These seven short clips tell the remarkable story of Guilherme Piló Sales. Following the traditions of his ancestors from Nazaré, Guilherme set out for cod fishing in 1960 at just seventeen years old. Over the years, he completed seven campaigns as a line fisherman in small dory boats across the stormy waters of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and Greenland—an era known as the Faina Maior, one of the most overlooked yet extraordinary chapters in Portuguese maritime history.

When opening our new shop in Porto, we sought his expertise in crafting ship sails to inspire and shape the store’s decorative elements. In collaboration with our partners at the Gorvell Architecture Studio—and always under Mr. Piló’s watchful guidance—we created unique pieces that gave this project its singular character.

His stories seem endless, many of them beautifully captured in his book “Homens sem Coração” (“Men Without a Heart”).