South again

The fog finally lifted and we could slip lines and begin the long trip to Cascais. The coast  has no  feasible port of refuge for over forty nautical miles. We left in windless conditions which stayed with us for most of the morning.

The sea was flat and oily with virtually no appreciable swell, for hour after hour our overworked engine propelled us forwards.

There was not a lot to do other than avoid the many fishing floats along the way.

As Cabo de Roca came into sight we raised sail and beat into the headwind that was freshening from the SW. We kept this up for a while until it became obvious that we would miss the tide into the rio Tejo.

The long low lying coast was sprinkled with caves and blowholes, apparently its known locally as
`the costa inferno`.
Soon we entered the bay at Cascais and dropped anchor rather than enter the Marina. The anchorage was fairly full with boats of all nationalities.

As the sun set we enjoyed being aboard not bothering to go ashore.

 we were rewarded by a fantastic red sky evening. We hoped it boded well for tomorrow when we would take a rising tide up the Tagus (Tejo) River.

The red sky proved correct and a lovely windless day saw us motoring the 18 miles up river to Lisbon and the Marina Parque des Nacoes. (Park of the Nations, site of an Expo in 1998 )

Initially we saw a resurgence of the ever present fog but this cleared after eight miles or so.

Soon we were passing the fort of Belem in the centre of Lisbon followed by the Monument to Discovery. Lisbon was looking beautiful and very interesting in the warm sunlight.

After passing another marina and having a good look at the waterfront of Lisbon we were heading under the Ponte 25 de Abril.

No matter how tall the bridge, in this case 90 metres clearance it always seems we will never fit under.

The roadway seems to be a kind of metal which with the high volume of traffic sounds alarmingly like a swarm of bees. There is a marina directly under the bridge and we couldn't imagine staying there due to the noise level from the bridge.

We passed the last of the docks having to avoid a small container ship who was manoeuvring to dock.
we were met outside the marina by a mariner in an inflatable RIB who told us the current past the sluice gate entrance was running at four knots and to follow him exactly. It really wasn't that hard.
soon we were berthed in B10.

Our home for the Winter. We walked to the marina office and were impressed with the staff who were unfailingly cheerful and friendly. The Architecture was modern as you would expect as the whole site (several square miles was purpose built for the 1998 Expo .

Some of the buildings were quirky in the extreme, I have a soft spot for our immediate neighbour, the concrete liner. I think its fabulous and no possibility of sea-sickness!