Lisbon
17 September 2019 | Lisbon
Steve Tuff | Good
Once again, we got stuck in Peniche due to strong winds and the mooring was uncomfortable due to the waves caused by passing ferries and fishing boats. Peniche is a small fortified peninsular which we circumnavigated on foot and generally explored (although you can only do this for a certain amount of time before a need to move on develops). One day we took a bus journey to an old, typical and picturesque village called Obidos which we really enjoyed. We weren't the only people to have discovered this and the village is quite touristy, and a single day was enough.
Eventually we decided we had to leave Peniche and although the forecast was for 25knot winds we decided to go anyway. The charming French boat next to us (with whom we were planning to race!!) had a French forecast of 30+knots of wind and decided to wait a day. We left in 12 knots of wind, which continued for most of the day until we came to the last headland (Cabo Raso) where, sure enough the wind increased to 30 knots and we screeched around the corner into Cascais
At Cascais we were met (much to our surprise) at the marina by our friends Stephen and Anne as we tried to sort out a mooring. Stephen and Anne are sheltering from Brexit madness in Cascais and we had three fun filled days visiting magnificent restaurants, coastal walks and a really impressive fruit/vegetable and fish market. The trip culminated in Stephen cooking us some seabass baked in a salt crust and washed down with copious quantities of Portuguese wine. A fabulous time was had by all, but we had to leave as Lisbon was calling. We sailed the 10 or so miles into Lisbon and moored in the Alcantara Marina about half-way between Belem and Lisbon centre - a perfect location.
Some cities are OK, some are good and a few are great. Lisbon is one of the great ones. It's just about the right size, it has great transport (trains, buses, trams, underground and a vibrant variety of electric bikes and scooters which are just picked up and left wherever is convenient), interesting buildings (up and down hills) and an unreconstructed oldtown. And the city is buzzing. We did as much as we could in three days including visiting: the artists quarter (mostly restaurants and bars to be honest), Belem Tower, Monasteiro dos Jeronimos, shopping, eating Pastilles di Nata, a fado evening (bit touristy) and even visiting a botanical garden.
At the end of three days we needed a little rest and took the boat over the river to a small seaside town called Seixal. The route to Seixal was through winding channels into a well protected (if shallow) tributary estuary. We anchored mid river and spent a few days unwinding from our city break. We were hoping to see flamingos but they spend more time in the North of the estuary apparently. Instead we explored the area on foot and resorted to our old favourites of sardines cooked over charcoal and Portuguese wine whilst we made priority lists of what needed to be done to the boat over the winter.
Thoroughly relaxed we sailed the boat back to Lisbon where she was lifted out the water and safely tied to the land in the expectation of the winter storms that Lisbon is famous for. This year's trip was over.
Some statistics from our trip:
Distance covered by boat (nautical miles): 723
Duration of trip (days): 69
No of windy days (F6+): 4
Fish caught: 0
Shipwrecks: 1 (dinghy)
Mutinies: 0
Picture is of Weverbird against the Lisbon Statue and bridge