The Last Sailors

No. 11 JUNE 2015

«What you have here is an attempt to portray the world of some Portuguese whose main source of income still comes from going to sea. For most, connections with the merchant navy are a family legacy, coming from the previous two generations or from time immemorial. In the harsh loneliness of the cod dory boats or in the relative comfort of more or less recent models of fishing or cargo vessels, respect for the sea makes its rules endure. Despite all the machinery, the profession of sailor still has something of the intrepid and adventurous».

Portugal has 2,830 kilometres of coastline and is the third largest European Exclusive Economic Zone and the 11th largest in the world. Even so, there is not a single radio weather report giving information on sea conditions. Filipa Melo went to meet our last sailors, on board a commercial cargo ship and a fishing trawler. Men and women who face the sea every day and do justice to our most mythical past, against all the winds and tides.