Fruits of the forest

 We have been doing lots of walking, mainly to the south of the port, because when we move to our apartment it will be easier to access the south side so we will leave exploration of that side until after Christmas. One of our favourite walks takes us past a forest where trees are being bled for resin to use in the paint making industry.

It is a beautiful walk which takes us up on to the ridge and then down into the next valley,

At one point we noticed some trees, known locally as strawberry trees, which were full of fruit. Having heard that they were good for jam making (something I have been doing a lot of lately due to the abundance of cheap fruit) I decided to pick some and try my hand at a small batch.

I made a small jar for us and one for Dody but, whilst it was all eaten the unanimous verdict was that it was too seedy. Not one to try again. I will stick with plum and cinamon or pineapple and ginger for now.

A few weeks ago we decided to walk to the east of Nazare towards the high point known as Sao Bras. Our route took us through the area near the cemetery at the top of the ridge. What an attractive area it is: an older part of town with a lovely square and old style buildings and a great view of the lower part of town..

We walked down the hill and crossed the motorway and set off to climb up to the fire lookout on the top of the hill.

The last part of the ascent was via some old stone steps with a single handrail and a clear view of the steep drop. Heights are not my thing when you can see the drop. I sat down twice and willed myself to continue and Scruffbag was very supportive but about 30 feet from the top I could go no further. On the way down we passed two young men carrying heavy batteries up to the lookout. They told us the batteries weighed 18 kilos. Despite our failure to reach the summit, however, it was a great walk and the views were superb and an added bonus was that we found an underpass beneath the motorway which would give us much easier access to this vast area of woodland.

The next time we walked this way we spotted a woman with a basket collecting something which we thought might be fungi .We had seen people with baskets in these woods on our last walk and I was curious so I went over to talk with her and she was happy to chat and to show me her hoard as well as showing me pictures on her phone of other fungi that she was looking for. I said that we loved mushrooms and were very disappointed that in Nazare, unlike Leixoes, we could only get bland , white or chestnut ones. She then happily gave me the phone number of her friend who collected mushrooms for the Lisbon market. She said he lived in Nazare and had been out collecting that day and she was sure he would sell us some.

When we got back to the boat I asked Dody if she would phone him as my Portuguese is very limited and, although she had said he spoke some English I thought it might be a challenging subject linguistically. As luck would have it, he said he would be driving past the port in 5 minutes time so Dody and I met up with him and he sold each of  us a boxed selection of fungi for 10 euros and told us we should wash them then dip in boiled water for 2 minutes and then we could keep them for up to 5 days. I recognised the chanterelles but the rest were all new to me.

They were delicious. Thank you Julia.

Life in Nazare in the year of the virus

 We have now settled in to our life in the Nazare boatyard. This is the view from our cockpit complete with the bowsprit from the boat behind which we need to avoid when boarding.

It took some time to source the parts for the gearbox but they duly arrived and within a day of their arrival the mechanic presented us with a repaired gearbox. Scruffbag fitted it a few weeks later, We have not yet tested it because we have decided to leave Erica in the yard over winter. We intend to rent an apartment for the colder months of January and February and paying marina fees and apartment rent seems a tad extravagant. In the meanwhile we have found another cracked engine mounting (probably occurring way back in Martinique when we wrapped a rope around the prop. so we are lucky ) this has gone away with Alec the welder for replacement. We also bought wood for a new boom gallows and plan a few other jobs

We continue to live life under the shadow of Covid so, although things are ok here we are not using public transport other than the funicular railway up to the old town of O Sitio from time to time, Everyone seems to be good at obeying the rules here and mask wearing is obligatory in all buildings and inside spaces and outside wherever there are several people,

We have applied for and been granted temporary Portuguese residency so we can stay here and travel to Madeira and the Azores without Brexit restrictions which is a bonus,

So life goes on. We have been going on lots of walks, There are long unspoilt beaches to the north and south of us and forests, farmland and hills and valleys, we are spoilt for choice.

We have also now bought second hand bikes so that we can travel further afield.

We have  made some good friends too, Dody, a German sailor who has been here for some years working on her wooden boat, and Wolfgang and Birte, a German couple who arrived this year from the Caribbean and the USA and Canada  and, like us are waiting out the virus.

Dody has her own small caravan and a well equipped workshop. She is a skilled canvas worker and woodworker and speaks fluent Portuguese. She seems to know everyone and has been very helpful and very generous in driving us around , She has several cats, including a mother and kittens she rescued from the port dogs. They often come up the ladder on to our boat and surprise us by padding around the deck. Max, who I believe was Dody's first cat never visits our boat but is otherwise the friendliest of all of them and is definitely not for sale.

Wolfgang has been very industrious in carrying out his 7 yearly maintenance of his steel boat, working all day and every day and putting the rest of us to shame.

As well as the cats, we also have 2 favourite dogs in the yard whom we have christened Big Dog and Fluffy. Big dog likes to chase cars and he also likes to come up behind you unexpectedly and nudge the back of your legs. Fluffy appears much older and seems content to follow Big Dog around.

We have settled into a routine visiting the local market twice weekly for fruit, vegetables and meat and have a favourite cafe for coffee and wifi and the occasional toasted sandwich or rich, thick hot chocolate drink. The biggest downside is descending the ladder in the cool early mornings or dark evenings to visit the toilet block.

Settling in for the winter

 Back in. Nazare we set about sorting out the gearbox. At this point we were still holding on to ideas of sailing to Lanzarote once the work was completed.

The mechanic arrived the day after we got back and agreed that Scruffbag would remove the gearbox and take it to the workshop for him to repair. So far so good. 

Three weeks later we were told that despite lots of effort and lots of phone calls, sourcing parts for a 40 year old British gearbox in Portugal was proving impossible. In the meantime Scruffbag had removed the old exhaust hose, by the looks of it not before time.

We ordered a new exhaust hose from Germany and then chased up gearbox parts in the UK. The exhaust hose arrived within the week and we managed to source the gearbox parts but we're told that it would be five weeks and around £800 before they arrived. To add to the fun the foot pump for the water pump stopped working and it turned out that the spring had broken. Naturally the service kit didn't contain a spare spring so we were faced with several weeks of jjerry cans awaiting the part.

But the good news is... Nazare is a lovely place. The weather is great. There are some excellent walks. We have some great neighbours. 

England and operations

 Fortunately we managed to get Erica lifted out on to the hard standing a few days before we were due to leave for the UK. The boatyard is council run and it is therefore a good deal cheaper than leaving the boat in the marina for several weeks. Fortunately we still had some days paid for in the marina before we left so we were able to use their facilities and enjoy daily hot showers. Cold showers would be available to us on our return but hot ones would involve a bit of a trek and a small charge,

We decided to fly to U.K. from Porto rather than Lisbon because of a recent outbreak of virus in the capital. It was not much farther to Porto but it involved a 3 hour bus journey, which gave us an interesting view of the Portuguese countryside. 

On arrival in the UK we had to quarantine for 2 weeks, I was then free to leave the house but Scruffbag had only 2 days freedom prior to a further 2 weeks pre- operation quarantine. Fortunately we have our lovely granddaughters to keep us happy. Millie is now walking, In fact she is constantly on the move and if she can climb something then she will attempt to do so. She also repeats a huge range of words but then refuses to do so on demand when asked,

We were lucky enough to be present for Freya's 3rd birthday, a Frozen themed day when the immediate family came round for a party in the garden. Freya was ecstatic and enjoyed every minute of the day.

Lauren made the most amazing Frozen birthday cake. She has a real talent for  cake making and decorating.

Though poor Scruffbag had to be content with a brief walk into town, a visit to Jo and Andy and a visit to the park with the girls between quarantines, I was able to get around a little.I walked 5kilometres in the country park every day and foraged for apples and brambles very successfully. I made lots of jam and Scruffbag made cakes and crumbles galore.

Heather and I took the girls to Canvey Island where Freya used the crab line we had bought her and we caught lots of crabs and had an excellent morning followed by lunch and ice lollies.

5 days before Scruffbag's operation it was my birthday so he cooked a fantastic 3 course meal and Jo and Andy joined us for a very enjoyable evening. I also received one and a half kilos of Lindt chocolates,

Finally it was operation day. Everything went really well and after 3 days Scruffbag was able to join me in a 5 kilometre walk. We spent our final Friday evening having drinks in their garden with Jo and Andy and I spent the Saturday with Heather, Barney and the girls at Marsh Farm (the car not being big enough for Scruffbag to join us)

Sunday arrived and we were up bright and early to be taken to Stansted by Heather for our flight to Porto .Scruffbag was fit and well and we were ready to get back aboard Erica and spend time showing her some tlc.

Wind vanes and bicycles

 We decided to take the trusty windvane ( which, incidentally, goes by the name of Natalie) into the mechanical workshop to see if they could repair it. Whilst we were there they managed to take it apart and they were fairly confident that they could get it welded, though they would have to send it away to a specialist to do so. We left there feeling much happier.

In the meantime we enjoyed some walks along the empty beach which stretches miles to the south of Nazare.

We decided to hire bikes one day in order to explore further afield. Marc said that he would like to join us on his folding bike so we packed a picnic and set off along the track, which was at times so sandy that we had to dismount and push.

9pm

We passed a wooded area where the trees were being bled for resin for the paint industry.

We arrived at a small hamlet with a beachside cafe where we enjoyed a refreshing drink before locking up the bikes and walking down to the beach for our picnic.Marc surprised us by producing a bottle of red to accompany the food.

The following day our wind vane arrived back from the welder and Scruffbag was able to put it together ready for many more years of service. 

On receiving a phone call asking him to go for a preoperative check and informing him of the need to self isolate for 14 days before his operation, it was time to book flights to the UK once again. We decided to go via Porto since it is a quieter airport than Lisbon and there had been a recent outbreak of coronovirus in Lisbon so we wanted to avoid the city.

We spent a few days relaxing and wandering  around the town and visiting the market via a rustic track we discovered. The fishermen were busy drying fish on the beach and life rolled lazily on.

We would soon be back enjoying the generous hospitality of our youngest daughter once again and spending quality time with our  young grandchildren.

Nazare and the wind vane

 The trip to Nazare was a tedious one with the fog only clearing for the last hour or so. We saw a few dolphins and were very happy with the lift from the new propeller.

True to their word, the marina sent a man in a rib to guide us in to a very easy berth in the fishing harbour where another man was waiting to take our lines, There is a small marina there which also has several berths in the fishing harbour itself.We were pleased to be in the fishing harbour as it's more lively and interesting  and has its own set of showers. Although slightly further from town, there is a fisherman's bar/ cafe that also sells freshly made  bread rolls and has a mini market stocked with the basics. Our friend Marc who we met in Leixoes, was also there and we soon met some other sailors and some who were refitting their boats in the yard.

Our first task was to try to arrange a lift out and an engineer to look at the gearbox. This being i Portugal the arrangements were easy to make but getting a lift out date was a case of wait and see when we get space. In the meantime Scruffbag received a letter offering him a date for a long awaited operation in the UK so we hoped Erica would be out of the water by the time we left. It would be both cheaper and less worrying.

We had a good look around d Nazare in the next few days. It is a beautiful town and attracts tourists to its town beach without having lost its original all character.

We also took the furnicular railway to the high part of town to visit the exhibition in the lighthouse. Nazare has world record surf waves in winter and attracts surfers from all over the world. The exhibition contains incredible photographs of those waves. Even the photographs are mind blowing . There is a huge underwater trench running up to just off the coast which causes the waves and this together with strong swell makes swimming g anywhere but the relatively sheltered town beach very unwise and often downright dangerous.

After a couple of days exploration we looked again at jobs around d the boat. Firstly Scruffbag took the wind vane apart as one of the bolts was out of line e.We thought this was due to the bump in Figuera de Foz but, once it was taken apart, we noticed a huge crack. This was worrying. The wind vane is a vital piece of kit and replacing  it could cost thousands of pounds. We think it had been damaged when a boat hit it several years ago in Camaret, France, and wear and tear had played their part with the recent bump being the last straw.

It never rains but it pours.