Lazy days on the Guadiana
Still at anchor on the river. Seems I left Alcoutime in time - they had 42 degrees up there yesterday. Only 33 down here. In the shadow that is, and out on the water there is none. Yesterday I rigged the dinghy again, after picking up the missing parts on Saturday. Didn't have much wind yesterday, w...
Too hot up the river
On Friday it was becoming way too hot at my anchorage. 38 degrees was forecasted for several days. Down at the river mouth it was said to be a little above 30, so I decided to go back to my old anchorage outside Ayamonte. The chances to get some cooling winds are bigger down here too. On Saturday mo...
Going up the river
On Monday afternoon I left my anchorage between Ayamonte and Vila Real and went north on the river. A gentle southerly took me a few knots against the current, and one more when the tide turned. But after 3 hours the wind died and I had to do the rest for the engine. I docked at Alcoutime in the las...
Day trip to Sintra
On Wednesday I took the bus up into the mountains and visited Sintra, a famous Portuguese destination. Normally I have quite a low opinion on tourists that go to popular places and complains about how touristy they are, but the historic center of Sintra was a bit too much even for me. I think there...
More wind and stronger
The Portuguese northerly took a break on Tuesday but was back today even stronger than on Sunday. I had an appointment with a sailmaker in Cascais marina and since it is quite expensive there I was going to use their short stay option, 6 hour for 12.30 Euro. But after seeing the forecast - gusting u...
Strong winds
For the third evening it is strong northerly in the bay outside Cascais, stronger than forecasted. Last night it was 30 knots most of the time for some hours, the highest I saw on the instruments was 41. A 46 feet yacht lost its holding and drifted across the bay in high speed, heading for the break...
Touristing in Porto
Today I took the Metro to Porto, a 50 min ride. The city is a big tourist attraction, and it's easy to understand why. The historic center is very picturesque, with narrow - and often very steep - alleys with no cars. And to me it looked quite un-gentrified, the inhabitants I saw living there looked...
A short move
Today Sunday I moved from Les Minimes gigantic marina to a much smaller location - but a truly classic one: Old Port in La Rochelle. I thought it would be fun to spend at least one night here. It´s right in the middle of the old town and the center of night life of the city. A bit noisy at night tim...
Bike trip to Ile de Ré
The weather got better today Friday. The strong wind prevailed but the sun was shining again and temperatur was pleasant, below 25, feeling a bit cooler still in the wind. Perfect day for a bike trip to Ile de Ré. A very pleasant experience it turned out. There is a long bridge from the outskirts of...
No wind or too much wind
Meteofrance promised winds at Beaufort 4 for my sail down to Ile de Ré this morning, but as so many other times on this trip it was a complete miss. The first two hours I made about 5 miles, mostly assisted by the current, sometimes by some occasional puff on the sails. At eleven there was no wind a...
A break from the sailing
Yesterday I went from my anchorage in Golfe de Morbihan 25ish miles south, to seaside resort Pornichet. There I parked the boat, took a shower and went to sleep, just to wake up to go back to Morlaix, with train and bus. There I will try to sort out my problems with French bureaucracy, celebrate Bas...
More walking and dinghy sailing
Yesterday I explored the rest of the island by foot, following the path that runs along the shore. It was longer than I expected, so I got some good exercise. Today I took the dinghy for exploring the nearby islands. Not much wind to start with, had to use the oars from time to time, but after a whi...
Walking and dinghy sailing
After breakfast I spent 4 hours exploring the island by foot and was able to see most of it. It is probably the prettiest island so far on this trip, in my opinion. It has nothing of the dramatic beauty of the islands out on the Atlantic coast, here in the golfe it is much more idyllic, with quaint...
Vannes, day 3
Friday was a busy day. Laundry in the morning, then off to the Liedl for provisioning for at least three nights at anchor. A quick lunch and then up in the saddle and biking to Port Blanc, where I took the bike on the ferryboat to Île aux Moines. There is 40 islands in Golfe de Morbihan, 38 of them...
Engine problem solved!
The capitainerie at the marina in Vannes was very helpful with helping me to find a mechanic today. It didn't took him long to find the problem - a cable crimp had come lose because of the engine vibrations and caused the diesel flow to stop. I didn't really understand the function of it, but he sho...
Exploring Morbihan with the dinghy
The rain eventually disappeared, and I took the dinghy for exploring the islands around the anchorage. In places it's impossible to row against the current, over 9 knots is the strongest, not far from my anchorage (I plan to pass there tomorrow on my way up to Vannes).