We followed our usual routine in Alvor, wandering the town initially and then sitting on a bench in a nice square to enquire of google maps as to the location of the tourist information office to discover, if we had only looked up, that we were right outside it! The town is small and slightly confusing as it has no easily definable centre. Following again our usual routine we explored supermarkets, local markets, bus stops. After a couple of days we simply had to climb the small hill to the local church.
It has a rather lovely peal of bells and from the anchorage is nearly invisible atop a wooded hill. Only the top of the church is visible.
It has a manueline entrance ( getting good at spotting these now) The interior is plain with some nice tiled scenes flanking the gilded altar. The last supper is on the left.
Along with some strange false windows.
We also spent some time and effort to discover the castle, marked on our map we had got from tourist information. It was not immediately obvious, it had been turned into a children's playground and quiet space by the market.
The entire space enclosed by the original moorish walls and accessed through a small door sized entrance.
There was a nice tiled panel explaining the history obviously done by local children I found it quite charming.
As Lynnes birthday was coming up that meant our anniversary was also due. Lynne had been eyeing up various restaurants but I had been attracted to the Casa del Rio, purely because of its fantastic situation overlooking the harbour and river. Its a relatively short climb up steps from the landing pontoon and you can occasionally catch a glimpse of local wildlife on the way.
The wind had been surprisingly strong most of the day and as we walked onto the attractive open air terrace our waiter Paulo explained he had moved our reserved table indoors accordingly.
It really is a fabulous view particularly as the sun sets.
The restaurant has a particularly intimate atmosphere, the staff are attentive and helpful, particularly Paulo, who may well be running Alvor when we return!
The food is excellent, fish is a speciality although being creatures of habit I elected for a steak and Lynne Salmon. Our sardine starter was very good as well
It was nice to be able to relax and keep an eye on Dark Tarn in the gusty winds as we enjoyed our meal and a bottle of wine.
We chatted with other couples one young couple on honeymoon had been married in Belfast, its a small world....
.
There was another couple celebrating an anniversary and Paulo insisted we all sing "happy birthday", a rudimentary knowledge of Portuguese will explain this misunderstanding, however being overwhelmingly British we all went along with it! As we left the restaurant Paulo insisted we have a drink of some local firewater and we assured him we would return again on our way north.....
After dinner we walked into town and had a few too many beers in the Sunset bar. Chatting with other flotsam and jetsam that had finished up in Alvor.
The following morning nursing fairly significant hangovers we elected to walk along the beaches. Choosing to "turn left" we discovered the delights of Praia da Praihna.
This is a somewhat typical Algarve cluster of small beaches separated by fantastic rock formations.
Arches and caves, there were even bars and cafes built into the crumbling cliff faces.
There were stacks and seastacks, natural arches, lots of isolated beaches that you could choose to access by a hole through the rock or a quick run around the outside.
The rock architecture is fantastic and constantly surprising.
It may have been an optical illusion but the seaweed seemed very green......
The wind was still in evidence and some wind driven swell was breaking over the offshore rocks and stacks.
,
we explored as far as we could before retracing our steps back to the main beach
A last look at the fantastic natural structures and rock formations.
The Algarve, surprising......
When we returned to the harbour our neighbours on Silver Lady needed a tow in their tender back to their catamaran as the engine on their tender had seized. Happy to oblige it did mean that due to towing another boat into wind we arrived at Dark Tarn a bit wetter than we left.
Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Alvor
Saturday, 5 May 2018
Cabo de são Vicente
The forecasts proved accurate and a gentle westerly along with a distinctly reduced swell made our long trip down to Cape St Vincent very pleasant.
We managed to keep the sails full and drawing and with a little engine assist we made good time. The hours passed quickly.
The Portuguese southerly current helped and we hoped to arrive in daylight. We left Sines at 8.30 am and by 6pm we were approaching the headland.
There was a noticable increase in the swell as we rounded but nothing to really concern us. For the first time in nearly a year we were heading east rather than south. The coastline of the Algarve opened up before us. We travelled on a few more miles until we arrived at the bay of Sagres. This provides a good anchorage and for us a rest and hopefully a good nights sleep after the noisy marina at Sines.
As we approached the bay I noticed a yacht at anchor, indicated by a black AIS triangle on our new plotter. I hit it to identify and its name came up as Osprey. Could this be our friends Bruce and Pam, fellow OCC members? As we approached the anchorage there indeed was Osprey and Bruce waving at us. We exchanged a few words before choosing a spot to anchor.
Neither us or Bruce, who seemed to be with his son not Pam, had a dinghy blown up so we tidied the boat and made some food rather than socialise. We were tired after our long day and it turned out that Bruce was planning to leave early. Osprey is the nearer of the two yachts below.
We knew the wind was due to move northerly ( not a problem in our snug anchorage but I let out more chain anyway) and increase. Indeed that is what happened overnight. We also had chosen to arrive on yet another national holiday ( Labour Day ) so stayed aboard reading and enjoying the sun for a day rather than get wet going ashore. As windy it certainly was, being offshore for us in the anchorage meant wind but flat water as there was very little fetch, the holding is good so we could relax amd enjoy the music from ashore. When we pass this way again we must go ashore and look around!
The following day the northerlies had subsided and we left the bay in drizzle and an almost flat calm. The plan was to meet Lynnes brother Peter and his wife Sharon in Portimao but that wasnt until the 11th, Lynnes 60th birthday being on the 13th. So we had planned to anchor at Alvor. This anchorage is in a tidal lagoon with restricted depths and an allegedly tricky entrance. We gently motored along the coast enjoying the cliffs and caves that the Algarve is famous for. The sun showed itself as we approached the totured headland of Ponte de Piedade on the approach to Lagos.
These beaches coves and caves must feature on every tourist brochure of the Algarve. They are certainly impressive. This seems to be the point where tourism becomes a major factor.
Needless to say we negotiated the entrance to Alvor even though the channel buoys were off station making them back to front.
We relied on our eyes having chosen to come in at half tide to make the channel more obvious having said that we did briefly touch bottom once. We anchored outside the crowded moorings and after blowing up our dinghy went ashore. The red triangle on the chart above shows our position.
Alvor is a very touristy kind of place but does have a lot of charm. There is a big British contingent both visiting and resident. In fact English is the main language heard in the cafes and restaurants along the front.
English papers are sold in the shops and beer is sold in pint glasses. It was I must admit a bit of a reverse culture shock for Lynne and I. Wierd......we had been in a few tourist oriented places but they had been Portuguese holidaymakers whereas we were now very obviously in a part of Portugal that catered almost exclusively for foreigners. It would take a bit of getting used to.
Back aboard I decided to reset the anchor as I wasnt happy with our position, it was going to be a bit of a windy night and as we had decided to stay for a week or so I needed to be happy to leave the boat to her own devices, it is always difficult for us as everywhere we go its the first time we have ever been. After a week we understand the tides, understand how the current sets on the ebb and the flood and are aware of wind and tide rode positions and how we swing in relation to our near neighbours. This is particularly difficult if you are in the river current as we were and not in the dead water of the moorings off the town.
Another problem we had was our two deep cycle house batteries were showing signs of deterioration, not surprising after five years. We arranged with the marina in Portimao to accept delivery and ordered replacements from England. Even with delivery charges it was cheaper than buying in Portugal besides we needed a very specific physical size to fit our battery compartment.
That done we could relax, in the morning the batteries would be down to 9-10 volts but as soon as the sun hit the solar panels they would start to build up a charge. The problem was they wouldnt hold it.
We decided to stop worrying and explore the nature reserve which had a boarded walkway from Alvor out to the lagoon entrance. The language overheard as we walked changed to French and German. It seems the English were happier in the bars and cafes!
The photo above shows Dark Tarn at anchor seemingly aground in a sea of sand, it is an illusion of course but does illustrate our position in the lagoon at low water quite nicely.
The elevated walkways obviously help to preserve the habitat and it is a real treasure trove of scrubby plants, insect life and above all........ birds. Nigel our friendly twitcher gave us a list of species to look out for, the top of which was a bluethroat, we didnt see one of those but we did see crested larks and kentish plovers.
The dunes are more evident the closer you get to the end of the spit enclosing the lagoon formed by the Alvor river. At low water the sands behind the dunes are extensive and occupied solely by birds and locals riddling for shellfish. So probably has it always been.
The channel is visible in this panorama but I’m afraid you will have to look pretty closely to spot the two extant channel buoys, both of which are misleading.
Of course Lynne is happy because there is a beach and that means we can swim in the sea.
It was not quite ambient temperature, but the following day inexplicably it was a lot warmer.
Of course having walked a short way the beaches of the Algarve could be seen to be deserted. This was not the case but another nice illusion.
All in all Alvor was turning out to be a surprising but ultimately predictable place. True it is very definitely ‘Brits abroad’ , but it undeniably still retains that beauty and charm that had first attracted people to settle and holiday here. In the evening as the sun sets and the birds call across the lagoon, it has a bit of magic still .......
There are a fair number of ratty multihulls and other floating oddities gently rotting in the moorings at Alvor, these are almost exclusively British in origin or registration.
I cant help but be fascinated when I come across these wierd mongrel hybrids like the one above or the trimaran with no masts in the harbour. How did they get here? Where, if anywhere are they going? Then I sometimes ( but not always ) remeber the old adage " Almost any boat can be sailed almost anywhere, but not by amost anybody "
Alvor strikes me as one of those places like the Guardiana or the French canals that once you go in you may like it so much you never come out.............
We are heading to the Guardiana.....
We managed to keep the sails full and drawing and with a little engine assist we made good time. The hours passed quickly.
The Portuguese southerly current helped and we hoped to arrive in daylight. We left Sines at 8.30 am and by 6pm we were approaching the headland.
There was a noticable increase in the swell as we rounded but nothing to really concern us. For the first time in nearly a year we were heading east rather than south. The coastline of the Algarve opened up before us. We travelled on a few more miles until we arrived at the bay of Sagres. This provides a good anchorage and for us a rest and hopefully a good nights sleep after the noisy marina at Sines.
As we approached the bay I noticed a yacht at anchor, indicated by a black AIS triangle on our new plotter. I hit it to identify and its name came up as Osprey. Could this be our friends Bruce and Pam, fellow OCC members? As we approached the anchorage there indeed was Osprey and Bruce waving at us. We exchanged a few words before choosing a spot to anchor.
Neither us or Bruce, who seemed to be with his son not Pam, had a dinghy blown up so we tidied the boat and made some food rather than socialise. We were tired after our long day and it turned out that Bruce was planning to leave early. Osprey is the nearer of the two yachts below.
We knew the wind was due to move northerly ( not a problem in our snug anchorage but I let out more chain anyway) and increase. Indeed that is what happened overnight. We also had chosen to arrive on yet another national holiday ( Labour Day ) so stayed aboard reading and enjoying the sun for a day rather than get wet going ashore. As windy it certainly was, being offshore for us in the anchorage meant wind but flat water as there was very little fetch, the holding is good so we could relax amd enjoy the music from ashore. When we pass this way again we must go ashore and look around!
The following day the northerlies had subsided and we left the bay in drizzle and an almost flat calm. The plan was to meet Lynnes brother Peter and his wife Sharon in Portimao but that wasnt until the 11th, Lynnes 60th birthday being on the 13th. So we had planned to anchor at Alvor. This anchorage is in a tidal lagoon with restricted depths and an allegedly tricky entrance. We gently motored along the coast enjoying the cliffs and caves that the Algarve is famous for. The sun showed itself as we approached the totured headland of Ponte de Piedade on the approach to Lagos.
These beaches coves and caves must feature on every tourist brochure of the Algarve. They are certainly impressive. This seems to be the point where tourism becomes a major factor.
Needless to say we negotiated the entrance to Alvor even though the channel buoys were off station making them back to front.
We relied on our eyes having chosen to come in at half tide to make the channel more obvious having said that we did briefly touch bottom once. We anchored outside the crowded moorings and after blowing up our dinghy went ashore. The red triangle on the chart above shows our position.
Alvor is a very touristy kind of place but does have a lot of charm. There is a big British contingent both visiting and resident. In fact English is the main language heard in the cafes and restaurants along the front.
English papers are sold in the shops and beer is sold in pint glasses. It was I must admit a bit of a reverse culture shock for Lynne and I. Wierd......we had been in a few tourist oriented places but they had been Portuguese holidaymakers whereas we were now very obviously in a part of Portugal that catered almost exclusively for foreigners. It would take a bit of getting used to.
Back aboard I decided to reset the anchor as I wasnt happy with our position, it was going to be a bit of a windy night and as we had decided to stay for a week or so I needed to be happy to leave the boat to her own devices, it is always difficult for us as everywhere we go its the first time we have ever been. After a week we understand the tides, understand how the current sets on the ebb and the flood and are aware of wind and tide rode positions and how we swing in relation to our near neighbours. This is particularly difficult if you are in the river current as we were and not in the dead water of the moorings off the town.
Another problem we had was our two deep cycle house batteries were showing signs of deterioration, not surprising after five years. We arranged with the marina in Portimao to accept delivery and ordered replacements from England. Even with delivery charges it was cheaper than buying in Portugal besides we needed a very specific physical size to fit our battery compartment.
That done we could relax, in the morning the batteries would be down to 9-10 volts but as soon as the sun hit the solar panels they would start to build up a charge. The problem was they wouldnt hold it.
We decided to stop worrying and explore the nature reserve which had a boarded walkway from Alvor out to the lagoon entrance. The language overheard as we walked changed to French and German. It seems the English were happier in the bars and cafes!
The photo above shows Dark Tarn at anchor seemingly aground in a sea of sand, it is an illusion of course but does illustrate our position in the lagoon at low water quite nicely.
The elevated walkways obviously help to preserve the habitat and it is a real treasure trove of scrubby plants, insect life and above all........ birds. Nigel our friendly twitcher gave us a list of species to look out for, the top of which was a bluethroat, we didnt see one of those but we did see crested larks and kentish plovers.
The dunes are more evident the closer you get to the end of the spit enclosing the lagoon formed by the Alvor river. At low water the sands behind the dunes are extensive and occupied solely by birds and locals riddling for shellfish. So probably has it always been.
The channel is visible in this panorama but I’m afraid you will have to look pretty closely to spot the two extant channel buoys, both of which are misleading.
Of course Lynne is happy because there is a beach and that means we can swim in the sea.
It was not quite ambient temperature, but the following day inexplicably it was a lot warmer.
Of course having walked a short way the beaches of the Algarve could be seen to be deserted. This was not the case but another nice illusion.
All in all Alvor was turning out to be a surprising but ultimately predictable place. True it is very definitely ‘Brits abroad’ , but it undeniably still retains that beauty and charm that had first attracted people to settle and holiday here. In the evening as the sun sets and the birds call across the lagoon, it has a bit of magic still .......
There are a fair number of ratty multihulls and other floating oddities gently rotting in the moorings at Alvor, these are almost exclusively British in origin or registration.
I cant help but be fascinated when I come across these wierd mongrel hybrids like the one above or the trimaran with no masts in the harbour. How did they get here? Where, if anywhere are they going? Then I sometimes ( but not always ) remeber the old adage " Almost any boat can be sailed almost anywhere, but not by amost anybody "
Alvor strikes me as one of those places like the Guardiana or the French canals that once you go in you may like it so much you never come out.............
We are heading to the Guardiana.....
Thursday, 3 May 2018
Sesimbra to Sines
There was a suitable weather window where the winds became moderate snd still had an element of westerly in them, we left Sesimbra under full sail and after we had negotiated the anchored tankers a couple of miles offshore the wind died and became fitful. It seems that a land effect is in force around Sesimbra. If not the whole of Portugal.
However frustrating the lack of wind was it was not unpleasant, we turned on the iron donkey and watched the increasing swells. A dove ( later identified as a collared dove by Nigel our facebook twitcher) took up residence on our Bimini.
He hitched a lift for 20 miles or so..........to Sines
We carefully rounded the ruined outer breakwater, it extends for a couple of hundred metres underwater the end being marked by a red buoy. The marina is inside the inner harbour which is a horseshoe shaped bay with a rather splendid beach in total contrast to the industrial outer harbour. Sines is a tanker and container terminal but the inner harbour is dominated by the local fishing fleet and is quite charming.
Once we had been allocated a berth in the marina we climbed the steep paths and stairs to the church and castle marking the old town.
As we had time on our side being within a few days of the Algarve ( albeit an uninterupted 60 mile passage ) we decided to stay a few days and explore. The marina turned out to be subject to a lot of swell and was very noisy and uncomfortable so we spent a lot of time exploring the town. Its the birthplace of Vasco de Gama.
We visited his favourite church, the rather grandly named Igresia e Tesourc de Nosa Senhora das Salas, our Lady of Salas church and treasury. Its a rather attractive building ( rebuilt by Vasco de Gama in the 16th century) with an Manueline limestone portal.
The treasury consists of many jewels and other valuables donated to Our Lady. Despite it being a National monument and the jewels etc. being very valuable, security seems to consist of a lady with a rusty key.
There is a guilded alterpiece and the obligatory blue and white azulejo tiled decoration. All very nicely done.
We had arrived in Sines on Liberation Day and the town was celebrating the Carnation Revolution and the end of the Salazar regime. We were treated to a concert from the castle in the evening followed by a splendid fireworks display.
Later we discovered another display in one of the old town squares, it was a collection of decorated ‘t’ shirts blowing in the breeze. It had been done to draw attention to a charity fighting child cruelty and it was quite moving.
Sines is built on top of cliffs above the beach and we were quite relieved when the Elevador was repaired and we could take advantage of it to ascend to the old town. It is a splendid idea and one we had come across several times in Portugal.
The views are also splendid from the glass walled elevator, the photo below shows the view back towards the marina beyond the ( what else?) vasco de Gama beach. We enjoyed a meal in a restaurant which is on the terrace at the top of the elevator, unfortunately we picked a showery day so had to dine inside rather than on the terrace, but the food was excellent despite the showers outside. Sines is a good place to enjoy Portuguese food particularly seafood.
A " must see " is the Castle which dominates the skyline of the town from seaward. It now houses a museum which displays local artifacts from excavations dating to roman times.
It has several floors of exibits, accessed only by lift. Each floor concentrates on some aspect of local history, the photo below shows the 19th century and includes a replica of a local shop
The Vasco de Gama room has a splendid decorated ceiling and is allegedly where he was born. There is some dispute over this seemingly, another house in town claims to be his birthplace.
But as his family was fairly aristocratic I tend to favor the castle as his real home. The views out over the old town red tiles reminded us that as we headed further south it was beginning to have a more mediteranean feel.
The grounds of the Castle had been tidied up and almost no trace was left of the celebrations.
It was a perfect day to enjoy the views from the battlements.
In the photo below Vasco de Gamas house is the white building on the left and the rest of the museum is housed in the three story keep behind.
Below the battlements a statue of Vasco de Gama looks out to sea, perhaps symbolically with his back to the church Matiz ( mother church )
It was here in this church in 1480 that the young Vasco, destined for a religious life was first tonsured.
We had studied the weather forecasts and decided that Monday was a suitable day for the long trip of 60 miles to Cape St Vincent and turning the corner onto the coast of the Algarve. Little did we know that Sines would be the last of the Portugal we had come to know and a different Portugal awaited us around that corner...........
However frustrating the lack of wind was it was not unpleasant, we turned on the iron donkey and watched the increasing swells. A dove ( later identified as a collared dove by Nigel our facebook twitcher) took up residence on our Bimini.
He hitched a lift for 20 miles or so..........to Sines
We carefully rounded the ruined outer breakwater, it extends for a couple of hundred metres underwater the end being marked by a red buoy. The marina is inside the inner harbour which is a horseshoe shaped bay with a rather splendid beach in total contrast to the industrial outer harbour. Sines is a tanker and container terminal but the inner harbour is dominated by the local fishing fleet and is quite charming.
Once we had been allocated a berth in the marina we climbed the steep paths and stairs to the church and castle marking the old town.
As we had time on our side being within a few days of the Algarve ( albeit an uninterupted 60 mile passage ) we decided to stay a few days and explore. The marina turned out to be subject to a lot of swell and was very noisy and uncomfortable so we spent a lot of time exploring the town. Its the birthplace of Vasco de Gama.
We visited his favourite church, the rather grandly named Igresia e Tesourc de Nosa Senhora das Salas, our Lady of Salas church and treasury. Its a rather attractive building ( rebuilt by Vasco de Gama in the 16th century) with an Manueline limestone portal.
The treasury consists of many jewels and other valuables donated to Our Lady. Despite it being a National monument and the jewels etc. being very valuable, security seems to consist of a lady with a rusty key.
There is a guilded alterpiece and the obligatory blue and white azulejo tiled decoration. All very nicely done.
We had arrived in Sines on Liberation Day and the town was celebrating the Carnation Revolution and the end of the Salazar regime. We were treated to a concert from the castle in the evening followed by a splendid fireworks display.
Later we discovered another display in one of the old town squares, it was a collection of decorated ‘t’ shirts blowing in the breeze. It had been done to draw attention to a charity fighting child cruelty and it was quite moving.
Sines is built on top of cliffs above the beach and we were quite relieved when the Elevador was repaired and we could take advantage of it to ascend to the old town. It is a splendid idea and one we had come across several times in Portugal.
The views are also splendid from the glass walled elevator, the photo below shows the view back towards the marina beyond the ( what else?) vasco de Gama beach. We enjoyed a meal in a restaurant which is on the terrace at the top of the elevator, unfortunately we picked a showery day so had to dine inside rather than on the terrace, but the food was excellent despite the showers outside. Sines is a good place to enjoy Portuguese food particularly seafood.
A " must see " is the Castle which dominates the skyline of the town from seaward. It now houses a museum which displays local artifacts from excavations dating to roman times.
It has several floors of exibits, accessed only by lift. Each floor concentrates on some aspect of local history, the photo below shows the 19th century and includes a replica of a local shop
The Vasco de Gama room has a splendid decorated ceiling and is allegedly where he was born. There is some dispute over this seemingly, another house in town claims to be his birthplace.
But as his family was fairly aristocratic I tend to favor the castle as his real home. The views out over the old town red tiles reminded us that as we headed further south it was beginning to have a more mediteranean feel.
The grounds of the Castle had been tidied up and almost no trace was left of the celebrations.
It was a perfect day to enjoy the views from the battlements.
In the photo below Vasco de Gamas house is the white building on the left and the rest of the museum is housed in the three story keep behind.
Below the battlements a statue of Vasco de Gama looks out to sea, perhaps symbolically with his back to the church Matiz ( mother church )
It was here in this church in 1480 that the young Vasco, destined for a religious life was first tonsured.
We had studied the weather forecasts and decided that Monday was a suitable day for the long trip of 60 miles to Cape St Vincent and turning the corner onto the coast of the Algarve. Little did we know that Sines would be the last of the Portugal we had come to know and a different Portugal awaited us around that corner...........
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