13th September – PORTUGAL – POVOA de VARZIM

The coastline of Portugal is dramatically different than the coast of Spain. The rugged rocks and cliffs seem to disappear and in their place miles upon miles of beaches appear, along with high rise buildings. It has a much more commercial feel to it. It also looks more like Southern Spain and is a bit of a shock when compared to the sleepy Rias of Spain.

We had been warned by some English people heading north, that entry to many of the Portuguese harbours is prohibited by sand bars in the entrances. Some ports actually show flags to say they are closed or the swells make it too shallow or dangerous to cross the bars. Many harbours are also fed by rivers and in times of rain the flow out to sea can run at 8 knots. It is always worth having a back up plan in case you cannot access your first choice.

On approach we could see a sand dredger so approached with caution. We had seen another large yacht leaving so we assumed we were ok. We had plenty of water, which was just as well, as the swell tossed us around as we turned beam on to enter the harbour. Once inside it all went calm and we were directed to a berth. This marina must have the shortest finger pontoons on record, which makes berthing more challenging. The marina was nice and friendly and had quite a few visiting yachts. It also had quite a few ashore that looked like they had found their final resting place. The marina is stupidly cheap at €15 a night, however the ARC discount reduced this by a further 50%, so 5 nights cost €35. If you were planning to leave a boat for a return visit to home hen this is the place o do it. It is close to Porto which has an airport.

The shops were quite a walk into town, so we got the bike out. Russell had dropped the plastic sheath for the seat post in the water in Portosin so he had to make one out of a plastic bottle. A new one had been ordered and was being sent to Povoa. We figured as a cheap place, it was best to have something posted so if we were waiting it was not costing us a fortune. I set off at 5pm on the bike, whilst Russ cooked dinner and the boys watched another A Team DVD. There are nice cycle paths and I got to the shop without incident. I strapped everything to the back and had a rucksack and headed for home. I decided to cycle along a high street that I assumed ran parallel to the sea front. I spotted the Pandorra shop and another supermarket and kept going, and the high street end and I expected to see a right turn to the beach. After some time the road got larger and more residential and I started to think I must be there by now. I saw the metro and thought, I don’t think I should be here.  I was lost. I knew I needed a right turn but everything looked residential so I kept going. I was then attacked by a banner strung on some lamp posts and distracted by a Lidl sign I swerved to miss the killer banner and fell off the bike. I was on the wide pavement so didn’t get run over but did suffer bruising to my hand and grazes to my knees and ankle. I had to rearrange the shopping and generally feel sorry for myself, but on the plus side I had found the right turn. I also knew that I had now been gone nearly 2 hours and that a search party was probably out looking for me. They wouldn’t find me because I had not come back the same way. I was likely in trouble when I got back. I wondered if I should go hide in McDonalds, but decided to best plod on. It was pretty much down hill to the beach and it wasn’t long until I was back at an empty boat. I grabbed the ice and put it on my hand that was now throbbing. It wasn’t long until I heard Ethan shout, it’s OK Dad she’s here. I apparently looked a sorry state clutching my ice and sympathy was given. I am not sure I am allowed on shopping trips alone anymore. I have now fallen off the scooter and the bike.

We had promised the boys we would go to the Yacht Club and I had somewhat delayed proceedings with my shopping trip so it was quite late when we got there. I was told I should go for medicinal purposes.

Pavoa Yacht Club has a Gin bar. Now I am new to gin and I thought that there was just a couple, Gordons, Bombay Sapphire and the supermarket imitations.  I was wrong, and a trip to the Yacht Club informed me of this. I was also told that you have different tonics with different gins, and some have lemon some lime and juniper berries and cloves. The barman took it all very seriously, adding the peel of the fruit not a slice, and rubbing the rim of the glass with lemon or lime. We first tried a London dry Gin in a fancy bottle but unexciting name. This was the gin conesure’s recommendation. It was very nice. The second one was the more exotic Mombassa which was really really nice. We planned to go back on Sunday night to try another, but it was shut.

The yacht club also had a TV and the boys settled into watch Father of the Bride 2. It was in English with subtitles and they were glued to it. This meant we could not leave until it finished. A couple (Chris and Steve) on a Moody 41 called Chewsy had arrived in Baiona as we had left and they had now come to Povoa. They came into the bar and we sat and chatted with them. They too are taking a year to do an Atlantic circuit but are not doing the ARC. It was nice to talk to people doing the same thing and learn they had the same plans and ideas as us, so we must be doing something right.

The boys wanted some crisps so we asked at the bar – there was only the 6 of us in there and it was a Friday night. The boys luck was in, as they made them chips. Oliver said they were the best he had ever had. We were not charged for the chips, possibly because the gin was €8 a go, but we had savoured 2 each over 2 and a half hours so possible not such bad value for money.

The next day we went to the Pandora shop and purchased the bead for Portugal. We have gone down the colour theme of blue and green. Oliver wanted a red bead, but I pointed out this was not going to work. The lady helpfully gave us a brochure so we could chose at leisure, probably because it took ages in the shop and she got bored with us. If we do not get any joy from Pandora with outlets in the Caribbean, we will buy the beads in Portugal and then have our own little Pandorra shop. There is one concession on the red being that my birth stone is Garnet (stone for January) which is granada in Portuguese and we will be in Greneda in January.

The boys found the beach was good for surfing and enjoyed playing in the big breaking waves. They kept everyone amused on the beach watching them do some spectacular wipe outs. They were tumbled a few times and I dragged them out spluttering, but they shook me off and ran straight back in for more. The first day when we got back from the beach when they took off their wetsuits all the little stones from the beach fell out. Russell paddled the canoe round on the second day and enjoyed surfing down the waves, the beach was too busy for me to try and with my track record I would probably have fallen out of it and got some new bruises. The next day there was thick fog and it was unsafe for Russ to canoe out of the harbour to the beach. It was a shame as there was apparently a festival in town and there was supposed to be processions and the fog was so thick you could not see the other pontoon. It cleared for a few hours so I did some washing but it came in thick and fast after lunch and we had to resort to the driers. Some funny parachutes with engines flew over head when the fog had cleared, only to be engulfed by the fog as it came in quickly. It must have been scary for them as they obviously needed to land and they had flown over the masts so the risk of going low and hitting one was high.

I am sure that in Portugal they do not sell swimming costumes, only bikinis. They are obviously not body conscious in Portugal either and whatever shape you are you wear a bikini. I think perhaps it costs more depending on size and with the recession people are opting for what they can afford, not what they need to fit the size of their bottom. Don’t you just love people watching…..

The part for the bike arrived on Friday having been posted from the UK on Tuesday, which was impressive. The bike and scooters were very useful during our stay. We used them to go to Lidl in the hope we might get some syrup for pancakes. We bribed the kids with McDonalds. No pancake syrup though.

After being in Pavoa for 5 days we decided it was time to move on. We planned to visit the new marina in Porto. It surprised us that until a few months ago there was nowhere to moor in Porto. We went to pay for our stay and were told to return at 2pm. It was 1.50 so we thought that was ok and went off to stow away. Ethan and I walked up at 2.40 and the office was shut. We waited ten mins but no one showed up. We tried calling up the marina on the VHF, but nothing. Russ walked up to see if he could find anyone and at 3pm the office opened. He asked why they were an hour late opening. They looked confused and then asked if we had come from Spain. It was then we were told that Portugal is on the same time as the UK which is an hour behind Spain. We never thought that it would be different. We have now changed our watches.