Tag Archives: Lisbon

In Cascais waiting on the weather

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The dingy fleet in Cascais, Portugal

It’s been a week of lazing about Cascais and Lisbon with very little to do. Just the way I like it. Sleeping in, wandering about town for a spot of exercise, and shopping for enough food to last two months. These are the activities that now feature prominently in my daily routine.

Provisioning is one of my favourite “stuck in port” pastimes. It’s shopping therapy without the guilty feeling that usually accompanies those nonessential purchases. Admit it… you know exactly what I mean… 😉

So, guilt free, I wander the supermarket isles hunting for interesting tidbits that can be stowed without refrigeration for months or years at a time. Cured hams in vacuum sealed plastic, strangely appealing (at least until tasted), meat substitutes made of goodness knows what for vegetarians, tuna burgers, assorted pates and crackers, mountains of pasta and precooked packets of rice, vegetables etc etc… I’ve not been as methodical as other sailors with my sailing larder. Some have each meal organised into individually wrapped plastic hampers labeled with the day of the week in waterproof marker. OK, perhaps I exaggerate a little… they don’t all use waterproof markers on their hampers.

This strikes me as obsessively organised, and I hope to never have such simple pleasures preplanned to the nth degree… No no no… I’m much happier rummaging about in the storage compartments under the settee for the mystery meal of the day. It’s not like I don’t have the time to go digging, and think of the pleasure denied you if it’s known without a doubt (because it’s written in the inventory), that there are no more tinned puddings aboard. I’ve strategically hidden mine so that it could be many months before they’re rediscovered. 🙂

Of course I’ll probably pay dearly for this haphazard nutritional strategy… After a month at sea I may be reduced to eating odd leftovers such as tomato sauce and jam tortillas. Ugh!

I’ve compiled a short mishmash of photographic oddities to accompany that last thought. Enjoy!

Is it a dingo? no?

Is it a dingo? No, it’s something else entirely, but I’m not sure what… Your guess is probably better than mine, so if you want to name the breed, feel free to leave a comment. I’m going for the pseudo Latin Canis Verylazybus whileinportus.

The new generation of Blogger...

Sticking with the pseudo Latin theme, here we have Bloggerus muchtoomuchus slaving away (late into the night), updating the ever important sailing website. Good thing I’m not nearly as conscientious. I finished my update a good 5 minutes before him… 🙂

Black cat = expensive rope

Back to the animal theme, here we have Cattus veryblackus guarding the entrance to one of Lisbon’s ship chandlers, in which I purchased some of the most expensive rope I’ve ever had the misfortune to require. That will teach me to disregard such obvious omens… 😉

The Lisbon bling tram

So that it wasn’t all work and no play while visiting Lisbon, I took this Tramus incrediblyreflectus in order to satisfy my vanity and latent bling bling desires.

Fashion conscious Lisbonites

You see, in Lisbon, it’s very important to look ones best, and if the resident homos withouthomeus is anything to go by, I need to spruce up my wardrobe considerably.

Sailing along the western coast of Portugal

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Avian hitchhiker

24 Hours later I weighed anchor and started the 50 plus nautical mile leg north to Cascais on the outskirts of Lisbon. The sailing was in light winds on a relatively smooth sea, so generous use of my mighty 13.5hp Beta engine was necessary. Even at a consistent 5kts, it was almost dark as I approached the Rio Tejo. I really should learn to wake up earlier…

Dolphins made an occasional half-hearted visit, but this was more than compensated for by frequent social calls by exhausted avian hitchhikers.

Overall, the passage was soothingly tranquil, ignoring a brief episode of near panic when my favourite hat forced me into another impromptu “man overboard” drill. I did get it back however! As you can see in the accompanying photo, it is just the thing to compliment my sailing ninja apparel and I would be loath to lose it.

Sailing ninja apparel

I spent two nights in Cascais marina and I will happily return here (perhaps at anchor) in summer before heading toward Madeira or the Canary Islands. There are interesting little beaches, quaint winding cobblestone streets, and a multitude of bars, restaurants and cafes catering to all tastes.

I was also pleased to find the “out of hours” marina staff exceptionally helpful and professional; evidenced by the quick defusing of potential disaster as an accompanying Finnish yacht bungled repeated attempts to tie off at the reception pontoon. The incident prompted a spontaneous and amusing discussion on general marina mishaps, and having witnessed first hand what these people have to contend with on a daily basis, they have my deepest respect. Let me elaborate with an example;

Beach, Cascais Portugal

I’d noticed quite a substantial number of seagulls resting on the marina breakwater in the afternoon and a sudden cacophony of avian cries disrupted my hapless attempts at Wi-Fi prompting me to pop my head out of the companionway, I was just in time to see an enraged fisherman take out a pistol (the air gun type from the sound it made) and start shooting willy-nilly at gulls attempting their getaway with stolen fish. I’m afraid I do not have an accompanying photo captioned “enraged fisherman shoots sea birds”, but I was studiously minding my own business at this point.

Besides, dealing with this sort of thing is the business of those aforementioned, exceptionally helpful and professional marina staff. 😉

I was too tired to sample Saturday’s marina nightlife and had to content myself will meeting other cruisers “en passant” partaking in the new and ridiculously bizarre yachtsmen ritual of wandering marina grounds seeking improved signal strength for Internet Wi-Fi, laptops extended, face aglow.