Nazare to Peniche - 25 Miles

Broadsword arriving in Peniche

THURSDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2007

We left about 8.30 a.m. and motor-sailed most of the way as there was hardly any wind, arriving about 1 p.m. The customs official was on the dock as we arrived ready to do the necessary paperwork. He told us the Marina office was closed as it was a holiday, and when we asked him how to pay, he said unless anyone comes and asks, don’t bother! I asked if he was likely to chase us for payment, and he said the last police launch had already left. This was quite a change from the officious marina at Nazare where there is a blacklist of non-payers!

We had lunch and Ken and Anna arrived on Broadsword about an hour later. We had drinks on their boat and then we all went into town and had a coffee, and Roger had a Pasteis de Nata – very good, but the Oporto one is still the best so far.

Peniche is on a peninsular and partly enclosed by 16th century walls. It has a very large fishing fleet, but the town is quite small. The 16th century fort was still used as a prison during the Salazar dictatorship, and the communist leader Alvaro Cunhal escaped from there in 1960.