Portugal for winter?

[Tim Good]

I moved on board my boat this year and currently in Scotland. I don't really want to winter in the UK but want to head north to Norway next summer. I was considering taking it down to Portugal for winter.

Can anyone:

1. Recommend it?
2. Suggest nice places, rivers etc
3. Cost effective places to leave the boat with an airport nearby?
4. Weather during UK winter?

 

[Sandyman]

1. Yes without doubt.
2. Plenty of them. Rio Guardiana Alcoutim pontoons or on the hook.
3. Bruces yard. Faro. Airport 8 Euros in a taxi.
4. Rarely under 16C even at night.

We are in Bruces Yard. Can't fault it. 12M under 8 Euros a day inc lecky & water.
PM me if I can help further.

 

[Richard10002]

It would be a bit of a trek to the Algarve for say, October, then another trek up to Norway in April or so, but your choice.

I liked Lagos in winter, (but not particularly cheap) - lots of activity even off season. Portimao seemed very quiet, and Albefuera a bit out of town. Dont know about anywhere else.

 

[macd]

1. Yes without doubt.
2. Plenty of them. Rio Guardiana Alcoutim pontoons or on the hook.
3. Bruces yard. Faro. Airport 8 Euros in a taxi.
4. Rarely under 16C even at night.

We are in Bruces Yard. Can't fault it. 12M under 8 Euros a day inc lecky & water.
PM me if I can help further.

Having twice wintered in the area I'd agree with all but '3'. Typical average daily minimums are 7-8C in Dec-Feb, maximums around 16, although it often feels much warmer in sunshine. Most days are sunny. Data from Faro weather centre.

Faro, as said, is the main aiprort serving the whole of the Algarve and neighbouring areas of Spain. Plenty of cheap direct flights.

 

[Sandyman]

The temps I gave were from personal experiece over the past three winters. Hope it stays that way for our xmas day bbq on the beech this year
As to flights, Ryanair are continuing there Faro / Bournemouth summer route right through the winter this year with flights on Wednesday & Saturday. About 35 Euros . (cheaper than the rip-off rail annd bus fare to get from Bouremouth to Portsmouth)

 

[KellysEye]

From the kellyesye website: Lagos and trip to Spain 2009:

The autumn weather had been sunny and warm, we were even on the beach on the last day of October. By November the weather changed and one night the temperature dropped to zero, with ice on the pontoons. In mid December the Jetstream moved south and aimed a series of lows and cold fronts in our direction. Between the hours of 00.00 and 03.00 on December 23rd we got no sleep. The wind was thirty nine knots and gusting, there was torrential rain and the rigging of all the boats was howling. Add to that thunder and lightning and the noise generated kept us awake. The only advantage was that when the lows came through the temperature went up, often to 20C.

It isn't mentioned on the site but the Jetstream stayed overhead until early April and the strong winds were the edge of storm that killed people in Madeira and Northern France.

 

[GrahamM376]

The further east on the Algarve the more settled and warmer the weather. Lagos wetter and windier than Faro but everywhere can get quite lively in winter, 80+ kts not unknown on rare occasions, we've seen 50+ on the mooring a couple of times. If you want to be a bit nearer home, look at the Tejo (Tagus river) around Lisbon. Various marinas and Sleasyjet fly there throughout winter.

 

[ripvan1]

I've had ice on deck at Alcoutim - burnt off by 10 o'clockish though.

 

[GHA]

,... 80+ kts not unknown on rare occasions, we've seen 50+ on the mooring a couple of times. .

Sounds like 3 times a week last winter onboard in Dartmouth , very happy to be flying back to the boat in faro in a few days
Back to the OP, bit of a trek but why not, UK winters are not a lot of fun plus in Portugal you'll have like minded fellow liveaboards to hang out with. Danger is you might not be so keen to head back after the winter..

 

[25931]

Having twice wintered in the area I'd agree with all but '3'. Typical average daily minimums are 7-8C in Dec-Feb, maximums around 16, although it often feels much warmer in sunshine. Most days are sunny. Data from Faro weather centre.

.

NOT daily but nightly.

 

[macd]

NOT daily but nightly.

Broad meterological averages generally make no distinction between day and night. They simply give figures for the highest and lowest readings during each 24-hour period. The minimum reading will usually be during the hours of darkness, but not necessarily so. Equally the maximum reading will not always be during the hours of daylight.

A 24-hour period is known, here on Earth, as a day. Hence, 'daily'. A night is of variable length, from zero to 24 hours. If it's different where you come from, I suggest you get in touch with NASA.

 

[GrahamM376]

Broad meterological averages generally make no distinction between day and night. They simply give figures for the highest and lowest readings during each 24-hour period.

Which doesn't give a realistic view if someone were to wonder what clothes to bring. In practical terms, Dec - Feb - tee shirt and often shorts are the order between roughly 10am and 4pm with a pullover added in the evenings. Winters have been varying from solid 3 months of rain about 4 years ago to much drier recent years. July has been the hottest on record and August likely to be the same.

 

[macd]

Which doesn't give a realistic view if someone were to wonder what clothes to bring.

I fear you may have taken my post out of context. Its point was to take issue with someone's understanding of 'daily'.

If you want an example of something not giving a realistic view, you might consider "Rarely under 16C even at night", which is palpable nonsense, whatever the writer might claim about the impressive sensitivity of his skin. Unless, of course, he is actually a calibrated instrument operating under controlled conditions and merely masquerading as a forumite.

Anyone who isn't aware that daily minimums can generally be expected to be at night, and maximums during daylight would be ill-advised to venture outdoors without a carer. The same goes for anyone not prepared for variations from seasonal norms.

 

[Sandyman]

I fear you may have taken my post out of context. Its point was to take issue with someone's understanding of 'daily'.

If you want an example of something not giving a realistic view, you might consider "Rarely under 16C even at night", which is palpable nonsense, whatever the writer might claim about the impressive sensitivity of his skin. Unless, of course, he is actually a calibrated instrument operating under controlled conditions and merely masquerading as a forumite.

Anyone who isn't aware that daily minimums can generally be expected to be at night, and maximums during daylight would be ill-advised to venture outdoors without a carer. The same goes for anyone not prepared for variations from seasonal norms.

Trying to find where anything was mentioned about '' the impressive sensitivity of his skin''
Be a good chap & point that out to me. It wasn't a Wx forecast just a casual observation.
Is that not allowed ? Sounds like you have your serious head on this morning.
Graham when you return can I borrow your spare Zimmer frame please

 

[GrahamM376]

Graham when you return can I borrow your spare Zimmer frame please

I fear I'll need one by the time this job is finished, scraping 40 year old glued down foam backed carpet from wood block floor is a bit like antifoul removal but without toxic dust. I didn't have a problem with macd's post by the way, just that official weather statistics often don't paint a sensible picture and vary anyway depending on which "official figures" one looks at.

 

[Ludd]

1. Yes without doubt.
2. Plenty of them. Rio Guardiana Alcoutim pontoons or on the hook.
3. Bruces yard. Faro. Airport 8 Euros in a taxi.
4. Rarely under 16C even at night.

We are in Bruces Yard. Can't fault it. 12M under 8 Euros a day inc lecky & water.
PM me if I can help further.

You can't leave a boat on the pontoons at Alcoutim or San Lucar, unless you want to pay double the daily charge after one week.
Living aboard, we tend to alternate being on a pontoon for a few nights,then back on the anchor. This breaks the pattern and allows everyone to get alongside for water and charging batteries.

 

[25931]

I fear you may have taken my post out of context. Its point was to take issue with someone's understanding of 'daily'.

If you want an example of something not giving a realistic view, you might consider "Rarely under 16C even at night", which is palpable nonsense, whatever the writer might claim about the impressive sensitivity of his skin. Unless, of course, he is actually a calibrated instrument operating under controlled conditions and merely masquerading as a forumite.

Anyone who isn't aware that daily minimums can generally be expected to be at night, and maximums during daylight would be ill-advised to venture outdoors without a carer. The same goes for anyone not prepared for variations from seasonal norms.

and also for anyone who accepts that data taken from a highly exposed airport applies to a city.

 

[macd]

and also for anyone who accepts that data taken from a highly exposed airport applies to a city.

Perhaps you'd like to explain how such exposure substantially affects temperature (as opposed to wind chill, which no-one has mentioned).

Let's get this into perspective. I have not suggested that the Algarve is a bitterly cold place in winter. I agree, and have agreed (post #4), that it is an excellent place to spend the winter. But the suggestion that minimum temperatures rarely fall below 16C is plain wrong. Indeed 16C is a fairly typical daily maximum during the depths of winter, although it will often feel much warmer in direct sunlight.

ripvan wrote of finding frost on pontoons at Alcoutim and I have experienced the same. Temperature extremes that far inland are of course greater than on the coast, where frost is almost unknown, although I've seen 3C recorded on quite a few occasions. (One mardi gras night was particularly shivery.) Such lows generally occur when the adjacent days are particularly clear and lovely - as most days are.

 

[GHA]

Getting back to the OP......
Having got back to the Algarve last night..
And after many years onboard having spent winters in UK and down here as for point 1...

Can anyone:

1. Recommend it?

Absofeckinglutely a million percent

No contest, like minded sailors on boats all around to pass the time with, laid back culture, eat really well dead cheap cycling up the the market, plenty mountain walking a few euros away on a bus, list goes on and on.

But getting down here from Scotland then back up in time for the short summer in Norway, well that is pretty hard core.

If I was seriously considering that then would be thinking get the man hat on and head well out into the Atlantic then straight up to top of Scotland, with little doubt you'll get hammered along the way.

But then, long term planning on a cruising boat might be better seen as something like fortune telling, a bit of harmless fun

 

[emandvee44]

We are finally ready to extricate ourselves from Povoa deVarzim and intend to keep our boat on the South (Algarve) Coast for the winter, then cruise the coaststarting next Spring.
We had planned to keep the boat in the water, Albufeirabeing our first choice, although theirbrochure prices seem a bit steep, even for 6 months. We are not going to liveon board during the Winter.
Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks,
Michael.