S/Y Bella Luna

First day at sea for Vilhelm

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Roland

We motored to Alvor, just 2 Nm E of Lagos. There is a shallow channel in to town, but we decided anchoring inside the breakwater was enough with excitement. After another hour Frieder arrived in his HR 54. We came in about 30 minutes before half-tide. It was no problem with depth between the breakwaters.

In the evening we walked in to Alvor and had dinner in a seaside restaurant. It is a lovely 30 minutes walk in to town.

Today we had a 25 knots breeze when we left Alvor. It was the first day for Vilhelm taking the helm. He did well as you can see from the pictures. We had a fast sail to marina de Portimão.

Road trip to Monchique region

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Vickie

On our second day of touring from Lagos we headed for the northern region of Algarve called the Monchique region. Narrow roads took us first to the thermal springs of Monchique. This hosts several spas and a very large Longevity Facility. The water that flows from the higher mountains into this narrow valley has long been known for good health. Below the nice buildings and beautiful landscaped grounds sit a large bottled water facility.

The beautiful and creative landscaping to direct the water flowing through the valley offers a soothing and relaxed atmosphere. Walking around you always hear running water and the songs of birds. There is a very large domed oven sitting in the square. They were starting the fire for baking bread and sausage offered by the wine boutique.

We continued on to the mountain village of Monchique, all built on a hillside. Many of the elderly ladies were carrying their purchased goods of the morning up the steep roads to their homes. There are many restaurants and artisan shops. The public benches and non-touristy coffee shops were full of the locals. We took a liking to the one elderly gentlemen seen in the photo.

The rest of the day we relied on the navigator’s “most scenic route” that took us to lakes and fields full of spring wild flowers. We were most impressed with this beautiful countryside.

Portugal has a illegal immigration problem: Storks that are staying for the winter instead of flying south. The local newspaper reports there are approximately 10,000 that have decided to stay. Consequently the recent high winds destroyed many of their nests. In the last village we drove through, Silves, we spotted a stork feeding her young in a nest that obviously survived the wind storms.

Road trip to West coast Algarve

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Roland

As we are waiting for my grandson Vilhelm to come and visit, we have to rent a car to pick them up at the airport. Vilhem is only 6 months old and does not travel alone yet. His mom and dad will also sail with us for some weeks.

We have been touring the western part of Algarve today. We drove to Luz and had a nice lunch. The town was quiet but has a nice beach. Vickie was so happy to find a very well stocked natural/organic food and products store.

After lunch we drove to the Cape to get another perspective on the view. No boats to see. We stayed at the beach and talked to one of the locals that stands on the cliffs and fish. It looks dangerous as they are standing only 1 m from the edge of a 50 m drop. When they get a fish they have to lift it up 50 m!!

At the Cape there was a fantastic view in all directions.

Then we drove the coastal road north, through a nice pine forest. We opened the windows of the car to smell the pine. Fantastic…

At Amado Beach the surf was quite high so the surfers were active.

Finally we took the car out on the point with all the caves in Lagos.

Tomorrow we will do the Monchique region.

Sines to Lagos

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Roland

After a day in Sines we continued south. Again it was light northerly winds. It is early on the season at not many boats on the water. During the day we did see two other boats heading south.

When we rounded Cabo de Sãu Vicente, the sea was calm. There is another climate, as soon as you come around the cape. You still have northerly winds but it is warmer due to the winds have been warmed up by the landmass.

The characteristic Algarve red/brown cliffs with small sandy beaches in-between, starts already at the cape and go all the way to Lagos.

Around the corner there is several bays for anchoring. We anchored in Ensenada de Sagres. Out came the barbecue and we had a nice steak with res wine to celebrate this milestone in our cruise.

Everything was great until midnight. Then the boat started rolling from side to side as there was a swell came in to the bay. It was difficult to sleep. Two boats left in the middle of night. Our intention was to stay on anchor for some days before we sailed to Lagos. But early in the morning we took up the anchor and headed for Marina Lagos.

We later heard that this swell comes when there are Easterly winds blowing in the Gibraltar Straits.

Cascais to Sines

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Roland

It was blowing a cold and strong Nortada during our week in Cascais. The boats heading north had a hard sail.

When we left Cascais weather was nice, with light winds from the north. Our goal was Sines. Sines is more or less half way between Cascais and Cape Vicente.

The outer breakwater in Sines was damaged by a storm and the end of it is under water. Make sure you to have the red marker on your port side when approaching Sines. There is always big tankers going in to Sines. Quite a busy port.

Ruined breakwater Red marker

The marina in Sines is small with a friendly reception. WIFI was also working great in contrast to Cascais, were it has been close to non-existent.

There is always a surge in the marina. You can not see it, but even in calm weather the boat was moving and riding the dock. It is probably a better option to anchor outside the marina, but inside the breakwater.

We stayed one day extra to explore Sines. There is local market for vegetables and fish. They close at 14.00 officially. But unofficial it is earlier ! Better to be there early. There is also a nice old town with restaurants etc.

Touring Lisbon area

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Vickie

Due to nasty cold weather in Lisbon we decided to escape to the countryside. We drove 3 hours north of Lisbon through some beautiful agricultural landscape. Fields of olive trees and vineyards for as far as you could see. Not a horse, cow or sheep were to be found grazing. Our first stop was a medieval castle that sat high on a lone butte. There was a quaint village that accompanied the Ourem castle ruins. The panoramic views were stunning.

Next we traveled to Fatima and Portugal’s “mini Vatican” as one Portuguese described it. They had a large outdoor firepit where people could buy candles of various lengths and take them to this firepit and throw them in. The smell of styaren filled the courtyard.

Roland set the navigator on “most scenic route” from point A to B. It was quite amazing the roads and narrow streets we were instructed to follow. In one village the road was so narrow between houses that our compact car just barely passed. A repeated question: “where is she taking us now?”

The next day we drove to Sintra together with Billy and Maria from Miss Brazil. Sintra is only 20km from Cascais Marina. This is a magical village that would require daily visits for a week to see nearly all the sights. The Portuguese Royal family used the hilltop castle for their summer place to escape the heat of Lisbon. Consequently many extremely wealthy people built extravagant estates in the late 1800s, early 1900s to be near the royal family. The village developed from there and today is full of markets, shops, museums, galleries and of course restaurants. We toured a estate designed and built by a Italian and the gardens surrounding the house were elaborate and beautiful as shown in the photos.