We spent our final weekend in Portugal by taking the bus to Porto where we met our friends Klaus & Katrin. We never have enough time, but we make the most of these weekends, catching up on life, trading sailing stories, and dreaming about the future.
“It’s very good “
I know we’re going to eat well when we’re with these two (the restaurants they booked were exquisite, and the meals we found on the fly weren’t too shabby either). The Graham’s Port lodge tour and tasting was memorable. We splurged on the premium tasting package, and after an informative tour, settled into a library-like tasting room to sample 11 different ports. Over the course of a couple of hours, and with lots of giggling as the port kicked in, I came to the conclusion that I can’t afford the port I most enjoy, but I’ll settle for the bottle of what’s available, as long as it’s with good friends.
The marine world keeps you on your toes. Boats require constant maintenance, and we always have a list of things we want to do, and then there are the ones that we discover that we have to do. Offshore passages especially beat up a boat.
Boat bottom cleaning
That list at the end of this season included: Varnishing (more than a week of scraping, sanding, and varnishing in between bouts of rain), cleaning & reconfiguring the sink drain hose, propping up dying batteries (we’ll replace the house bank in the Spring), fabricating a new riser (stainless steel part of the engine), scraping the hull where it meets the water, re-filling propane bottles for cooking, and keeping mildew out of the inside of the boat. There’s probably a hundred other items, but those were the hardest and most time consuming. Six weeks of living in a marina wound up being a lot more than we planned, but we still found a few days to relax and enjoy the area. And we’re raring to go for 2023!
I always fight the urge to roll my eyes when someone comments on our ’vacation’ when we’re cruising, knowing full well that most days on the boat are perfect for us, but nothing that appeals to most.: Tight quarters, limited water, exposed to the weather, seemingly endless maintenance, repairs & projects, just to name a few.
Send off to new friends
Cruising in a new country brings its own challenges. You arrive and you have to figure out where the authorities are to clear in both yourself and the boat (something that would be right at the airport when most of us fly). You need to get currency or hope that they’ll take dollars.
Cleaning the boat bottom from the paddle board
You need groceries next, as we can’t afford to and don’t like to eat out every day. Grocery stores and markets are one of my favorite places to visit in a new country, but it’s an experience looking a new products on the shelves and figuring out what to cook. And it all has to fit in just a few bags, as we are usually walking or biking or bussing back to the boat. Between the Internet and new local friends, it’s not too hard to figure out, and Trip is very happy with most meals on board. Lotta clued me in to Peruvian pink peppercorn trees that grow as an ornamental tree near our marina, and after a few days of drying, we have peppercorns for next season!
Peuvian pink peppercorns (schinus molle) drying for the pepper grinder
Of course something on the boat is always breaking (cruising = fixing things in exotic locations). In Europe there’s the added challenge of tools and new gear being metric. Because we don’t know the area we don’t know who to call. Again, the Internet usually comes to the rescue. We’re also able to reach out on social media to groups like ’Women Who Sail’ or our global cruising club. Sailors are a group that really enjoy helping fellow sailors. And one of the most wonderful things we’ve discovered this year is the friendliness and resourcefulness of the Portuguese. We have been helped over and over again, big scrapes and small, by local strangers who asked little, if anything, for their help. We can only hope to pay it forward.
Valeriy, Elena & Ozzie
Living in a marina in a new country is like moving into a tiny apartment in a huge apartment complex in the United Nations. We have new neighbors from Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, England, Russia, just to name a few. Some are temporary as they get ready to head further east or west. Others are there longer term, like us, such as Valeriy and Elena, with their always happy wire-haired dachsund Ozzie. Elena has already taught me how to make borscht and where to buy the best pelmeni (Russian meat dumplings). And, of course, our friends Mads & Lotta, who live near the marina. While we’re back in the US, we regularly get pictures of Kalyra from these friends along a note about how she is still floating and is looking good. Such a crew of new (& old) friends is fun to embrace.
Farmers market near the marina
There’s lots more to deal with – new SIM cards for local Internet, figuring out how to do laundry in a machine with instructions in a different language, getting a haircut, etc. It’s all a bit of adventure, but if you’re patient, it’s pretty rewarding.
Portimao is the next major port over from Lagos, and has a substantial number of marine vendors, machine shops, and suppliers. We headed over to get our spare stainless steel tube from Faial cut with threads so it could be a backup riser for the engine.
Ferragudo
The train station is a 2 minute walk from the marina, and the trip to Portimao takes only 20 minutes. We quickly found the boatyard and someone who could cut the threads in the pipe. It was only 10:30 AM, so we decided to walk down into Ferragudo to stretch our legs and explore.
Graffitti
We passed through the small town, and wound up at the beach, where we settled in with a couple of beers and an early lunch. The restaurant had the most fantastic decor, with tables made out of old Singer sewing machine table bases. We sat and and enjoyed looking at all the boats at anchor, and then slowly made our way back to the boatyard.
Upcycling at the Cafe
Of course the riser wasn’t finished when we got back to the boatyard (everything takes ages in Portugal, you get used to it). We had a bit of time to kill before the train, so we walked up to Decathalon. This sports store had wonderful gear and clothing for everything from paddling to hiking to cycling to swimming and back again. Trip stocked up on quick dry gear, dive weights & a headlamp, and I replaced a few foul weather pieces for boat life. I could have gone on and on in that store with such reasonable prices, but I showed remarkable restraint (plus we had to walk with everything we bought).
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