleet a bit of a hiding.


The Spanish getting their arses handed to them by the Royal Navy.

I was pretty excited to sail round here although I had sailed past it before on the way to the Azores a few years ago, but I was disappointed, great sailing for most of the day then the wind died on its arse and the fog rolled in, which is not unusual at this time of year, the wind came back with a vengeance close to the cape and I flew round the corner blind, which is a wee bit concerning as you can hear the big Atlantic swell crashing into the cliffs but you cant see anything, I may or may not have been shitting myself just a wee bit 😉, the fog lifted just in time for me arriving off Mareta beach in Sagres.


Mareta beach at Sagres, wis'nae like this when I was there!

I wanted to hang out here for a bit as there is a famous beer in Portugal named "Sagres" so I thought it must be made here, found out it was made in Lisbon?! It was cold, windy and foggy (the town, not the beer) so I pulled the anchor up the next day and buggered off to Portimão.


Portimão.

What a difference a few nautical miles make, its really just up the coast, but it was pure roastin, nae wind or fog, you could look behind you and see the wall of fog sitting like a huge grey wall at Sagres which was bizarre, I have seen this before when I worked offshore in the North Sea, never a good thing as it meant the helicopter wasn't coming to take you home to the pub! Never good news 😊


Spent a lot of time here in the past, so it was nice to be back, very busy in this anchorage as usual.


Can you spot me?

The boat (and me) were heading for Lagos and back to the yard at Sopromar for the winter, so I headed back in that direction and ducked into the estuary at Alvor, the anchorage at the village is mental busy so I anchored just inside the breakwater and used the dinghy to go to town to save annoying the local fishermen, they must get pissed off with all the daft yachties blocking the channel.


Alvor


Alvor estuary.


Nice place to hang out to finish the summer sailing, but it was time to head to Lagos and get the boat out of the water.


Lagos


Out she comes.

If you have read this for a while, you'll be familiar with this yard as I have spent a lot of time here so a good and secure place to leave the girl whilst I shoot off to work, and, as usual there are repairs to make so she is in the right place.


Off she goes to her winter hideout.

So the plans have changed, again! The original plan when I left New Zealand was to sail to Scotland and leave the boat there, I then decided as the summer weather there is often "pure pish" that I would sail back to Australia, which is still the plan, however, for a myriad of reasons, I'll be taking the boat back into the Mediterranean next year, I missed so many places there when I was on my way through as I was trying to get home for my 50th birthday, before Covid (remember that?!)

So I'll point the boat east again for now and we'll head back down under in a few years, plans subject to change as always.

Whits yer Hurry.