If you’d like a shorter/summarized version of our posts, read only the “Highlights” section below and stop before “The Captain’s Log“, which is much more detailed, more like a logbook / diary and contains information for our reference as well.
We write the text for our website in English. The multiple language selection feature is an auto-translation by Google. This translation is not perfect; it sometimes uses peculiar words and even expresses things in a very different way than what we actually meant. So, if you’re reading in a language other than English, and you read something strange, switch back to the English version to read what we actually meant to write!
Highlights – the overview
Porto, 0730h Sept 25th. We reluctantly say farewell to one of our favorite places in the world.
While the sun rises at our stern, we motor down the Douro river, out to sea.
Our first stop is Aveiro, a river with a large estuary. We have an incoming tide and a strong current (4 knots). Eddies all around us.
We keep a close look at the weather forecast. There’s a hurricane approaching over the Atlantic, that will bring strong winds and a big swell. Although it looks like the wind will decrease when the system reaches the Portuguese mainland, the swell will be huge: 6 meters. So, we have to seek a very well protected place…
Figueira do Foz looks like that. The swell will be from the West and the breakwaters of Figueira protect very well from the west. The marina has it’s own breakwaters and swell that enters can release it’s energy in the large estuary behind the port. So that’s where we will go tomorrow.
We approach Cabo Montego, just north of Figueira da Foz. There’s a village on the hillside and the lighthouse Montego.
We arrive at the marina and are directed to a pontoon on the east side. We had hoped for the west side for more protection from swell, but are happy to have a safe place while the storm passes. We tie 7 dock lines to 5 cleats.
A friend of Wims, Frits, warned us about a number of things… one of which is the limited length of the pontoon poles. At a very high water level the floating pontoon could reach the top of the poles! And seeing the marks on the poles, this has happened before! The cap was even lifted by the pontoon!
The marks are clear to see…
Hm. At the moment it’s spring tide so, extra high water level. But the strongest wind will be from the south so, that won’t increase the water level too much. We suppose that happens in westerly storms, where the wind is pushing the sea into the estuary and preventing the tide to stream back out.
The forecasted path of the storm. It seems, we won’t get the strongest blow.
Around midnight we’ll have about 30 knots from the south. That’s not too bad, but the port is closed.
At the end of the afternoon, rain showers arrive. Combined with the bright sunlight that results in a beautiful rainbow at our stern!
While the wind is still gusting up to 30 knots from the north, we spend the day on board. We’re pushed against the pontoon now and we have to check and readjust our fenders every now and then.
Wim spends the day re-configuring the scooters / outboard motor battery packs. Meanwhile, Sher is sewing new fender pajamas 😀. We will try another kind of fabric: microfiber. The following day, Wim replaces the seals of the fridge lids. We’ve ordered new ones in the Netherlands and brought ‘m with us.
As we walk along the dock, we find a snail. We saved one that was hiding in our cabbage, and this one doesn’t look like he’d make it to safety without some assistance… so we help him out. Save those snails!
Then it’s off for some scooter rides! Beach, beach, beach. Like all these sea miles we sailed along this coast.
Another day, another scooter ride. We ride along the river. Lots of industrial areas and then we get on a road that leads all the way up the river. It looks a bit boring. There’s no real nice scenery. But then! We see storks flying! Hundreds of storks!!! Yippee! And on the way back, a fig tree. Sher stops, but they aren’t ripe.
The next day we leave Figueira da Foz. There’s no wind forecast so it’ll be a long motorboat ride to Nazaré. There’s a 3-day forecast for calm weather with not much swell so we’re going to take this window to get to Lisbon.
In the afternoon, it gets foggy. 3 hours to go. It’s hard to spot the numerous fishing buoys that float everywhere. We’re trying to avoid them, because we don’t want to get their lines or nets in our prop.
All the way along the coast we stay at about 1 sea mile of the beach, at depths of 10-20m. Right before Nazaré, we cross the canyon: the depth increases in no time to 155m! Then just a short while later, back to 10m again.
1600h. That was a tiring journey. It’s a little stressful having to navigate through the fog with little or no visibility. In the afternoon, the fog begins to disolve and we are safely in the port. Time for Wim’s “arrival beer”.
The next day, we are on our way to Peniche. We round the cape and the wind increases to 14 knots, so that’s a really nice sail. It has been quite a while since we sailed so nicely. 😅
The lighthouse is called “Nau dos Corvos”. Well, we won’t drink our Dos Corvos 20-year old white Port now… The sea is pretty wild, we have to jibe the mainsail, and meanwhile we have lunch. 😅
When we enter the port of Peniche, a fishing vessel comes out: Aphrodite, the mother of Dione, in the Greek mythology 😀
There is only one small guest pontoon, as Peniche is mainly a fishing harbor. We take the only available place. We’ve read that rafting up is quite normal here and we see a lot of boats rafted up alongside indeed. Sher says, “shall we remove our fenders on the outside?” Wim says, “no, keep ‘m there, in case a French boat comes alongside.” Guess what? An hour later, a french boat comes in and they ask us to come alongside. Only 2 small skinny fenders hanging on their railing… 😤 We were happy to have our 4 chubby fenders ready… They say, they will leave at 0430h. 😤 They will wake us up in the middle of the night.
We will leave tomorrow and head to Cascais. After a day of motoring, we always check the engine, fill the diesel day tank and grease the propeller shaft. Sher’s turn today 🙂. Our Marvelous Mighty Mitsu is ready for tomorrow!
At 0800h we leave the marina Peniche. Destination Cascais, about 50 sea miles. There’s a forecast for light wind from the north, increasing in the afternoon. Cloudy in the morning, getting sunny as we get more south.
We’re on our way to Lisbon! Yay! Another milestone!
The Captain’s Log [T456,457,… 463] – the complete story
September 25.
Porto, 0730h.
While the sun rises at our stern, we motor down the Douro river, out to sea.
The river really spits us out! We do 7-8 knots over ground.
Once we have left the breakwaters behind, we turn into the wind and hoist the main and the mizzen. The wind is 15-20 knots from the east so that’s a half reach on our southerly heading. When we unfurl the Yankee sail, Dione IV speeds up to 7-8 knots, she loves this kind of wind! Great!
When we can maintain this speed (or at least 6 knots), we could reach Figueira da Foz before dark!
But, after 2 hours the wind disappears completely. Bummer. We start the engine and maintain 5 knots. Our hull and prop seem to be clean (since the scrubbing in Viana) because our fuel consumption at 1200 revs is still 2.6L/h with a speed of 5 knots. The sea is flat with a light (0.5-1m) swell from the north-west.
Coffee with a Castro’s Pastel de Nata!
For hours and hours we glide along the Portuguese coast. The view stays the same: endless beaches.
With this speed, we can’t reach Figueira da Foz before dark. We don’t want to sail along this coast in the dark because of all the fishing buoys. We constantly keep an eye out and divert our course to avoid them, not to get lines or nets in our prop. Although we haven’t seen fishing gear since Porto, the area is notorious for it.
That’s why we bend off into Aveiro at 1330h.
We call Port Control on the VHF for permission to enter. This is a busy port with many big commercial ships going in and out.
All clear, says Port Control.
Aveiro is a river with a large estuary. We have an incoming tide and a strong current (4 knots). Eddy’s all around us.
At 1400h we drop anchor in the bay near Sao Jacinto. Because there are long breakwaters there’s no current here. Our anchor hold well in 1 try.
A tranquil place!
We keep a close look at the weather forecast. There’s the remains of a hurricane approaching over the Atlantic. That will bring strong winds and a big swell. Although it looks like the wind will decrease when the system reaches the Portuguese mainland, the swell will be huge: 6 meters, 15 seconds interval. That is very powerful. 6m is the significant wave height. The highest waves can easily be twice as high, maybe even more. So, we have to seek a nicely protected place…
Figueira do Foz looks like that. The swell will be from the West and the breakwaters of Figueira protect very well from the west. The marina has it’s own breakwaters and swell that enters can release it’s energy in the large estuary behind the port.
Wim has a conversation with his client Frits, who sails in Greece at the moment. Frits knows this coast very well. He agrees that Figueira is the best place to hide. So, that’s where we will go tomorrow.
The Portuguese newspaper.
The winds are expected to decrease but not the waves.
A beautiful sunset!
And a beautiful little moon!
September 26.
After a very calm night, the sun rises.
After breakfast, we hoist anchor, call Port Control en leave the bay.
There’s no wind. We speed through the breakwaters with 3 knots of current on our stern.
Eddies again!
Coffee time!
There’s a very light breeze from the south-west (5 knots). We hoist the main to try to motorsail a bit. But the gain is minor. Mighty Mitsu has to do the job today.
The view stays the same: endless (but beautiful) beaches…
Approach to Cabo Montego.
We see some Gannets! Le Fou du Cape 😀
When we get to Cabo Mondego, we see a village build against the hill.
The lighthouse Montego.
When we round the cape, we turn to Figueira da Foz. The water is beautifully teal here.
Entry.
At 1500h we arrive at the marina. Check in at the fuel pontoon / marina office. The harbormaster directs us to the pontoon at the east side of the marina. We would have preferred the west side for better protection against the swell (that’s what Frits advised us) but there’s no place.
We tie up to the pontoon. One advantage is that we’re on the north side of it. Windward shore for the coming strong southerly wind.
We tie 7 dock lines to 5 cleats.
Sunday, the wind will turn to the north and then we’ll be at lee shore but we’ll have some protection of the city.
Another thing that Frits warned us for, is the limited length of the pontoon poles. At a very high water level the floating pontoon could reach the top of the poles. And seeing the marks on the poles that has happened before! The cap was even lifted by the pontoon…
The marks are clear to see.
Hm. At the moment it’s spring tide so, extra high water level.
But the strongest wind will be from the south so, that won’t increase the water level too much. We suppose that happens in westerly storms: the wind pushing the sea into the estuary and preventing the tide to stream out.
The forecasted path of the storm. It seems, we won’t get the strongest blow.
September 27.
Waiting for the storm to arrive…
The forecast for tomorrow morning 5 o’clock looks interesting: we’ll be in the eye of the storm.
Around midnight we’ll have about 30 knots from the south. That’s not too bad.
Our port is closed. Big swell expected.
6m swell, tomorrow morning.
At the end of the afternoon, rain showers arrive. Combined with the bright sunlight that results in a beautiful rainbow at our stern!
September 28.
Well, the storm wasn’t so bad. We had 20-30 knots of wind from the south, with gusts up to 38 knots. But we were blown off the pontoon, hanging in our 7 dock lines. No problem at all. Except from checking the lines a few times, we slept pretty good! In the morning, the wind shifted gradually to the north but it decreased and we had shelter of the town. No swell at all, in the marina.
At 1000h, we take a walk to the beach to see the 6m waves but although the sea is rough, the waves are not 6m.
While the wind is still gusting up to 30 knots from the north, we spend the day on board. We’re pushed against the pontoon now and we have to check and readjust our fenders every now and then.
Wim spends the day re-configuring the scooters / outboard motor battery packs. We had different DC-DC converters in each and we had ordered one of each in China and had them delivered to Wim’s daughter in the Netherlands.
Now, the battery packs are identical again.
This is the 3000W DC-DC that didn’t work well with the electric outboard motor. Wim re-adjusts it to supply the scooter batteries. 5A at 52,7v (about 80% SOC for the scooter’s internal battery). The previous DC-DC is removed. That didn’t have that power, 3A at 52,7v and it got very hot. This new converter handles 5A without getting hot.
This is the 3000W DC-DC that works flawlessly with the electric outboard motor. It’s much bigger and more robust than the other one. It is set at 42v at unlimited current (well, max 37A is what the outboard motor draws at full throttle).
Meanwhile, Sher is sewing new fender pajamas 😀
We will try another kind of fabric: microfiber.
Happy fender! 😀
The fabric we bought in Avilés lasted almost a year but now it’s really time to replace them.
September 29.
In the morning, we replace the seals of the fridge lids. We’ve ordered new ones in the Netherlands and brought ‘m with us.
We cut off the old ones.
They got really bad over the years (about 10 years).
Then, the new ones are glued on with white Sikaflex sealant.
In the afternoon, we do a scooter ride along the coast north of Figueira da Foz. It’s a long boulevard with a nice bike path.
We don’t take the external batteries with us because we have to drain the internal batteries in order to adjust the new DC-DC converters.
Endless beaches.
The swell caused by the storm has already gone.
Beach, beach, beach. Like all these sea miles we sailed along this coast.
With the scooter’s batteries at around 40%, Wim can adjust the DC-DC’s.
Voltage at 56.8v
and amps at 5A.
56.8v is about 80% SOC for the scooters. At that level, the amps drop down to zero.
Test it with both battery packs on both scooters.
All looks good. Test ride tomorrow!
September 30.
At sunrise, the “pirates” set sail and sail out to the ocean.
It’s a replica of the Vera Cruz, one of the ancient Portuguese ships that conquered Brazil.
The other hatch of the fridge gets a new seal too.
After lunch it’s time for a scooter ride. We ride along the river. Lots of industrial areas and then we get on a road that leads all the way up the river. It looks a bit boring. There’s no real nice scenery. But then! We see storks flying!
Hundreds of storks, circling on a thermal up, without moving their wings. Amazing!
Their nests in the electricity masts.
We return on a different route. Through the villages on the hill side.
Lovely small roads.
Sometimes we have to turn around and find another route because the road turns into dirt road.
Fresh figs? Not ripe yet 😏
We drive on small roads on the hill, with a view at the river.
Back at the marina. 32 km’s, our battery packs are at 60% SOC and the scooter’s internal batteries at 80%. The new DC-DC converters perform well.
October 1.
At 0830h we leave Figueira da Foz.
There’s no wind forecast so it’ll be a long motorboat ride to Nazaré.
There’s a 3-day forecast for calm weather with not much swell so we’re going to take this window to get to Lisbon.
In the afternoon, it gets foggy. 3 hours to go. It’s hard to spot the numerous fishing buoys that float everywhere and we’re trying to avoid, not to get their lines or nets in our prop.
The sun peeks through the fog though. So it’s obviously just a low layer of sea fog.
All the way along the coast we stay at about 1 sea mile of the beach, at depths of 10-20m. Right before Nazaré, we cross the canyon: the depth increases in no time to 155m!
Close to the entrance of the port the depth goes back to 10m again. We see the breakwaters on the chart and the radar but they’re invisible for our eyes. And we’re close!
When we are are really close we see ‘m!
We enter the port right in the center.
Behind us, a big fishing vessel in the fog.
We enter the marina and the fog starts dissolving.
1600h. That was a tiring journey.
“Anlegebier” (arrival/anchoring beer)
This was today’s fog. All Portugal is sunny and clear but only our track was foggy.
October 2.
At 0900h we depart from the marina Nazaré. It’s cloudy but there’s no fog. A bit chilly: 16ºC.
We would have loved to have seen some more of Nazaré, it looks like a gorgeous place even in the clouds. But, something that hasn’t happened in the past one-and-a-half years has happened now: we have a schedule 🫨…Next week, Michele and Nigel will come visit us in Lisbon and we have to get there before the weekend: Saturday 30 knots of wind and Sunday big swell. Today it’s Thursday.
When we leave Nazaré there’s no wind but gradually the wind comes from the North. When we approach the cape Carvoeiro, we have 8 knots half reach so we shut the engine down we and sail 5 knots.
When we round the cape, the wind has increased to 14 knots so that’s a really nice sail. It has been quite a while that we sailed so nice 😅
The lighthouse is called “Nau dos Corvos”. Well, we won’t drink our Dos Corvos 20-year old white Port now… The sea is pretty wild, we have to gybe the mainsail, and meanwhile we have lunch 😅
When we enter the port of Peniche, a fishing vessel comes out: Aphrodite, the mother of Dione, in the Greek mythology 😀
At 1400h, we moor in the marina of Peniche.
It’s a small guest pontoon. We take the only available place. We’ve read that rafting up is quite normal here and we see a lot of boats rafted up alongside indeed. We go to the marina office but it is closed. At 4 o’clock, a lady shows up on the pontoon and asks us to come and and check in. We pay 23 euros, inexpensive.
When we get back on board, Sher says: shall we remove our fenders on the outside? Wim says: no, keep ‘m there, in case a French boat comes alongside.
Guess what? An hour later, a french boat comes in and they ask us to come alongside. Only 2 small skinny fenders hanging on their railing… 😤 We were happy to have our 4 chubby fenders ready… They say, they will leave at 0400h. 😤 They will wake us up in the middle of the night.
We will leave tomorrow and head to Cascais. After a day of motoring, we always check the engine, fill the diesel day tank and grease the propeller shaft. Sher’s turn today 🙂. Mighty Mitsu is ready for tomorrow!
October 2.
At 0800h we leave the marina Peniche. Destination Cascais, about 50 sea miles. There’s a forecast for light wind from the north, increasing in the afternoon. Cloudy in the morning, getting sunny as we get more south.
We’re on our way to Lisbon! Yay! Another milestone!
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