Out in the fog: Fish-net infested Pea Soup

We leave the marina this morning, braving the pea soup fog. No problem, with a couple of "mine swipers", in the guise of an Italian and a British sailboat abreast, just ahead of us. There path shows us a clean route in the fish-net infested waters as we make our careful getaway from Fig. da Fog!

After a few hours the fog turns to heavy midday haze as the whole fleet disperses. No wind, but no fog. No problem!

We arrive at a crowded Nazaré. Apparently all the finger pontoons here belong to the local boats. So the visiting sailboats have to lie two or three to the hammerheads at the end, or along the sides, where they are also piled up three deep.

A siren going off at the fishing boat pier means that a boat has come in with a catch to auction off. We join the crowd quayside to get in on the action. The ten or so men working on cheerfully painted "Nova Estrelinha" are hard at it, removing compartment after compartment of sardines, scooping them into small plastic baskets and, hand over hand, lifting them up to the quay. When a trolley is full it's whisked away by a fork-lift truck to the fish auction inside. Meanwhile onlookers, equipped with small plastic bags, scrounge the area for forgotten sardines, and sometimes get a portion poured into their bags. Meanwhile, just behind us, the catch is auctioned off in the hall beside the pier.

Looks like back-breaking labor.