Sailing with the Treleavens

Rounding Cabo de Sao Vicente, the most southern end of Portugal, was like entering a whole new area. It's hot; the sea is blue and cliffs of golden sandstone that are carved into many shapes by the Atlantic sea. High on a baron exposed cliff is 'Prince Henry the Navigators' School of Navigation. Not a lot remains due to the 1740 earthquake and pillaging by Sir Francis Drake. Beach after beach the Algarve coast has also turned into high rise apartment blocks where the British have made this a second home.Lagos is still a cute village of narrow streets and an English book shop called "The Owl Story", owned by English yachties who are marooned here due to injury. They loved our book and now have it in stock. Portimao is a great anchorage and Faro which is 5nm up narrow channels through swamp makes entering the marshes interesting. Tides, airplanes and mosquitoes send us sailing out and no sign of the storks which habitat this area.Fishing is just not our thing; we have caught nothing so have now resorted to spending big and getting the flashy metallic rod, reel and bright shiny lures.

Very exciting leaving Lagos, rod holder screwed on and out goes the copper coloured line. Sails up on this beautiful day and would you believe it the first thing we catch is a cray pot. Luffing up to stop the boat, Ian doesn't want to loose his new lure so off he goes in the dinghy to cut it free. Next thing I here an awful yell to release the line; I am now towing him with the hook in his thumb, dinghy and cray pot. Ian survived but the cray pot didn't.Beneath cliffs we anchor off one of the beautiful secluded beaches along this coast to have our first swim this year. Sea temperature reading was 10 degrees in the north and is now 21 degrees; we thought it wasn't reading right until now, we didn't believe the sea could be that cold.Discovering the town of Mateus in Portugal reminded us 'the baby boomers' of Mateus rose wine. So for old time's sake we buy a bottle. Our tastes must have changed and can only think that the unusual bottle was only good for sticking a candle in and letting the wax drip over the sides or putting a lamp shade on it. Cadiz Spain feels like we are coming home as we enter the bay after a beautiful sail all day of 85 nms. (Still no tuna caught on the new line) Five years ago we left here in our other yacht not knowing what the future would hold! El Puerto de Santa Maria Royal Yacht Club is our base for three days and the air-conditioning running on full. We were going to take the yacht up the 50nm River to Seville but it's a long way for just a few days. When Ian read that the depth gauge doesn't work due to silted water, it was bit unnerving so we will take the train from here.El Puerto de Santa Maria is famous for its bull ring, sherry and Christopher Columbus left from here to discover America. First stop for us is the sherry producers Gutierrez- Colosia and learn about the history and tradition of sherry and the region. Needless to say we also buy a bottle or two. Getting to know the owners Juan Carlos and Carmen we are also privileged to have breakfast with them later in the week.Sherry is meant to be very dry and served ice cold, not sweet like the English prefer. We certainly find it very enjoyable drinking it as a wine and go back for a few more bottles!! Only wine from this region is allowed to be called sherry as is brandy which is also produced by many of the sherry vineyards. Juan Carlos gave us one of his special brandy bottles named in honour of Juan Sebastian de Elcano the first sailor to circumnavigate the world in the 14^th century. When sherry goes wrong they produce several beautiful vinegars which do have an alcoholic content.< Seville and we are melting at 35degrees, taking in the Giralda, (the remains of the Islamic Mosque) the Gothic Cathedral and the Alcazar and thankful we didn't bring the boat up the river because of the heat. The Islamic influence in design and colour is very much present and full of Religious history. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is in the Cathedral but DNA has recently proved it is not him and that he is buried in the Caribbean. A Tapas lunch at Cerveceria Giralda was a highlight and is always pleasing when you get the right place and for the right price.

Gibraltar is our next port to do final purchases for the ARC, or so Ian says, before we cross to the west coast of Morocco. We are looking forward to having Andrea and John Connolly from Sydney on board for 10 days. Stocked up on port, sherry and wine we are sure to have a very good time.Now if I can't find Ian, he is at the fishing shop looking at lures, he hasn't lost his enthusiasm. Any tips on how to catch the big one when we cross the Atlantic in the ARC Race?

For all our close friends our 20 year old "Pussy" cat died last week. Janey and Ian have been very patient while we have been away and it has been hard not to be there. Thank you Janey and Ian. PS from Ian.The ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) requires that all competitors email in their position everyday. With 250 competitors it is too time consuming for a daily radio schedule.In our case we have purchased an Iridium satellite phone with an inbuilt GPS and our position is recorded automatically every day to race headquarters.

We have now set this up on our website http://www.treleaven.com.au/ and if you visit this site you are able to go to the link and see for yourself where we are actually positioned at 2000 hrs each day from now on if you wish.

Before entering Lisbon up the Rio Tejo we stop at Cascais the Double bay of Lisbon. Cascais recently held the 2007 ISAF Olympic class regatta and were a consideration for the Americas Cup. The anchorage outside the marina is excellent and we catch up again with Don and Agnes Reed from Noosa on their yacht 'Honey Moon'. With a sea side village ashore we stay three days it is so beautiful. Janey is now back with us for a few days, recovering from one too many discos in Ibiza. We absolutely love Portugal, and will return. Everyone speaks English and they have all been extremely pleasant and helpful. The marina has good facilities and tradesman so Ian has taken the opportunity to get some repairs done so a lot of our time is taken up with workmen coming and going.A country rich in history our first tourist trip by bus is Sintra where the once deposed Royal family built The Palace of Pena. High above the Sintra village in a landscape of planted trees the area covers two hundred acres. On this very hot day the coolness of the trees is very welcoming as we wind our way up to this Disney like castle painted in pastel colour. Turrets, towers and terraces are an interesting mix of styles that at the time was absolute opulence but now are a legacy for Portugal. Up the river to Lisbon to Marina Alcantara which is close to the centre (getting the tide right is important, against us at 3 knots), you pass many forts and impressive monuments to "The Great Discoveries".Lisbon and a lasting memory of a barmy evening traveling on an old wooden tram, rattling along, window down and watching history pass by in this multi cultural city of African, Indian, and Portuguese. Castles, Churches, Museums, Lisbon has it all. In particular the Cloisters, the 16^th century Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, was amazing with its ornamentation in Manueline style. Sunday our big day out starts with breakfast with fellow Australians Annie Cleghorn, Ian Bone, Peter Thompson and Tommy Negendahl delivering a 62 foot catamaran to Valencia. Back to the yacht for Afonso the electrical expert to try and solve our problems and on to The Museum National Art Antiga with the Portuguese master piece 'The Panels of St Vincent' consisting of six panels by Nuno Goncalves in the 15^th century.Also the painting 'The Inferno' Hell it is called and sure is. Also many other treasures bought back from newly discovered lands including Japan. On the way to the Maritime Museum we pass the changing of the guard of The President of the Republic in what was the Royal Palace. One young local said that the opulence of the royals was being repeated by the President.The Maritime Museum "A World of Discoveries" is one of the best we have ever visited. At the entrance stands 'Prince Henry the Navigator' who from his "School of Navigation" in the 14^th/15^th centuries directed discoveries further a field than had been attempted before. Vasco de Gama reached Goa (India), with others venturing to Angola, Brazil, Indonesia, China and even Japan. Not bad for such a small country which now has a population of 10 million. No wonder 120 million people in the world speak Portuguese. A fascinating insight to the history of maritime adventure but too enormous to write about here. Thirty minutes away by train is the Portuguese MotoGP with Australian Casey Stoner riding and the chance of winning the 500cc world championship if he wins, not to be missed if you are in town. On arrival its paddocks full of colourful motor bikes. Loud and fast we sit in front of the checked flag with our lonely two Aussie flags amongst many Italian, Spanish and locals. Casey came 3^rd so has to wait a little longer but in a way it was still exciting to see Italian Valentino Rossi win, the crowd went wild as he has such a huge following. Leaving was a grid lock of bikes revving and rearing to go back to neighboring countries all thinking they were on the track.It not easy to find the restaurants that locals eat at when traveling but our electrician Afonso who had become a good friend after several visits sends us to his favorites.Espacio Lisboa served suckling pig with crackling to die for and Tentacoes de Goa the best Indian we have had for a long time. Specialties of the area are the pastries' and we couldn't believe how long the queue was at Pasteis de Belem; they were renowned for their custard tarts. We didn't buy enough!! We have just rounded Cabo de Sao Vicente on the SW corner and are now heading east along the Algarve following the summer, with very little wind and no sign of the 'ever present' swell. We are motoring as much as we did in the Med. PS from IanAndrea is very good at telling you what I do wrong so now it is my turn.The outboard had been difficult to start and on investigation I discovered that she had been sold 'petro' (degreaser) instead of petrol. Its amazing it still ran, albeit on one cylinder.  

After three days in a port you have worked out the geographies to getting an electronic train ticket, where to get the best bread and a tourism office. Then you leave only to start all over again in the next port.

Beneath the old town of Vigo at the marina of the Real Club Nautico de Vigo they squeeze us in between two other boats. We like being central and sometimes that's at the small original marinas as opposed to the modern ones out of town. It's breathless and very hot but we find the oyster bars and cold beer ashore for lunch. Vigo is really a very pleasant town for the next Volvo 70 Yacht Race to start from.

Leaving the last of the Rias, we head for Bayona our last port in Spain before Portugal. Ian sailed into here as a 24 year old on the 52ft yacht 'Congere' and all he could remember was that the bar was in a castle. 'Congere', owned by Beven Koeppel of the New York Yacht Club, was a competitor in the 1972 Transatlantic Yacht Race from Bermuda through the northern Azores to Bayona. Known as the 'Race of Rediscovery' it was organised jointly with the New York Yacht Club and the Monte Real Club de Yates to commemorate the anniversary of the return of 'Pinta' in 1493 from the Americas to announce Columbus's discovery of the new lands. Bayona is a picturesque bay with the yacht club in prime position inside the castle walls and a perfect anchorage. Time to head south to Portugal and not much wind in sight.

Porto just inside the Douro River has no marina so we are advised to stay 5nm north at Leixos. Customs, Police and the Port Authority descend on us the moment we arrive. It's a little disconcerting at first, but all our paperwork is in order and the formalities completed quickly. Thinking this is a one-off entry permit, we soon discover how wrong we were as we head south.

From the bridge high above, Porto looked stunning on this clear blue day. Below on the left bank are the 'Houses of Port Wine' and rows of terracotta roofs that store the port for many years. On the right bank is the very colourful old town, steeples and history everywhere. It's not an easy place on foot as we navigate the steep cobble streets to find Taylor's Port; first on Ian's list. The first in the door and were wondering why it was so quiet when we realized that we had had a time change in line with England and not Western Europe by one hour. 

Taylor's (Taylor Fladgate and Yeatman as the company is known) is the oldest port company, established 1692 by an English family that has never been sold. Today they offer a free tasting in very nice surroundings and of particular interest is the new white port, Chip Dry Porto served chilled and very nice at 10am. The video shown tells us we must see the Upper Douro River where the vineyards reach high up on the slopes in the mountain range. Too early for lunch we cobble our way down to the river and take a short cruise in a port barge to see the five bridges all within a distance of 5kms.

We cobble our way back up the hill for lunch at Taylor's restaurant, Barao de Fladgate; the menu looks delicious. Port is served as an aperitif before lunch then king prawns with a port mayonnaise duck with port raspberries and steak with port wine sauce.

The next day our 5 hour round train trip takes us along the Upper Douro River to Pinhao taking in spectacular scenery. Hillside after hillside is terraced sometimes very steeply, running at all angles. The rock is so hard they have to blast at first and then the plant roots grow down until they find water in an area that is very hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter. The grapes will be ready for picking at the end of September and we are amazed that they still process by treading with their feet. This process takes 24 hours and when the fermenting starts they dance to folk music. This is for the vintage ports as it is still the kindest way to extract the juice. A cruise along this river for a few days would be well worth doing if you are in the area.

Back on the yacht we are visited by Australian Don Reed from Noosa who has been cruising on his 48ft yacht with his wife for 4 years. They are the real cruisers having returned from Ireland, Scotland and Norway.

This is the notoriously exposed Atlantic coast of Portugal and what do we get but fog, flat glass seas and no wind. What do you do whilst motoring for 12 hours? You watch for Cray pots, whip ropes, photograph birds and write to you all. Next stop is Nazare and would you believe it… Police, Immigration, Customs and Port Authority all over again! To date no-one has stamped our passports in the EU but here this causes consternation and away go our passports to be updated. There may be one set of EU rules but each country interprets them differently. Be prepared.