Breskens - Lisboa
Aura left on 20 April 2009 from Breskens in Holland. On board were Klaas, Adriaan and Jeroen. First stop was Cherbourg in France where we had to pick up “hose man” Walter.
From Cherbourg we crossed the Bay of Biscay, to La Coruña. We knew this city from previous visits on board of the Op Stok, for the Tall Ships Races. After a short stay in La Coruña, we sailed on to Vigo, where the Tall Ships Race 2009 “Atlantic Challenge” started.
Aura in Vigo
At the mouth of the Ria De Vigo are two islands, the Islas Cies, where it’s very nice anchoring. We anchored at both islands and stayed overnight at the south island (Isla de San Martin).
After enjoying the Islas Cies, we dropped off Walter in the nice harbor of Bayona. There were a lot of nice boats, their master’s complaining that they couldn’t sail northwards. However, once outside, the wind blew from the south. Tacking upwind, we left Spain and went south to Porto.
At first we thought we had to sail up the river of Porto, the Rio Douro, but the marina is 2 miles north of Porto, in the industrial harbor Porto De Leixoes. From there you have to take the train to visit the city of Porto, which Klaas truly enjoyed.
We left Porto for the small fishing port of Nazaré. The only reason we wanted to stop in Nazaré, was to go swimming in their huge waves! When staying in the harbour you can hear the roaring waves crashing on a beach nearby…
Taking care of the arriving sailors, is captain Hadley, an English sailor who lives there on his boat with his wive.
From Nazaré, it’s only about 70 miles to Lisbon. The harbors in Lisbon are quite expensive, so it’s better to anchor in the well-protected bay of Cascais, at the river mouth. This is where a lot of foreigners come to anchor, and it’s quite cozy.
Here we made our final preparations for the trip to the Canary Islands…
