Although I am not an expert on the oceans – far from it – the sea has always interested and motivated me. I was born and have nearly always lived near the sea, in a city – Lisbon – which lies on the estuary of a great river that flows into the Atlantic. Here, at all times of day and in all weathers, the sea and the maritime environment are a constant, pervasive and complex presence. This presence has always affected me deeply, as a source of energy and inspiration, a vehicle of myth, a spur to action, an encouragement and invitation to reflection. To be near the sea is so vital to me that when I was exiled in Paris I would often travel 200 kilometres and more just to see, to hear and to breathe the sea – those bleak, grey northern waters so different from the sea of my own country – a deep blue or clear viridian depending on the hour of day.

I come from a country of mariners whose history is steeped in the heroism of the discoveries which unified the world, linking east and west; a country of successive generations of traders, explorers and missionaries, who adventured in all directions across an uncharted sea. The magnificent accounts they left of their voyages around the world fascinated contemporary Europe, and even today give cause for admiration.