Curare's Adventures

Dreaming of Sailing Again

As Covid-19 vaccinations began to ramp up in Canada and potential for travel seemed possible we started thinking of how, and when, we could get back to Curare in northwestern Spain. She has been by herself since October, 2019 and even though she is mature and can look after herself, we were still worried as to how she had fared through two winters. Or more correctly, did the crew store her in good shape?

The day after we had both had our first vaccination at the end of April we took a leap of faith and booked our flights for July 21, gambling that we would have had our second vaccine two weeks before that date. It took a lot longer to get organized than we had anticipated, probably because our brains were out of sync with the usual six month rotation schedule of boat-Canada-boat, and buying, ordering and packing everything seemed a huge chore. Fortunately we had made a parts list before we left in October 2019, and anticipating possible repairs we added a few more items including a new water maker membrane. We have used our water maker membrane since 2007, pickling it each time we store Curare, but pickling is only good for six months max, and we had been away for 21 - probably not good. LE prefers to travel with only a small backpack, this trip we had three large bags.

Planning our return to Spain was a tortuous event. At the time we were searching for a flight Covid-19 infections were high in Madrid and the regional border between Galicia and the rest of Spain was closed to travel, but the border between Portugal and Galicia was open so we booked a flight to Lisbon. A week later the Portugal - Galicia border was closed - and then there was the constant fluctuating red, orange, green designations for international travellers with Canada classified as red up to a week before we left. We tried to anticipate as many potential issues as possible, even asking the marina to document our travel as "essential" since Curare really, really missed us. Then all we could do was wait, government pandemic restrictions were not something we could control.

In the end, it all worked out. We had our PCR tests done on July 19 and arrived at YVR three hours before our flight (thanks Barb!) with 60 kg of luggage and only a spare t-shirt each. After checking our luggage we headed to the lounge to de-stress and wait for the flight to Heathrow. When boarding commenced the gate agent informed us that we could only get on the plane if each of us had a UK Passenger Locator Form filled-in and submitted on line (even transit passengers had to fill this out). This information would have been nice to know at check in, not at the gate, so we panicked, scrambled, cursed and managed to complete the forms before the gate closed. Then it was a comfortable seven hour flight to LHT, a five hour layover (that's another story) and on to Lisbon that evening.

Travelling during this pandemic may be restrictive and it has different requirements but it is possible (although not recommended). Airport waiting areas had widely spaced seating, masks had to be worn at all times and masks were also required during the entire flight (except when eating). Quite a contrast from March 2020 when we returned to Canada from Nepal and no one seemed to be taking the pandemic seriously.

A brief stop in Lisbon

We flew back to Curare via London (Heathrow) and Lisbon, Portugal. The layover in Heathrow was 5 long hours, which we put to good use by filling out the on-line Portugal Personal Locator Form (PLF). This was similar to the UK form we filled out in a panic as we were boarding our flight in Vancouver; name, address, phone number, email, passport, date of birth, and seat number.

The flight to Lisbon was full. We had read that travel to Portugal was for essential reasons only, but it seemed like the majority of people on our flight were in holiday mode. When we landed in Lisbon we were taken to the terminal in two buses with passengers standing cheek to cheek. So much for the PLF with your seat number for contact tracing. The immigration officer asked to see our vaccination QR code, we handed him the B.C. cardboard vaccination card. He was highly skeptical but after a bit of conversation with another officer he stamped our passports. The 90 day Schengen clock had started to tick.

Our hotel was in the center of the Baixa (Low) district. Lisbon is a city of hills so, for us, every direction was up. We did not arrive at our hotel until 7:00 PM so that first night we went for a short stroll to discover our neighbourhood. Baixa has two cobblestone walking streets and after more than a year of almost no close contacts we found these roads kind of crowded, but everyone was wearing a mask. Outdoor restaurants were full, ginjinha bars were jumping, bakeries were selling pasteis da nata, the older buildings and statues were romantically lit, and it was warm. If we had not just been on an 18 hour journey we would have stayed up longer.

The next two days went by very quickly. The first day we wandered up the hill to the west passing through the Chiado and Alto districts. This part of Lisbon is less touristy than the Baixa district, but there was still a lot to see/do: Convento do Carmo (ruined during the 1755 earthquake and not rebuilt), the plain looking Igreja da Sao Roque with it's many gaudy 17th century Baroque style chapels (one of the first Jesuit churches in the world), Ascensor da Gloria (a funicular railway), two Miradouros (viewpoints) and lunch at the Mercado da Ribeira. Portugal is famous for it's seafood, especially sardines and bacalhau (cod), so LE sampled both. Her first taste was a plate of Bacalhau a Bras, flaked cod (from Norway) with scrambled eggs, crispy shoe string potatoes, parsley and Kalamata olives. It was sublime. GG, being less adventurous had grilled steak topped with a fried egg.

The second day we hiked towards the east past the Lisbon Cathedral (the oldest church in the city, built in 1147) loosely following the route of Tram 28E (one of the famous icons of Lisbon). We were in the district of Alfama and there were a lot more tourists wandering around, one of the pieces of tourist literature we read said "the main sights of Lisbon are all in the Alfama district". Perhaps because the Castelo de Sao Jorge crowns the top of the hill and can be seen from almost everywhere in the historical center. We elected not to pay the 8.50 Euro needed to enter and instead sat at a Miradouro and sipped a Sangria, looking over the rooftops towards the Rio Tejo. Many of the houses had tiled (azulejos) facades and all of them appeared different, some of them the traditional blue and white, but also green, yellow and white, brown and beige, yellow and orange, or with the azulejos forming a mural. The afternoon was spent wandering the narrow streets, stopping for a beer when we got too hot, visiting the vast Praca do Comercio and ending up at a small restaurant in Baixa to eat more seafood: grilled sardines for LE, and grilled calamari (cuttlefish) for GG.

Next stop Vigo, Spain and our patiently waiting Curare.