Nomad's First Voyage To Mainland Portugal

By the time Nomad worked her way around Punta Robaleira Spain the forecast gale force northerlies were beginning to build as the sun set.  I carefully approached the unlit beach in complete darkness with a close watch on the depthsounder. It was a relief to get anchored as there had been little respite from the heavy traffic all the way from England.  When the sun came up the next morning I found that the the only other boat in Enseada Barra was a small junk.  The forecast called for a day of brisk southerlies after the gale so we sailed in company across to Bayona Spain. This was an excellent opportunity for some good photos of each others boats under sail. Sailing with another junk was a rare chance to compare different rigs and see other methods of working our unique boats.

China Blue coming up fast

Nomad, as seen from China Blue

Nomad departed Bayona when the winds changed back to the prevailing northerlies.  But the winds were light offshore and there was a big swell left over from the recent winds.  Nomad was unable to maintain steerage in the troughs where there was no wind so it was time to play motorboat for twenty four hours until the wind and sea state allowed sailing.  After that it was easy sailing, having moved slightly further offshore to get out of the steady stream of traffic  moving along the coast.  Rounding Cabo Sao Vincente  brought Nomad into a different world. The wind became light before stopping altogether, the big Atlantic swell disappeared and the temperature became noticeably warmer. I put the anchor down inside the breakwater in Portimao Portugal five days after departing Bayona.

Sunset in Portimao Portugal.

Portimao was a good city  to restock the boat in and visit. Seeking a quieter, less rolly anchorage I moved east to Culatra. The sea state in the entrance was a bit rough with the wind and tide opposed as I could not go quite fast enough to arrive at slack water. Here was a pleasant anchorage near a small fishing village that could only be reached by boat. The larger town of Olhao was just a dinghy ride across the drying sandbanks. Timing the tides is all important rowing across the sandbanks. One afternoon I lingered a little too long at a waterfront pub and had to get out and walk the dinghy across the sandbanks in not quite enough water to fully float it. Another fifteen minutes and I would have had several miles of rowing to get home!
This looked like  it was a good place to work on the boat, so I dismounted the windvane and got it on deck. I had noticed that the Delrin bearings were falling out of the bottom and decided that it was time to rebuild it. 
This overhaul was way overdue, I had done nothing except replace the plastic bits that got sun rotted and the control lines since I purchased it for my last boat. In1998!

Ready for a complete rebuild.

Some time ago I was told to check out the Rio Guadiana by another sailor. This was just a short sail to the Spain-Portugal border so I had no trouble timing arrival for high water. As the tide began to ebb it was time to anchor. I found a comfortable shoal out of the main channel before the bridge across from Ayamonte.  Riding the tide the next afternoon I went upriver to anchor off the twin towns of Alcoutim Portugal and Sanlucar Spain. Two countries, two time zones and two languages split by the Rio Guadiana. This river is  a sailors paradise with no commercial traffic and sailboats anchored everywhere. Village life or wilderness all nearby. There are quite a number of ex sailors living ashore here who arrived on their boats and never left. I thought I would explore the river for a few days before moving on. But the good living and active social life along the riverfront kept me here for well over a month including the Christmas and New Years celebrations.

Sanlucar de Guadiana as seen from Alcoutim

Sailboats everywhere on the Guadiana

Most days started like this.

Talking with people here I learned that it was possible to go with your boat as far upriver as Mertola which is much further than the chart goes. I set off with a copy of a very old guidebook and some notes  to explore the upper river. I moved slowly going hiking at every anchorage .  Eventually I got to a bend in the river and could not locate the channel at high tide. When the tide dropped I could see what I thought was deep water channel was completely blocked by boulders.  The next morning was spent exploring with the dinghy and lead line, finding the deep channel less than two meters from the bank. Getting around this bend at high tide was easy with a quick sketch chart of turning points I made in the dinghy. Nomad anchored further upriver a half mile below the ruins of an old Roman dam near Vau da Vaquiera. Reportedly one can pass over it at high tide. After an investigation with  lead line found that it is deep enough at high tide but there were a few random boulders scattered about  without a straight path through, I decided not to risk scraping up my bottom paint and go the last two miles to Mertola by dinghy. I had to wait for a few days for the tide times to be right to ride the tide up and back during daylight. Two days later a cold front came through with brisk shifting winds and Nomad began to slowly drag her anchor upriver. After several failed attempts to reset the anchor on a bottom that was apparently solid rock I hitched it up and headed downriver to Penha de Aguia to anchor in a nice mud bottom.

Downriver from Penha de Aguia

The remains of an old Roman era dam at Vau da Vaquiera . End of the road for Nomad

Time to start using two anchors in the narrow areas. The wind vane was bumping on the rocks as the tide turned.

Nomad's last anchorage before turning downriver. Three miles from Mertola.

Another spectacular Guadiana anchorage.

Pomerao is a very small village with two restaurants and a riverside parking are popular with caravans.  The big attraction here is the hiking into the countryside along many kilometers of old railways. After the mine closed, the tracks and bridges were dismantled and anything of value was removed. But the tunnels and bridge foundations remain. I spent a few days hiking extensively in the mountains behind Pomerao.

Anchored by Pomerao. Notice the wing dams upriver showing at low tide.

Pomerao

Anchored fore and aft in Pomerao. The boas on the docks were all long term storage with only a few sailors onboard.

Exploring the old railway tunnels.

Pomerao as seen from the highway above town.

Learning of a bamboo grove on the river, I located it and cut some fresh bamboo to replace some damaged battens. Nomad anchored again downstream of Alcoutim to install the new bamboo and work on the never ending fixit list.

With the ninety days allowed in the Schengen agreement countries fast running out and wanting to save a little bit for the Canary islands I reluctantly sailed back to Portimao to get a little fuel and clear out for Morocco.  Before losing the phone signal off shore I got an email from some friends who said they were still in the boatyard in Porto Santo. After a quick check of the weather forecast I changed course for Porto Santo and sent them a note saying that I will see you in a few days. Five days later Nomad was anchored inside the breakwater at Porto Santo. It was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and do a lot of hiking around the island.  Hiking also provides spectacular views along the forbidding north side of the island which is a dangerous lee shore for boats.

The harbour at Porto Santo. In the background, Madeira on the right and Ilhas Desertas on the left.

The ocean is nearly always in sight on Porto Santo.

Porto  Santo's rugged north shore.

All to soon it was time to head for Gran Canaria and points south. There were still a few ports I wanted to visit enroute to The Gambia.  But the more time I spent enroute meant that the was less time available  for visiting The Gambia as I wanted to sail from there before the rainy season began.