We left Povoa at just after 6am on Monday 25th May, the winds were light for the morning and so we were motor- sailing (for the non-sailors - Main sail up for steadying effect – though this is less critical for a cat than a mono-hull and maybe a little drive plus the engines on) The wind came up in the afternoon to about force 4 from the north and gave us some drive. The 80 mile trip was pretty uneventful other than a sudden change from about 15 knots to 30knots plus as we passed the headland just before Figueira (can’t trust headlands - they compress and funnel the wind causing significantly increased wind speeds). It took us until 6.30pm to cover the miles but it was 7.15pm before we were tied up and able to relax. The entry into Figueira was easy, just avoid all the small boats out fishing, the great thing was there were no lobster pots around the area at all. This is unusual as there are normally loads of the things placed just to try and tangle your propellers (Carolyn is sure they are out to get us and gets quite paranoid about them if it starts to get dark) and they are often in the main channel towards the port entrance. We wondered if this is because they often race powerboats there and a few pot ropes around the prop could sure spoil your race!
The marina itself is rather old and with a poor layout, you have to walk a long way to get out/to the facilities which you can see 30 metres away from the visitors berths. It is wise to go to the reception pontoon to sign in, not for Police or other reasons we have seen reported, but because the marina guy goes mad if he has to walk all the way round to the berth to sign you in. This individual during our stay was clearly not interested in his job, the weather was 6 days out of date, the office was often not open during the specified times and he often preferred talking to friends to serving those waiting. It is also not cheap (true price at 1.5 normal for us would have been E56 per day though I did manage to get him to knock E10 per day off) and some of the pontoons are not in good order. It is however close to the town, there is a Navel Club Bar near the entrance (which we didn’t visit but were told was good) and there is a supermarket Pingu Doce, a 10 minute walk to the right along the quay behind the BP Petrol station. There are no marinieros in attendance at the marina but other visitors all came out to help each other during our stay.
The first night we wandered around town and had a meal in a small quite traditional Portuguese family restaurant. A restricted menu, explained by the daughter sent out to speak a little English to us, delivered – olives and bread, chicken broth with vermicelli, 5 grilled sardines with salad and potatoes each, a chocolate blamange desert and a carafe of red wine - all for 7 Euros each. It was great value, the fish particularly were very good, and in a friendly atmosphere with plenty of locals. The place is called Tasca da Lucia, Rua dos Bombierios Voluntarios (opposite the Cafe Brazil) one of the roads off the main boulevard opposite the marina. There are lots of these type of establishments in Portugal and their set menus are very cheap.
Exploring further the next day showed us a town that maybe hadn’t yet got its season going, lots of closed places, lots of big hotels on one seafront, a very unhelpful Tourist Office – I think it hurt to give us a map of the place! There is a great covered market where we bought some lovely fruit, olives and fresh bread but we were underwhelmed with the overall town. You can walk along the front round to a small ex fishing village Buarco where the view is good and we found a friendly local museum of fishing exhibits. It was also full of local children noisily doing a school project!
As we returned, the day’s influx of boats started coming in and we helped them to berth. Two them, Klaas and Carla on ‘Noorderzon’ and Neil and Sue on ‘Joshuas Wake’ joined us for drinks that evening and a good time was had by all. Drinks the next night were on Klaas and Carla’s boat and we all agreed that it would be good to move on as Figueira was not impressing and Friday/Saturday had forecasts for more very strong winds.

The photo shows ‘Joshuas Wake’ motor-sailing towards Nazare in front of the coastal dunes that stretch for miles.