Gradually the decision had been made to travel south to the Mediterranean and now we needed chart data for this area of the world. We had confirmed with the marina in Brest that we could use their address and placed the order. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact the marina we arrived June 8th and headed into the harbor. We continued to attempt contact by radio and phone as we entered. The harbor was somewhat intimidating – large, very busy, lots of military boats, but we needed our package. Ultimately the marina responded and sent a man out to direct us. We were assigned space on a large concrete wall with little protection where we spent one stormy night and moved on in the morning. We are certain that ability to speak and understand French would have made this a much more comfortable stop, in any case we had what we needed and would be on our way.
We would now stage to cross the Bay of Biscay and continue along the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal then enter the Mediterranean by the end of the season.
Although there is beautiful coastline all along the inside of the bay we chose to make a passage across the mouth, a journey of about 350 miles. This passage has weighed heavy on our minds for some time as it is notorious for very bad weather and difficult crossings. You want to choose your weather window properly.
Luckily there was a period of very settled weather so we prepared to head out. We made a quick stop in a marina in Bénedot for some provisions and fuel then staged in Íles de Glénan for our crossing. We left our mooring at 0800 on June 11 and arrived in La Coruña Spain at 1100 June 14. All had gone according to plan and we were fairly well rested on arrival. Happy to have the Bay of Biscay behind us!
La Coruña was a wonderful stop in the Galicia region of Spain. We started with a walking tour then lunch which had been recommended by our guide, a Spanish Omlette also called Spanish tortilla. It was wonderful and we have since had many more. We were also introduced to the Spanish love of ham. Although we typically don’t eat meat we took a friend’s recommendation and went to Jamoneria La Leonesa and loved it. We wandered the city and toured the Torre de Hércules, a lighthouse originally built in the first century and is a protected UNESCO site today. La Coruña was an amazing introduction to Spain!
We continued along the Costa de Muerte and around Finisterra. Beautiful, rugged coastline with a very intimidating name! Made a few stops along the way and had some very nice encounters with local people including a 90 year old woman who encouraged us to drink the local water to which she attributed her long life. Also visited by a local dolphin in Portosin and had two kids swim out to greet us in an anchorage when they saw our American flag.
From Portosín we took a road trip into Santiago De Compostela where we started with a walking tour for an introduction and history of the area. We then explored the cathedral ourselves and signed up for a tour of the roof. The only tour available was in Spanish but we really wanted to get up there, it was well worth it for just the visual experience. There is a great deal of history but today it primarily known as part of The Way of St. James where many people finish their Camino de Santiago.
We continued our journey along the coast making stops along the way and began to explore the Spanish Rias. The Rias are beautiful and peaceful sailing grounds and we enjoyed our time exploring.
On June 29th we had a very sporty sail from Moaña Spain into Póvoa Portugal, 60 miles in 7 hours. We are thankful to the very helpful dock hands in getting situated on the pontoon in very windy conditions! Jeff said “gracias” and with a smile they corrected us, thank you in Portuguese is “obrigado” or “obreigada” if the speaker is female.
We quickly learned that June 29 is the feast of Saint Peter who is the patron saint of fishermen. The town of Pòvoa loves fishermen and honors Saint Peter in style. There was a major procession through the streets in which each neighborhood tries to out do each other in decorations and energy, firecrackers throughout the day and a beautiful fireworks display just before the disco opened at 2 am. Amazing!
Continuing along the coast we made a stop in Nazaré where we booked in for 3 weeks. As you are approaching the harbor you pass over the Nazarè Canyon, the deepest canyon or trench in Europe and the cause of the incredible waves during the fall and winter. This is a big surfing town and has a very comfortable feel to it.
With Echo secure in the marina we decided on some road travel. We took a bus trip to Porto, an amazing city! From there we boarded a river boat to travel up the Douro Valley where we spent the night in a vineyard. Back to Nazarè for bit then rented a car to explore Coimbra, an incredibly interesting medieval town where the University of Coimbra which was founded in 1290. Mary’s uncle, Bruce had studied Portuguese there in the 1960’s. He had told us about his experience and we made sure to visit.
Coimbra was incredible! The atmosphere, the food, the Fado, the University, the library…. Fado is traditional Portuguese music. The university library houses some incredibly old books and the manor in which they are protected is interesting. We did see a few students in their traditional black capes. We enjoyed wandering the streets and had some wonderful meals. On the way back to Echo we stopped to tour the Conímbriga Roman ruins which are quite large and much of the area is well preserved.
Finally it was time to move on from Nazaré. We were expecting visitors in Cascais so we made a few quick stops, enjoyed some great sailing conditions and arrived to the Cascais marina on July 21. Bruce and Brenda arrived shortly after. Bruce’s friend from his time at the University in Coimbra came to visit and show us around a bit. José was a wonderful guide and we certainly enjoyed meeting him!
While Bruce and Breeda were with us we had some nice sailing and visited a few anchorages. We also took the train into Lisbon one day. It was good to see a bit of the city but it was hot! Ultimately we made our way to the marina in Lagos, a nice town with lots of restaurants and easy beach access. Here we said goodbye to Bruce and Breeda as they were moving on to visit Ireland. They are very experienced sailors and we were glad they had the opportunity to sail with us in Portugal!
We made preparations to have Echo hauled in Lagos for some work/projects while we traveled back to the US for several weeks. Our nephew was getting married on September 29 and we wanted to be sure to attend. We did and it was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations to Aiden and Leann!
Back to Portugal mid October. The work had gone well and Echo was ready to launch once again. While in Michigan we asked Mary’s brother Bill and his wife Julia to visit, they arrived October 18. We had made our way to Portimão and had a few very windy days after they arrived so we did some exploring by car. Once the weather settled we enjoyed some great sailing along the Algarve! Glad to have had a few nights at anchor with Bill and Julia aboard. We gradually made our way to Olhāo Marina near Faro where they departed from on 27th. So wonderful to spend this time with them and give them a little glimpse into our life on the water!
We had reserved space in Cartagena where Echo would spend the winter and we were due there December 1 so we continued to move along the coast toward Gibraltar. We continued to have wonderful sailing days and beautiful anchorages and ultimately crossed back into Spain. We did take the time for a quick road trip to Seville which was great. We passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. It was pretty exciting, Europe to our left, Africa to our right and passing through the Pillars of Hercules which mark the entrance to Mediterranean Sea.
Although we haven’t mentioned Orcas they were certainly on our minds as we traveled this season. Basically since beginning our crossing of the Bay of Biscay we were in the area where the Iberian Orcas have been interacting with sailboat rudders for the past few years. The thought is that they are “playing” but they have disabled many boats and caused a few to sink. Happy to report that while we think we spotted one or two Orcas during these travels we were never bothered. It’s not an issue in the Mediterranean so we don’t have that worry for now.
Next stop Gibraltar!
Thanks for travelling along with us ~ Mary and Jeff
So nice to read about your many adventures.
Bravo Zulu!