Goodbye Portugal

 The final two weeks were spent getting ready to leave. Erica had to be prepared with all her gear back on board and all safely stowed. All food had to be either eaten or discarded. However, we managed to drink all the alcohol on board without having to give any away.

We had a farewell barbecue a week before we left, which was very enjoyable and the next day's hangover was worth it. We will miss the friends we have made here.

We also enjoyed some last walks to Salgado and back along the beach. Since part of this walk takes us along the naturist beach and it was a hot day, we also managed to fit in a quick skinny dip.

Three days before we left we had a drink in the port's fisherman's bar with our friends. It seemed an appropriate venue since, being close to the boatyard, we had not only had many a drink there but had also bought bread rolls, beer, tonic water, ice creams and other essentials. We said a fond farewell to Lena, the owner, who had introduced me to the refreshing "black beer and grazinia".

Two days before we left we packed up Erica and said, " Goodbye and see you soon," and set off with our bags packed, and our covid tests done, for two nights in an airb'nb in town.

 After that it was a 7 hour bus journey to Faro for the plane home. To be fair, the 7 hours included a 2 hour stop in Lisbon, where we had lunch in the bus station cafe. (Airfares from Lisbon were over £200 and we would have had to fly to Stansted and get a train to Wales whereas Faro to Cardiff was £9, albeit £60 for baggage not included.)

The airport hotel was a 10 minute walk away from the airport and had a swimming pool for one last swim in the sun.

Goodbye Portugal. You have provided a great place of sanctuary in these past two covid years. Goodbye to our 6 years of sailing in the sun. We are off for a new adventure in Wales but we will return with a refurbished Erica ready to begin a new adventure before too long.

Waiting to go to Wales

 The weather here has become summer hot and the fact that we have removed the insulation on the boat does not help. We are still going out walking, though we wait for cooler days, The flowers have died back, leaving only the hardy summer blooms.

Not to mention the snails everywhere

We also discovered a lovely tiny little bar walking up the hill toSera da Pescaria. It appeared to be part of a small house and it served a very large glass of wine (from a barrel outside) and a beer all for 1 euro 50 cents.

It was at this bar that we met an American called Roger who has been living in various parts of  Portugal for several years, with his wife, Thine. We met him several times and, once lockdown restrictions ended, had an enjoyable meal with them in Nazare.

The boatyard became increasingly lonely when our friends Wolfgang and Birte's boat went into the water after a year spent completing a major refit.

 

They have recently bought an apartment in the nearby town of Alcobaca and are now planning to spend several months refitting that.  One day they drove us into Alcobaca and we spent a very enjoyable day wandering around the old town and the monastery.

We also visited the national wine museum on the outskirts of town.

We then went to see their apartment, which is situated at the top of a hill with stunning views over the town and valley.

Another trip out was to the town of Tomar, about 60 kilometres away, which we visited with our American friends, Roger and Thine. Perched above the town is Convento Cristo , a stunning monastery built by the knights templar, which boasts fine examples of Manueline architecture.

 

 

We then drove down into the pretty riverside town below for lunch in one of the pretty riverside streets.

I also  had my first ever go on a paddle board, thanks to my friend, Dody. I only got as far as sitting on it and paddling because I was concerned about falling off in the none to clean waters of the harbour. However, it was very enjoyable and I am keen to try again .

We will miss beautiful Portugal. It is a truly beautiful country with so many hidden gems and such lovely people who have made us feel so welcome..

We have a plan and it is looking good

 Whilst we were locked down in Sitio we (well me mainly) had decided that returning to our bungalow in Chelmondiston would feel like going backwards and we wanted to keep going forwards and treating life as an adventure. We decided to put the property on the market and not renew the tenancy when it ran out at the end of April. The tenants were not happy and the less said about the childish and petulant behaviour of our previously model tenants the better, We did offer them the opportunity to buy it but they were by then having tantrums.It all worked out for the best as we soon sold it for more than we had offered it to them for.

We were open to moving anywhere, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, The Lake District, as long as there was an abundance of natural beauty.

In the meantime our younger daughter and her husband had decided they had had enough of the rat race and wanted to sell up and buy a large country property to move into the glamping business and spend more quality time with their two young  daughters. We were looking at properties and they were looking at properties. Some of the properties they looked at had annexes or cottages together with the main house. Gradually we came to the realisation that if we bought one of these cottages then they could buy a more expensive property and we could live nearby and see more of the family.

If they found  an affordable property with a single house then we would find a different property but it broadened everyone's search. Then we found Plasnewydd, near Llandysul in Ceridigion. It had 11 acres and an annexe already converted and used as a holiday let. A feasibility study showed that it provided a good business opportunity so off we went. An offer was made and accepted. We sold our property. Heather and Barney sold theirs.

Plasnewydd at the end of September, No furniture and not many household goods but a new and exciting adventure

Another Welder, More Dashed Hopes

 Two frustrating weeks after he had originally promised Rodriguez, the Brazilian welder turned up. He seemed competent and was happy to do the job. He said he was going to consult with the engineer at the boatyard in Peniche about the best way to do some of the work and would then get back to us with a quote, He estimated that the work would take around a week. This seemed a bit long since the original welders had taken 2 days to do one side but then they didn't do a good job and he was going to have to redo quite a few of their welds.

A few days later he messaged us with a quote of 45 euros an hour plus gas and materials. This seemed a bit steep but we were anxious to get the job done so we agreed.

The next morning we got another message. The 45 euros was for 1 person. This was multiplied by 3 since it would take 3 men. Clearly he was taking us for a ride, an additional and cheaper, labourer, yes, but 3 qualified welders. Obviously foreigners were rich and he wanted to fleece us. All the Portuguese people we talked to were gobsmacked at the prices. The previous welders, albeit not good, had wanted 29 euros per hour. We then asked him for a price for the whole job as this is what the Portuguese generally do. He came back with another crazy price and said that it would be more if the work went on for more than one week. (We suspect it would have.) Needless to say we were once again welderless.

We searched. Joao and Andre from the marine workshop searched. No luck. We explored the possibility of transporting Erica home by road. This is not how we wanted to come home. We miss sailing and it was also extremely expensive but it was looking increasing like the only option for an unseaworthy boat. We talked about all options such as filling the holes with epoxy and sailing (a no go since it would have led to more work in the end putting on then taking off fittings and removing epoxy from hundreds of holes etc,) Bringing out an English welder was not an option thanks to Brexit and the problems of equipment and work permits.

To say we were getting a tad frustrated and deflated was an understatement. To cheer ourselves up we went back to the north east of Nazare to see if I would make the climb up to the top of Sao Bras the hill with the fire lookout on the top on this the second attempt.

 Despite my determination, I copped out yet again, a few metres from the top. It is the drop to one side of the worn, stone steps. My heart starts beating fast and I get clammy.

Ah well, at least we had a plan for life after our return to the UK.

Waiting for a Brazilian Welder

 With several weeks to kill before the return of Rodriguez, the Brazilian welder, Scruffbag decided to paint the mast, main boom and the crosstrees, which had been looking very much the worse for wear for sometime.We would intersperse this with some walking through the verdant early summer countryside and try to remain patient as our date for returning to the UK moved further away. (We had sold our bungalow in Chelmondiston and were buying a cottage on the property our daughter and her family were in the process of buying in south west Wales, a property we had never seen in a country we had each only visited once).

The mast was duly removed by our friend, Alex, and Scruffbag set to work.

Sanding, sanding, sanding, nine coats of paint. I helped but not a lot in the long scheme of mast painting.

Meanwhile we walked a lot and we admired the views and the flowers. Our favourite walk was through the woods and up to Sera de Pescaria and then down into the next valley, then up the hill back to the far end of Sera de Pescaria and down to the coastal path home, We came across an entire field of early purple orchids.

A few weeks later and there were lots of clumps of bee orchids along the paths and verges.

Every walk brought new flowers.

We were pleased to see that what is reputedly the oldest church in Portugal had now opened after being closed for repairs.

There are worse places to wait I guess.