Leg 7 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Sesimbra to Sines
South-east across the bay of Setúbal, past the long empty beaches of Tróia, Comporta and Melides, to Sines, a fishing town with a large commercial port.
10:00 WEST from Sesimbra. 3 hours 10 minutes after sunrise (06:49 WEST). A short leg: no need to start early.
Arrive
About 16:13 WEST at Sines. About 1 hour before high water at Sines (17:27 WEST), with about 4 hours 5 minutes of daylight in hand.
Tides
Springs, range about 2.6 m. No bars on this leg
Wind
North to north-west most likely: a fair wind
Boat
35 to 38 ft sailing yacht, 1.9 m draught, 6 kn under sail, 5.5 kn under engine
Crew
Skipper and 3 crew, 2 watches of 2
Track and waypoints 1 to 4.
Go or no-go
Decide at 09:00 WEST. Go only if all of these hold:
Wind from north to west, force 6 or less.
Swell under 3 m. Sines is an unrestricted shelter, but the outer breakwater throws up dangerous turbulence in big swell.
Visibility 2 nm or more.
No navigation warning for the Sines approaches.
If the weather is wrong, stay in Sesimbra. Sines has a rest day planned on 25 April, which absorbs a day's wait.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1.5 nm off land except at the harbour ends. Distances and courses are calculated from them. Plot every one on the current chart before use. Courses are true.
#
Waypoint
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Leg nm
Total nm
ETA
Notes
0
Sesimbra harbour
38°26.5′N
009°06.5′W
10:00 WEST
Depart.
1
Sesimbra approach
38°25.6′N
009°06.8′W
195°T
0.9
0.9
10:11 WEST
Clear of the harbour. Head south-east.
2
Setúbal bay
38°15.0′N
009°00.0′W
153°T
11.9
12.8
12:10 WEST
Open water, 10 nm off the beaches.
3
South-west of Sines
37°56.0′N
008°57.0′W
173°T
19.2
32.0
15:22 WEST
Well clear of the west breakwater, whose southern half is destroyed and unlit. Check on the chart
4
Sines approach
37°56.3′N
008°52.3′W
085°T
3.7
35.7
16:02 WEST
South of the recreational port. Call Sines port on VHF 12. Check on the chart
5
Sines marina
37°57.0′N
008°52.1′W
013°T
0.7
36.4
16:13 WEST
Recreational port. Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Sesimbra · Sat 24 Apr · WEST (UTC+1)
HW
05:19
2.8 m
LW
11:14
0.8 m
HW
17:33
2.9 m
LW
23:44
0.8 m
From the Cascais station.
Sines · Sat 24 Apr · WEST (UTC+1)
HW
05:14
2.9 m
LW
11:09
0.8 m
HW
17:29
3.0 m
LW
23:39
0.8 m
Saturday 24 April 2027, 4 days after the full moon: springs, range about 2.6 m at Sines.
No tidal gate. Neither harbour has a bar. Arriving about 1 hour before high water gives the most water in the marina. Check the pilot book
Tide times are predictions made for this plan from the TICON-4 harmonic constants (DGFI-TUM) with the Neaps tide predictor, because the official 2027 tables were not yet published when it was written. Tested against the official APDL table for Leixões on 23 July 2026, the predicted times were within 8 minutes and the heights 0.1 to 0.2 m lower. Heights are above lowest astronomical tide. Check every time against the official 2027 table before sailing.
Daylight. Sunrise at Sesimbra 06:49 WEST. Sunset at Sines 20:19 WEST.
Weather
An open coast. From Setúbal to Sines the shore is a straight beach with no shelter. Northerlies are fair; a south-westerly would be on the nose with nowhere to hide until Sines.
April. North to north-west winds most likely, fronts still possible.
Forecasts to check
IPMA (Portugal) maritime bulletins and coastal warnings, ipma.pt, maritime section. The high-seas area for this coast is 17 Porto.
NAVTEX Portugal (Monsanto): 518 kHz, station R, in English; 490 kHz, station G, in Portuguese. Check the station letters and broadcast times against the Admiralty List of Radio Signals. Check the pilot book
Bar status: Autoridade Marítima Nacional, “Estado das barras”, on the amn.pt home page, by zone. The online notice overrides the signals shown at the harbour.
Navigation warnings: Instituto Hidrográfico local warnings, geoanavnet.hidrografico.pt.
Hazards
Setúbal traffic. Ships use the Setúbal channel. Cross it early, at right angles, and listen on VHF 13.
Sines breakwater. The southern half of the west breakwater is destroyed and unlit. Swell and backwash along the outer mole make dangerous turbulence. Waypoint 3 keeps you well south-west of it.
The oil port. Recreational craft may not enter the area north of the line from the west mole light to the fishing-port mole light (the oil and petrochemical terminals). Keep a quarter of a mile from anchored ships, 50 yards from berthed ships and 100 yards from ships manoeuvring. No anchoring in manoeuvring areas.
Fishing. Gillnets, trammel nets, pots and longlines all along this coast, and many recreational fishing boats off Cabo de Sines.
Speed. 5 kn at most in the fishing and recreational port.
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Sesimbra
Start
Within the first 2 hours
Port of refuge all year.
Setúbal
8 nm from waypoint 2
Not planned
Narrow entrance at Outão with strong currents and downdraughts.
Sines
Destination
Always the first choice
An unrestricted shelter.
Pilotage
Leaving Sesimbra
Leave the harbour under engine, then head south-east across the bay.
Cross the Setúbal approach channel at right angles, listening on VHF 13.
Make sail and keep 10 nm off the beaches until south of Melides.
Entering Sines
From waypoint 3, close the port from the south-west, keeping well clear of the broken west breakwater.
Call Sines port control on VHF 12 (also 16). The port's call sign is CAPIMARSINES on VHF 11 and 16 for the Capitania.
Enter the recreational port at no more than 5 kn.
Check in at reception, open 09:00 to 17:00. Have the boat's registration, inspection record and liability insurance (at least €250,000) ready. Check the pilot book
Lights on the way
Cabo Espichel
Fl 4s, 168 m
Outão
Oc R 6s, 34 m
Cabo de Sines
Fl(2) 15s, 56 m
Sines west mole
Fl 3s, 21 m
Communications
Setúbal port
VHF 13 · Capitania +351 265 548 275
Sines port control and pilots
VHF 12 and 16
Capitania de Sines
VHF 11 and 16, call sign CAPIMARSINES, 24 h · +351 269 100 200
+351 269 860 600 · marina VHF and direct line: Check the pilot book
Emergency
VHF 16, DSC 70 · 112
MRCC Lisboa
+351 214 401 919 · [email protected] · watches VHF 16 around the clock
Contingencies
South-westerly sets in. Before waypoint 2, return to Sesimbra. After it, carry on to Sines: it is the nearest unrestricted shelter.
Fog. Fog routine, radar and AIS watch. Ships are converging on Sines: listen on VHF 12.
Engine failure. Sail to the Sines approach and call the port for a tow in. Do not sail into the oil port.
Person overboard. Shout, point, throw the danger buoy, press MOB, DSC distress alert, Mayday on 16.
Before leaving
Forecasts read and logged before the go or no-go time
Bar status checked on amn.pt for departure, destination and refuges
Navigation warnings checked
Waypoints entered and checked against the chart
Ship's log started in UTC
Crew briefing: route, watches, safety gear, MOB, fog
Insurance certificate aboard for the Sines check-in
Fuel for 8 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 9 hours
Lifejackets with crotch straps, jackstays rigged, harnesses
Liferaft, grab bag, flares in date, handheld VHF
Radar, AIS and navigation lights tested
Passports and boat papers aboard
Sources
Sines port rules: Capitania do Porto de Sines, Edital 245/2016 (amn.pt).
Sines hazards and contacts: Plano de Salvamento Marítimo, Capitania do Porto de Sines (amn.pt).
Sines recreational port: Regulamento de exploração do porto de recreio de Sines (APS, on amn.pt); apsinesalgarve.pt contacts.
Setúbal: Capitania do Porto de Setúbal, Edital 97/2022 (amn.pt).
Bar status: Marinha, Estado das Barras, marinha.pt (all bars on this stretch shown open in October 2026).
Local warnings: Instituto Hidrográfico, geoanavnet.hidrografico.pt.
Tides: predictions from TICON-4 harmonic constants (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, DGFI-TUM, 2025, doi 10.17882/109129) with Neaps (openwaters.io). Check against the Instituto Hidrográfico 2027 tables.
Sunrise and sunset: calculated (NOAA method).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory (Rowlett), ibiblio.org/lighthouse, Portugal pages revised August 2024. Cross-check with the IH List of Lights, volume I.