Paradise Islands and a Hot Lisbon

Taking a little detour on our way to Lisbon was really worth it! Ilha da Berlenga, the islands outside Peniche is our new paradise islands. It is amazing how many beautiful pearls there are around Europe, maybe we should stay, I mean, who need to cross the Atlantic ocean just to get some paradise feeling? Oh no, I bet there are more paradises to discover and eventually it will get colder even in the southern parts of Europe, and by then we are going to make sure we are far away.

As Maria told you before, Ilha da Berlenga didn’t offer the most convenient anchor places, however, it worked out pretty smooth. We had an anchor alarm set on the GPS and we took turns at waking up every other hour to make sure we weren’t dragging. The night went safely by and in the morning we decided to explore the paradise little further with the help of our dinghy. We both very much looked forward seeing the 17th century Forte de Sâo Joâo Baptista from the inside, too bad tough, the fort was closed. However, no shed tears, we were totally absorbed in the beautiful surroundings. The afternoon was spent on a small beach, our own beach, it is not every day one has the opportunity of sunbathing on a private beach, awesome!

At 6 pm we continued our journey towards Lisbon, our departure well calculated in order to enter the river Rio Tejo with the current the following day. Due to fair winds we made good speed throughout the night causing us arriving little early, however, we didn’t get any current against us, it only made the journey through the approach channel little longer. Speaking of long, Doca de Alcantara, the harbor we are now moored in is very long, containing loads of boats. Hard seeing boats are arriving and departing, however, our orange stripes in the mast makes us little special and all of a sudden the welcome committee consisting of Kenneth and Martin from Johanna and Einar from Time Out was waving on a pontoon. It was my watch and I was entrusted with the task of mooring us, it went really smooth! Sailing at sea is one thing, mooring in a harbor another thing, it takes time to get to know a boat and her reactions when manoeuvring her, Cantare still has lots to show me, and so has Maria. I am so impressed by the way she knows Cantare! The guys had a pretty bad hangover but could not resist having an arrival beer with us. One beer turned into several in the warm evening and the guy’s plans of leaving Lisbon yesterday were quickly dashed, haha!

We are now looking forward to some chill city life here in hot Lisbon (oh yeah it’s hot here indeed, making us taking lots of siestas and baths with the water hose on the pontoons). Lisbon is a beautiful city with lots to offer, I have been here before and are really looking forward to this reunion! /First Mate