Visitors to Porto

So back to Portugal, and another change of language. Despite it being very similar on paper to Spanish, it is pronounced very differently, sounding almost eastern European. I had started a Duolingo course of Portuguese but have a long way to go! I managed to get myself (mostly) understood  with a mix of Portuguese and Spanish, but then often couldn’t understand the reply!

Back with the 'Spirit of Mystery' crew

We had no sooner dropped the anchor in Aveiro than our friends on ’Spirit of Mystery’ came over with a hot meal for us all, what a lovely welcome ashore! They had been there a couple of days and had already found a few people to help with our technical problems on board. We went ashore and met Fernando, who was pricing up a steel tube for our bowsprit for us. He welcomed us all for drinks at his house, and let the children loose with a box of toys!

The next day, we went up the canal to the yacht club near Aveiro, where Paul had found an electronics guy who could look at our battery charger. We left it in his hands and spent a couple of days relaxing. The yacht club itself is at one end of a dilapidated set of buildings next to the canal, where a long pontoon has been installed off an old wharf. It is twenty minutes’ walk along the smaller canal from here into Aveiro.

Derelict building by 'A Vela', with clock tower

We wandered along the canal banks, which were bordered by squares of flooded fields, which then evaporated in the sun, leaving the salt behind. Many of these saltpans looked like they had fallen into disuse, but we saw men walking through some fields, indicating that this may not be the case. It seemed to be a popular habitat for birds, who were feeding in the fields. We saw flocks of dunlin and several striking black and white birds with long red legs, we later identified them as black-winged stilts.

Man opening sluices between saltpans

black-winged stilt in saltpans

A later trip further up the canal at high tide showed how extensive these salt pans and flooded areas are. We followed the canal for a mile upstream and the floodplains continued as far as we could see. There was still 18 foot of water in the channel but we turned around as we were unsure exactly where the banks were, some seemed to be collapsing. Banks had been repaired or reinforced with what looked like building rubble. There were many houses completely surrounded by water, and we debated the practicalities of living in such isolation – surely easier with today’s technology.

House on the canal bank, surrounded by water

Banks shored up with rubble

Further along, the banks of the canal were dotted with abandoned buildings, left over from former thriving times. Some obviously provided a place to hang out for local kids, who had transformed the bare walls with graffiti – some of a surprisingly high quality!

Abandoned buildings overlooking canal

Quality graffiti!

David found an interesting boat project that he briefly considered finishing. A large hull lay in a field and a quick peek inside showed everything had been done to a high standard inside. We asked the guys in the workshop next door about it and the man who had been doing the boat had apparently died. A sad end to his dream.

Half-finished boat project

The men next door were working on the tourist boats. Several were hauled out of the water for repairs and painting. The artwork on the prow had been done by a local art teacher. We were allowed to look inside the shed, where another boat was being prepared ready for launch. We had assumed that these boats had been specially built for the tourist trade, but in fact, they had originally been used to collect seaweed for use as fertiliser on farmers’ fields. The oars had now been replaced with an outboard engine, and the rudder cut off short but left there for show.

Tourist boat, hauled out near Aveiro

When we learnt that there was no charge to go through the lock near our boat, we took our dinghy right through and into the town centre, passing several of the trip boats along the way. Katie took the helm for most of the trip, and got thumbs up of approval from the other boaters!

We passed the waterfronts lined with old merchant houses. They were all different – many had tiled facades, some had Dutch-style gable ends as in Topsham, others had fancy fronts, like the one below with anchors on the windows!

Spot the anchors on the windows!

Katie at the helm

We went up a quiet dead end, away from the trip boats, and sat and ate lunch in the dinghy right outside the fish market, a wrought -iron building dating from 1904 and apparently inspired by the Eiffel Tower.

waterfront buildings, Aveiro

Historic fish market, Aveiro

Another leg of the canal carried on past the town, under the central crossroads, which had a wire dome to let light in underneath, and carried on to a huge old red brick building. The writing on the front revealed that it used to be an enormous ceramic tile factory, and had been restored in its entirety, chimney included, as luxury apartments. A huge square glass block sat bizarrely nearby – a very modern hotel!

under bridges, Aveiro

old ceramic factory, Aveiro

We had been urged by the boatworkers to try the local delicacy – ‘ovos moles’, so bought a little box to try. They are very hard to describe but are large ‘sweets’ made of rice paper pressed into the shape of shells, and filled with a sweet orange goo made from egg yolks. Sweet, and sort of nice, but rather sickly. This same orange goo seemed to feature in many of the local cakes too.

Ovos Moles 

Reuben isn't overly-impressed!

After several days, the steel tube had still not materialised. There was an issue with transport, and then a public holiday brought the country to a halt for a day – celebrating 60 years of democracy, after ousting Portugal’s last dictator. Dave decided to repair the old bowsprit with bolts and move on. Spirit of Mystery had already left with favourable southerly winds, and my parents were due to visit us in Porto. The battery charger was still under repair but we could always return by train.

Olaf the Viking going back out after bowsprit repair

Early-morning mist over canals, Sao Jacinto

We set off early one morning, admiring the mist hanging over the saltpans, until we realised it heralded a thick bank of fog at sea! So a calm but not very picturesque trip up the coast to Porto. The most exciting thing about the day was making bread and a visit from a pigeon, who hitched a ride on our ladder, to the children’s delight!

We anchored at Leixoes, the commercial port just north of Porto, and investigated the marina options. It turned out that the entrance to the river Douro had been closed due to strong currents. There had been a lot of rain in Spain and the Spanish had opened the floodgates way up the river, sending torrents of water down to Porto. So we were unable to go up the river to either moor against the city wall (as before) or to the new marina on the south bank of the river.  

Yacht sailing into Leixoes harbour

As it turned out, staying in Leixoes was perfect. From our berth in the marina, we had a great view of the container ships coming in and out of the harbour, with their attendant pilot boats and tugs. We could watch fishing boats and cruise ships come and go, and the cranes loading and unloading containers from ships and into lorries. My Dad was fascinated by the constant activity and he inspired Katie to take photos of it all and turn it into a ‘moviemaker’ project!

Container ship heading out of Leixoes harbour

Katie & Grandad working on project

Our marina lay within the outer suburbs of Porto – Leҫa de Palmeira on our side of the harbour was a strange mix of new buildings and ramshackle old houses. The shops and cafes seemed to be thriving and there were an incredible number of tiny ‘local’ fruit and veg shops tucked in unlikely places. The marina itself was scattered with huge old bits of machinery (as art), and there was a lovely promenade along the beach down to the Boa Nova lighthouse, where a trendy restaurant sat opposite an oil refinery!

waterfront promenade, Leca

Boa Nova lighthouse

On the opposite side of the harbour was Matosinhos, reached by crossing the opening bridge over the harbour. This was our nearest metro stop, and again had many boarded-up shops along the main street. It was a popular area for fish restaurants, the street nearest the fish docks contained a whole row of them, each with a barbecue grill outside for cooking the fish.

Fish restaurant in Matosinhos

Matosinhos Beach

Again there was a long, wide promenade alongside the beach. Unfortunately both beaches seemed to be littered with sticks and bits of rubbish. We were unsure whether this was a permanent problem, or whether a whole load of rubbish had been washed out from the flooding river Douro, three miles to the south. It was a shame as the beaches were otherwise fine white sand, and were obviously popular with local families and surfers.  

It was a 45-minute metro or bus ride into Porto itself, and we spent a couple of days showing my parents some of the main sights, especially the stunning views from the top of the Dom Luis bridge overlooking the Port warehouses on one side and the colourful buildings of the Ribeira on the other. We ate in the central market, and found a wonderful cake shop opposite, but my parents were similarly unimpressed by the ‘orange goop’ in many of the cakes.

Porto

Dom Luis bridge

Katie in Porto

They took in a recital at the famous ‘Casa da Musica’ and visited the art gallery at the ‘Fundaҫao Serralves’. The gardens of this former stately residence were beautifully laid out – paths lined with huge trees led to rose gardens, paddocks, and a shady pond. A series of geometric pools led down from the house to a fountain, and the quaint tearooms were set on a sunny patio under a canopy of flowering wisteria. We were tickled when my ‘trendy’ lunch appeared – two slices of bread and a tin of mackerel (still in the tin!)

'bread & mackerel' lunch!

We also caught the train back to Aveiro, to visit the town, and pick up the battery charger. The hour-long train ride was a perfect opportunity for ‘school’, and provided fantastic views of nesting storks, and even a couple of flamingos. My parents enjoyed the town, particulary the saltpans and all the tiled houses, but sadly the battery charger still didn’t work on our return. You win some, you lose some…

Sao Bento station Porto

Reuben and Nanny with walking statue in Aveiro

It turns out that my parents were lucky to have a week of sunshine. The day after they left, it started to drizzle as we headed slowly north towards Spain. Dave’s birthday was spent at sea plodding up the coast in a murky mist. Thankfully, it was dry enough when we arrived in Bayona for a birthday pizza meal and couple of beers ashore.

Happy Birthday to El Capitan!

It is only now that we are back in higher latitudes that we can appreciate the Canaries climate. It really was amazing there all winter. There were a few grey days and even the odd sprinkling of rain, but for the most part it was a warm and sunny 20 degrees. It was dry enough to varnish outside and paint inside, knowing that we could leave the hatches open all night to ventilate (no condensation).

The barometer didn’t drop below 1016 in four months. Today in Bayona it is down to 1002 millibars, and cold wet, and windy. Lovely!