Our First Guest Arrives

May 21st we were up bright and early with good reason. Our first guest was on her way. Jennifer was flying into Lisbon from NYC for a much needed 10 day R&R after completing her 2nd year of grad school. Even George Clooney was thrilled. After arriving safe and sound, we stopped by Lone Star to stow her bags, show off the boat and then it was back in the rent car and off to the town of Sintra for a day of sightseeing. For centuries Sintra was the summer playground for Portugal’s royalty and upper class. Today it is an escape for tourists of all sorts. Sintra is a green, very hilly village home to several castles, beautiful gardens, cute shops and excellent cafes. We spent the first part of the day touring two castles. The first, Palacio Nacional, was the official summer residence for Portugal’s kings from the 1500’s to the early 1900’s.


The Palace, with a unique roof resembling Madonna’s bra, has beautiful painted ceilings and tile work throughout the inside. The two cones on the roof are actually chimneys in the kitchen. Our second stop was Palacio de Pena built in the 19th century by German born Prince Ferdinand. This castle is a crazy mixture of Gothic towers, Renaissance domes, and Moorish minarets. Done with our official sightseeing we spent the rest of the day browsing in the many shops and having bacalau for lunch at one of the cafes.


Bacalau, Portugal’s national dish is made with salted cod. We’ve been told there are 365 different ways to cook Bacalau, one for each day of the year. During our time in Portugal we didn’t quite taste all 365 recipes but we sure gave it a good try!
The next day we were up bright and early and after returning our rent car boarded the train for the 20 minute ride to Lisbon for another day of intensive sightseeing. We visited Jeronimos Monastery which was built by King Manuel in the early 1500’s as a thank you for the discoveries made by Portuguese explorers.
The monastery stretches for some 300 yards along Lisbon’s waterfront and the church houses the tomb of Vasco de Gama. Also on the waterfront is the Monument to the Discoveries, those Portuguese sure loved their explorers, and Belem Tower which was built in 1515 to protect Lisbon’s waterfront. We also took a double Decker bus tour of the city. Like all major European cities Lisbon has her fair share of monuments, cathedrals, museums and restored buildings.
The one thing we found disturbing was the amount of graffiti in the old sections compared to some of the other cities we’ve been to.
On the 23rd, after 10 days in the Lisbon area, we slipped the lines and under sunny skies Lone Star with three instead of two on board headed south for two days of sailing. Jennifer was definitely a good luck charm because both days brought the best sailing and the best weather we had so far this season. After a 50nm journey averaging 8knots/hour we were in a marina in the tiny fishing village of Sines. And finally, after being in Portugal for 10 days, we were immediately visited by the local customs official, checked in and able to take down our Q flag. The next day we were up early again, this time for a 78nm journey to seaside resort of Lagos on the Portuguese Algarve coast. Once again Jennifer’s good luck powers were with us as after the first two hours we were able to shut the engine off and made the remainder of the 10 hour trek under wind power alone. We enjoyed the day testing the various sails and at one point had four out – main, jib, mizzen main and mizzen ballooner. As we sailed past the Algarve coast we enjoyed beautiful stretches of beaches and craggy cliffs at the water’s edge. We pulled into the Lagos Marina at 1730 and shortly thereafter were celebrating the wonderful sail with sundowners in hand.
We spent the next two days enjoying Lagos – a very popular seaside resort with all the obligatory shops, cafes and beaches. The marina is a cruiser’s favorite with every possible amenity you can think of close at hand. Craig used the opportunity to go to the top of the main mast and check out what looked like a loose item. It turned out to only be a cap that goes on the wind instrument when it is removed and he tucked it back into its hiding place. It did provide a good opportunity to get a picture of Jan on the deck deciding if she was going to let go of the halyard used to hoist him up.

While in Lagos we were visited by a family we met on our land tour to Porto. Deolinda, her husband Dave and her parents Deolinda and Bob, stayed at the same pousada we did. Deolinda’s (the mom) parents immigrated from the Azores and Dave’s family also had Portuguese roots. The four were on a month long trip to Portugal. Over drinks in the Pousada bar we discovered our paths would cross again in Lagos. In Lagos we shared a lovely afternoon over a bottle of Portuguese Champagne which they brought and appetizers on the boat. Dave and Deolinda own Coelho Winery in Oregon and hopefully one day our wanderings will take us to Oregon for a visit. Later that afternoon Jennifer and Jan did another “first” of the season- sunbathing on the beach. Yes – winter was definitely over!