We were up early on Thursday (22nd June)
and left Porto at 0900 sailing south to Figuera da Foz. After a slow start from
Porto the afternoon breeze kicked in and once again we had a mixture of
motorsailing and downwind sailing. 69 miles later (rather than 55 as indicated
on the rally information) we had to negotiate a huge number of pot buoys around the
approach to the breakwater. However, we finally arrived at the marina in Figueira da
Foz at around 1800 that evening. Mooring here was something of a challenge as a result of
the really tight berth allocated to Snow Goose. We accomplished it though and,
once safely moored up, we wandered up the pontoon to the marina restaurant
where we were treated to unlimited sardines cooked on the BBQ, beer and wine.
 |
| Snow Goose Mooring |
Friday (23rd June) was a busy day starting
with an official welcome reception at the town hall presented by the Vice
President of the local council and the Commodore of Club Nautico Figueira da
Foz, Miguel Amaral. The local authorities expressed their gratitude towards the
rally and presented World Cruising Club with a plaque. The city was in turn
thanked for their continued support and each of us received a bag of gifts from
the port.
 |
| Town Hall Presentation |
On Friday afternoon we visited Coimbra where we had a
guided tour of the incredible university and the local old town; both of which
are World Heritage Sites.
That evening the tour continued on to Montemor Castle,
which had stunning views over the surrounding Portuguese countryside. All in
all a very tiring but very interesting stay in Figueira.
In the evening we were free to explore Figueira da
Foz. Due to the rescheduled itinerary the rally happened to coincide with a major
local religious festival (Sao Joao). That night there was a massive all night
beach party close to the marina as locals celebrated, together with a huge
fireworks display at midnight. We didn’t get much sleep to prepare us for our
early start the next day!
No comments:
Post a Comment