After yesterday’s wonderful, albeit unsuccessful for the purposes of my mission, beach day at Praia do Boldró, I went back over the photos that I still had, scanned in from our very old and faded Scally album, to see if there was anything I could find to identify where we might have been anchored. And realised to my great delight that indeed, there was one. Why hadn’t I thought of that yesterday? So back I went to the concierge, and he assured me that it must be Praia do Porto de Santo Antonio.
I wanted to hire a buggy for some fun and adventure but they were only available for a three day hire, minimum. I didn’t want to take a taxi and would have loved to go by bicycle or walk. But everyone said that it would not be a good idea, much too far (in the end it wouldn’t have been – possibly an hour only). Anyway, when in Rome, listen to the locals. So I caught the bus and got dropped off at Praia do Porto.
It’s a little bay, now with a wharf and jetty to protect fishing boats, rubber dinghy’s that take divers out to sea and the tourist boats and catamarans that take tourists and visitors around the island. Much as I would have loved to see it from the sea, with the same view as from Scally, I was not going to risk seasickness in that choppy sea. So I had to be content on land.
I walked up to the lifeguards, who doubled up as fire fighters, and asked for a few minutes to explain my story and show them the photograph. There was little doubt in their mind, but more importantly mine, that this is indeed where we had been anchored. The wharf had only been built in 1987, a few years after we had been here. Prior to that, it was a simple protected bay.
I was overjoyed at locating where we had been moored and spent a few hours sitting on the sand, watching and observing and remembering. There were some rock formations too, not the same size or length as on Praia do Boldrió, but they were there. This was undoubtedly the beach where my brother and I had capsized in the Wag, Jerry cans all afloat, and swam to shore, pulling the painter in tow, to get fresh water and help for my father.
Dates: February 2026
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