Porto - Pictures of Port Tours

 

 

Other Sites of Porto on the open top bus...

 

The Marina where we were moored.

 

Porto - The Home of Port

PORTO – 17^th September

 

Porto is a lovely city and we enjoyed a couple of days in the new marina. We visited some port houses and made some purchases. Oli and Ethan wanted us to buy them a bottle from their year of birth. Ethan had the best vintage since 2000 and it attracted a price tag of €137 for a bottle. We did find one for €65 in a lesser port producer. Oli being 2001 had not been a vintage year but did warrant a single year production from one vineyard. He was €52 a bottle. Although the idea was nice to keep for a special birthday the complexity of storing it and sailing it several thousand miles was impractical. We did buy a bottle of 1997 single vineyard vintage as a wedding anniversary present. At €35 it was similar to a bottle of champagne but should last a bit longer. We did get to try before we bought so at least we know it is good. It is likely on the 3rd October we will be at sea heading to Madeira so may have to have a delayed tasting. We also bought a bottle for Christmas.

The boys have written their own review of the history and how port is made, please find below. We went on a bus tour the next day. The boys took lots of pictures.

We went on a cable car up to a large bridge crossing the river. It was very high and was also the metro line which was quite strange.

On the last day a catamaran called Intrepid Bear came in with 3 kids on board. 2 girls (9 & 6) and a boy (4 to be 5 next Tuesday). We had a nice evening in the bar and said we would catch up with them soon. They were on the waiting list for the Arc and were accepted on the way down. This has made the boys happy. We also met a German family with a 5 and 2 year old boys. They were keen to find children so although not part of the Arc we think our paths will cross as we head further south and across the pond.

Porto is a lovely city and I would really like to visit again. We left to go to Figuera da Foz 65 miles south and just for a quick over night before a further 35 miles to Nazare .

We had a windless trip and to add insult thick fog for several hours which was very eerie.

We stumbled across 2 more Arc boats in Figuera. A Swedish boat with an 8 year old called Erica and one of the smallest boats in the fleet a Rival 32.

 

Port wine. By Oliver Hawkins

Port is a selection of the most expensive wines, advancing up to a whopping £2,500.00 for a single bottle. The history of this good quality wine is not all about Portugal.

The production of port started around the 17^th century when Britain was cut off from their wine supplies because of frequent wars with France. They liked the wines from Portugal but the wine went bad on its Atlantic sea voyage when fermentation continued happening. Fermentation is when the sugar turns to alcohol and too much makes the wine bad to drink. Then a British man put brandy in it, which stopped the fermentation so it would last longer. The wine was named port.

The grapes are picked in Douro valley where the wine is made. In Douro valley the women cut and carry one basket of grapes the men just carry. They carry two baskets one on each shoulder. Then the woman and some men sort the grapes by colour and quality. 

The process used to make port is as simple as squashing the grapes with your feet, since this takes time sometimes a machine is used. 

It is then transported to Porto by lorry, but many years ago it was taken by boat and you can still see these today and take a trip on the river. The wine will spend most of its life aging in barrels in caves.  They are left in Porto because it is near the sea and it is 80% humidity which the port matures best in.

The barrels are made by the cooper which means they are not all regularly sized. The system which is used consists of one barrel being as much as an ox can carry which is 550 litres. An almude is as much as a lady can carry on her head which is 25 litres and a Canada is as much as a man is allowed to drink of port in a day which is a mere 2 litres.

Some years are called vintage, which is when the wine is exceptional. These years have to be perfect, requiring a hot dry summer and a cold wet winter. The wine is tested after one year and the wine master will declare it a vintage. A vintage spends 2 years in the big vats before being bottled. Vintage is the only port that matures in the bottle. The best recent vintage year was 2003. To prevent the cork from drying out, the bottle should be stored on its side.  

Ruby and Tawny are both left in the vat for 2 to 3 years are bottled and sold ready to drink. 

To conclude, port is traditionally served on its own at the end of the meal with walnuts and dried fruit. Custom dictates that the port shall be passed clockwise round the table allowing each guest to fill their glass in turn. Port is one of the nicest wines with its different aging proses this makes it very special.

 

Port – by Ethan Hawkins

The people that make port first have to harvest the grapes in September and October, before they start doing everything else. They have ladies that cut the grapes and carry big bowls of grapes on their heads. The men have to carry two big crates of it on their back. They cannot use the machines because the valleys are too narrow and steep. After they harvest them and carry them up the hill they get separated and get cleaned. Then men or machines smash the grapes to get all the juice. This gets put into big barrels that can hold up to 100,000 litres. Brandy is added to the fermenting wine. This causes fermentation to stop and makes the wine sweet. The wine can stay in the barrels for up to 300 years. In a few years they pour some into little barrels or if vintage it matures in the bottle. 2003 was a vintage year and a bottle would cost €137.90. Vintage is the best.  

Sometimes the small barrel of port gets port back into the big barrel of port to make it a bit nicer. After that happens the port goes into the bottles and they put the sticker on and then they get put into the shops.

The people that make the barrels are called coopers. A barrel should hold 550 litres and is called a pipe and is as much as an ox cart can carry. An almude is 25 litres and is as much as a woman should carry on their heads. A Canada is 2 litres or as much as a man should drink every day. The barrels cannot always be 550 litres because they are made by a man. So they might have to add more port to fill a bigger barrel. If a barrel held 627 litres it would be made up of 1 pipe, 3 alumude and 1 canada. 

 

Red grapes make red port and green grapes make white port. The boats that are now travelling on the river were boats that carried port from the vineyard to the caves.

There are many different ports called; vintage, rose, ruby, tawny, colheita and white.

 Written by Ethan.

 

 

 

Surfing Videos...

Surfing Povoa

 

Vigo, Bayona and Trip to Povoa Photos

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.

VIGO and BAIONA – 9th to 12th September

We had hoped to have a decent sail down to VIGO, but it was not to be. We were not sure about visiting VIGO because it was more of a city, but we really enjoyed it. We arrived on the Sunday afternoon so there was not much open. We stayed at the Marina in town and for €28 we also got free entry to the sports club which had a pool and Gym. We went off to the pool, but it was not quite as expected. It was a competition size pool which was all divided into lanes. We were the only ones in there so we did a few lengths and then the boys practiced diving. They really came on well. We also had to giggle at the swimming hats they made us wear.

We had decided to go for a drink at the Yacht Club and it looked like everyone was dressed in trousers rather than shorts, so we dusted off our more formal clothes and headed on up. We sat outside and had a few drinks. It was only after the second round and wondering why we could not get wifi, we realised the yacht club was upstairs and we were sat at a bar. The boys were happy running around and it seems that on Sunday nights the Spanish come out and take a stroll so there was a real buzz to the place. We stayed put and I enjoyed a rather nice, but large G&T.

The next day we went in search of the Pandora bead shop that I had found on the internet. I had brought the bracelet before leaving the UK and decided to collect beads from the places I go to act as a reminder. So far I had not found any shops, but the internet came up trumps. I purchased 3 beads with the help of Ethan. We had the Dolphin for crossing Biscay and a blue bead with hearts for Spain. The enamel one Ethan is keeping for either Maderia or The Canary Islands as we are not sure if they have shops there. I have now emailed Pandora asking them if my plan is going to work and I am awaiting a response back.

Oliver had been eaten by mosquitos so we went in search of a pharmacy that sold a cream to help the itching. It seemed to work well, which was a good job as it cost €10. I was sure I had brought witch hazel in the UK but couldn’t find it. Having bought the posh cream which contained anti histamine, I found the witch hazel in the cupboard the next day. We bought some fumigation spray but since leaving VIGO we have not suffered.

We are also attracting flies and now put up the sticky fly coils to try and catch them. It is less unsightly than Russell dancing around naked in the middle of the night trying to kill them with a flick of a T-towel. However, they are sticky and if you knock them with your head or throw something at it, it literally sticks to them like glue. I think we have caught more humans than flies.

I have now started to make the flyscreens to go in the opening hatches. Annoyingly you cannot buy them from lewmar anymore. We have found that the 99p store union jack sunshades fit in the saloon hatch so we feel very patriotic. I am using garden wire and material bought from the flyscreen queen to make the small hatches, and do not quite have a plan for our hatch yet.

VIGO was a big city with lots of boutique clothes shops and a C&A. The boys found a toyshop, but there was nothing that was really practical for them to buy. We found the food shop eventually and witnessed someone have their mobile phone snatched. The thief nearly ran into me and had I realised what the Spanish woman was shouting I could have stuck my leg out and tripped him up. Probably best I didn’t as I would then have had to do the whole police statement and my Spanish really is very limited.

We left VIGO later that day and had a cracking sail to Baiona. It was not very far so we accepted the beat. We chickened out from going through the narrow, rocky inshore passage. We did watch another boat go through, but felt it was not for us. Despite packing the boat for a beat, possessions still managed to wriggle free and most of the scatter cushions found new homes on the floor. It didn’t take long to tidy up once we got along side.

Baiona has 2 marinas the yacht club and the marina. Having looked at the prices reported on Noonsite we went with the marina as being cheaper. It was still €35 a night which is the most expensive yet. You were supposed to only get 1 hour internet free and then have to pay but it was broken so we had free wifi for the duration. The deposit for the meter cable was €50, but at least you got it back. I had read on Noonsite a report by someone visiting who complained at how they had had to buy the cable. They obviously didn’t realise it was a deposit. We told the marina office and they are now planning to track the person down and see if they can get back the lead and reunite him with the money.

Oliver and Ethan finally met another child who was also 8. His name was Alexandria and he was French. They managed to communicate and enjoyed a couple of days fishing. They caught a starfish and also sea urchins. They are planning to cross the Atlantic next year so are moving at a slower pace to us. They then plan to cross the pacific so will be away a lot longer than our year. It was a shame they could not have spent longer together.

We decided to have our first meal out as a celebration of leaving Spain. This was easier said than done as most restaurants did not open until 8 or 8.30. This meant we did a bit of a pub crawl for an hour filling up on free tapas and the boys had an ice cream to keep them going. Russ and I had the best mojitos I have ever tasted. The bar was doing them at 2 for €5 so you couldn’t say no. We then had a lovely dinner of paella and other seafood, washed down with a lovely bottle of white wine. The boys had spotted another ice cream shop which they wanted to have pudding from. The ice cream tasted like Ferrero Roche chocolates. It was a lovely evening.

The next day we left Baiona as the sun rose at 8.30am. We started with no wind but half way into the journey we got 8 knots of breeze from behind so the kite was hoisted and soon we were doing 6 to 7 knots towards Povoa de Varzim in Portugal. We had more Dolphins come and play and arrived at 4pm.