Martin,

found your website and thought I might ask you for some advice...
We are currently in Nazare, Portugal. Our plan was to sail down south and continue along the coast of the Algarve all the way to south Spain. Now skippers arround me are warning me that the weather is turning bad in the next month. So I should find a place to stay the rest of the year... With your experience, I read on your site you sail in November en December, what is the wise thing to do? Can we stick to the plan and contiunue our cruising? What is the time to stop sailing in south Portugal, Gibraltar and Spain.... Or should I go to the Canaries instead to enjoy a winter of sailing....

hope to hear from you,  chrs, Henk/MOJO

Hello Henk and Mojo,

Thank you for your email.  I completely disagree with the advice that you have been given, the reason that most people stay in marinas in Portugal in the winter has much more to do with cheap winter prices (most marinas offer a very good deal for an 8 month stay), than it has to do with bad weather.

I have been down here for 15 years and for 3 years before that I was based in Gibraltar for 3 winters, 80% of the time the weather is very good in the winter, there are few people out at sea and in the anchorages.

Yes, I would stick to your plan and continue cruising. I use wind guru for weather forecasts plus I look at the synoptic chart to make my own interpretation of what is going to happen and why.

Looking at wind guru now you could for instance sail down to Cascais today and tomorrow, on Sunday there is a forecast of force 5 with strong gusts and a lot of rain so you could stay in Cascais, but then on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the weather will be fine for you to carry on south.

If I was you I would 'carry on cruising' and stay in Portugal and Spain for a bit, you could then if you wanted sail on down to the Canaries in December.

Please use me for any advice that you need.

Best wishes, Martin.

Martin,

Perfect news, thanks very much for taking the time to write this mail. We will continue and travel to Lisboa as well!

Maybe we will ask you some more in the future, for the moment we will take some time in Nazare to make plans for the next 2 months!

We are now sitting out the high seas at Nazare, probably we will try to leave on tuesday as some more big waves will come in later this week. I just wanted to let you know we are travelling with the four of us, Saskia, my wife,  Bas en Daan, my kids of 10 and 9 years old. We are sailing a Jeanneau Sun Legend 41 and will cruise for at least another year. We want to sail all the way to Greece next spring.

Next stop is Lisboa, we were thinking of landing at Cascais and then go on to Lisboa, do you advise on staying in the city or should we stay for example at Oeiras? Especially with the weather forcast in mind, windguru is talking about 7 meter waves....

okay, good to have someone who knows about Portugal in my email contacts!!

later, Henk

Hello Henk,

Thank you for your email - I think that your plan is excellent, you will enjoy your stay in Cascais http://www.theiberianseaschool.com/component/content/article/18-articles/56-cascais-marina , Oeiras is also nice http://www.theiberianseaschool.com/component/content/article/18-articles/72-oeiras-marina-a-new-marina-between-cascais-a-lisbon and then in the centre of Lisbon you could stay in Alcantara and after that you could go onto the Expo Marina which you will find mentioned if you go to my blog and scroll down. There is an Oceanarium at the Expo Marina which I think you would all enjoy.

Thanks for giving me all your names, don't forget please to send me some photographs soon.

Best wishes, Martin.

been awhile...

we just arrived in Lagos, we had a really good time in Cascais, the area is beautifull. We hiked a lot arround Sintra, made a couple of trips to Lisboa and enjoyed the Marina. After Cascais we went to Sesimbra and Setubal, sailed amongst dolphins and enjoyed the restaurants in Sesimbra. A quick stop in Sines and after we sailed the stunning southwest coast down to Sao Vincente, again we met lot's of dolphins. Now we arrived in Lagos, a little expensive but very nice place!
We are enjoying cruising Portugal in this time of year, nice and warm and all the dolphins for ourselves...

chrs, Henk

Hello Henk,

Thank you for your email and the photographs which I will put in your story this morning. I am so pleased that my advice has turned out well for you and that you have been enjoying your winter cruising. Just 3 nautical miles to the east of Lagos is Alvor where you can anchor free of charge, I have put a pilotage plan on my web site for Alvor which you will find at: http://www.theiberianseaschool.com/component/content/article/18-articles/171-alvor-in-the-western-algarve  It is very beautiful and tranquil there, plus there is a pontoon where you can tie up your dinghy when you go ashore. When you go up to the anchorage I recommend that you go on a rising tide at around half tide, then you will see the sandbanks on either side of the channel. 4 nautical miles to the east of Alvor is Portimão where you can also anchor free of charge. It is very quiet there except for the occasional trawler going past at top speed making an enormous wash.

Best wishes, Martin.

December 3rd from Henk:

Martin,

It's getting colder now, we are in Albufeira Marina at the moment and are planning to leave the Algarve and head for the south of Marocco. 

First we'll see what the weather is gonna be like the next couple of days.

Last week we sailed up the river Guardiana to Alcoutim (and Sanlucar). 
We loved the river very much. Both small villages are great: playing football at the small school square, hiking along the river (part of a 1500 km trail!) on the Spanish side. Small restaurants and a pontoon with electricitiy on the Portugese side.

I did my Diesel Maintance course as you suggested at Lagos, Rob was great! He gave me all that I need to feel perfectly secure working on my engine now. It's good to know that I can service everything myself and I have learned a lot of tricks if I would ever get in trouble.

Okay, thanks for all your information and enjoy december!

chrs, Henk

Martin,

We escaped the cold winter in Morocco... 

Around Christmas we sailed the bay of Cadiz in a little rough conditions so we skipped the Atlantic Coast (Rabat) and headed for Cadiz and then on to Gibraltar. We enjoyed hiking up the Rock and a very warm first week in January.

Then on to Marina Smir, we left our boat there to travel around with busses and taxis. We stayed at hostels along the way. The best way of traveling in Morocco is let the system work for you: if you arrive somewhere tell the people you want to be taken to a clean hostel with a nice breakfast included for a certain price! That way you don't have to bargain and you won't feel cheated since you decided on the price in the first place! Also: young couples having a walk in the city are a good way of getting the right information, a lot of them also speak English (although we both speak enough french to get around).

Morocco is perfect for traveling and we enjoyed the country very much. From Marina Smir to Mediq to Tetouan is also perfect to get to know the country, there are not so many tourist on this side so you feel a lot more at home compared to Marrakech for example. It is a very beautiful country (go to the ATLAS mountains!), very good food, fresh fruit everywhere and very cheap. We stayed for almost a month, had some work done on our boat interior in Marina Smir (labour is very cheap, if you are in Marina Smir and you need something get in touch with Miquel, the harbormaster, he can give you a fair assessment of what you can or can't do in the Marina) and did our shopping at Mediq, which has a fresh food market everyday!

Now we take it slow on the Costa del Sol to Cabo de Gata, we visited the Ronda area, Sierra Nevada, Granada and Nerja. The inland of Costa del Sol is stunning, great for hiking and nice to know the Spanish lunch is late, around two o clock...

Next week we'll sail to Cartagena/Mar Menor...

chrs, Henk

Hello Henk,

Thank you for your update and really good photographs, I am very pleased that your winter cruising has gone so well.

Please keep in touch. Best wishes, Martin.