Miscellany One 3back to home page

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This is where we put useful snippets of information or sources of information that have caught our eyes, including observations and ideas about sailing the Atlantic and Caribbean triggered by meeting other sailors.

Places to see on the Iberian peninsular

Between the summer of 2004 and 2005 we met many sailors who had sailed across Biscay and were now coast-hopping down the Iberian coast in order to avoid night passages. Some were planning to engage a strong crew to sail the boat to the Canaries where family or friends would fly out to be crew for the big trip across the Atlantic. For some, heading out into the Atlantic would be their shake-down cruise, all because of the skipper’s reluctance to take more opportunities to take family on sails of three or four day offshore passages. Better, perhaps, is to use those perfectly sized, usually gentle, always warm passages to the Atlantic islands to get in as many shake-down sails as possible.

There is much to see on the Iberian coast. We particularly admired the old city of Oporto, and not just because the port lodges on the south bank of the Dura offer guided tours and free tastings of their delicious port. The old vessels that brought the grapes down from the hinterland are still maintained by the port lodges.

Photo by Gloria Jardine

Places to stay

We have found the marinas along the Algarve well suited to a winter stay. These are modern and well equipped and popular with sailors from many parts of Europe and the USA. They are often close to attractive towns that retain much of their old charm despite the heavy development of tourism along the Algarve. In some marinas the longer-stay sailors have organised social events. There are also a few yards where boats can be hauled out and work done ashore, our favourite being the family run yard of NaveDiesel in Portimão.

Marinas are not the only places to stay for weeks or months at a time. The tidal lagoons along this coast provide fairly well sheltered anchorages for those able to stay on board most of the time. The largest of these is the one at Faro and Olhão.

Web sites to visit:

Cruising Association, London http://www.cruising.org.uk/

British meteorological office www.meto.gov.uk

Royal Cruising Club

Pilotage Foundation http://www.rcc.org.uk/

Ocean Prediction Centre http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/

US Center for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/

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