Here we are again in Portugal!

Cadiz to Ria Formosa & a few more days

Yes it might seem odd and no we don’t plan to return to many places but we had good reason, we were off to pick up Abbie from Faro airport.  It was not ideal but we had booked Abbie’s flight to Faro and then Alan planned his Med cruise and it would have been such a shame to have not seen them when they were so close.  So we did everything we could to make both plans work.  It was a big sail back to Portugal almost 100 miles and we were lucky to get a pleasing forecast for 2 days after meeting Alan so we would be back in plenty of time.  As we had already had a night at anchor in Cadiz Bay close to the docks we decided that would be a good option but as is typical just when we desperately needed the sleep the night before a long passage the wind and tide had different ideas and we were up having tea at 4am!  So a good start to the day!

Sunrise over the Atlantic, leaving Cadiz

We were lucky that we had wind for the first couple of hours but mid morning the wind dropped and engine was on! The only good point was that we both decided we would have a sleep (at different times) so at least we caught up a bit as it was a long day.  By early afternoon the wind was back and we were speeding along dodging the fishing boats.  Were spent the entire day hoping we would see Dolphins or possibly Whales as we were on the Ballena (Whale in Spanish) coast but nope nothing!  Day went on and sun went down, I watched a stunning sunset whilst Mark had a nap and then we both were amazed by the huge number of stars – “amazing” as Brian Cox would say.

Sunset approaching Faro

Luckily we had been to the Ria before as channel marking once inside the entrance were limited, we crept into the anchorage and 16 hours after leaving Spain we were back in Portugal and asleep within minutes!

The next couple of days spent in the Ria were relaxing although managed to also get some chores done on the boat, it is not all fun, fun, fun! We also managed an early morning run which is always nice but just way too hot even by 9am.

We headed back up to Faro a couple of days before Abbie’s arrival again to catch up on a couple of bits, we have found a bar good wifi so gave us an opportunity to book Abbie's return flight (she is not even here yet!), order couple of birthday presents and generally catch up online with no cost apart from a couple of drinks.   The Ria is a good cheap option in Portugal where marina costs are so high, also there is a safe place in town to leave the dingy although it is a bit of a trek from the anchorage to the marina (not suitable for sail/large boats).  The only other issue is that it is directly under the flight path and feels like plane landed on the boat at 7am on our first morning there! No a nice wake up. Also here at Springs and tide really very strong luckily we have faith in our anchor.

The day Abbie arrived was a bit concerning we dindged into Faro for a couple of hours, dodging the rain showers we arrived back to Magnum and the wind whistled into action! Suddenly the boats were getting blown all over the place by the wind whilst the tide pulled them in the other direction, no consistency between your boat and your neighbor so after a couple of very close encounters with out neighbors we had to up anchor and move Magnum down stream.  We now had lots of room but wind of over 30 knots blowing us around and Abbies flight time rapidly approaching!

We safely managed to pick up Abbie after having to dingy into Faro in our wet weather gear get both wet due to the wind and it started to rain! Thankfully by the time we had picked Abbie up at airport and dingyed back the wind had calmed and the rain had stopped.

We spent one more day in Faro showed Abbie round the old town and then caught the bus out to local shopping centre (only about 30mins walk but trying to break Abbie in gently).  We stocked up on as many essentials as possible and Abbie learned experienced the difficulty of shopping with no car.

We headed down to the other end of the Ria Ilha Da Culatra for the evening, only about 8 miles but it felt like a long day once we anchored their in the dark but as it was our third time anchoring at least we were familiar with the surrounding and also knew of the dangers after our first night there when our neighbour unexpectedly dried out.

We spent 2 days pretty much relaxing, we popped over to the island and headed to the beach but just too hot to stay for too long.  The island only really consist of really small fishing port, a few café/bars, a couple of shops to get your basic provisions and a long sandy beach (no cars!), ideal for some relaxing although Mark and I managed to get ourselves up early one morning and have a run, any time before 9am and it just about bearable in the heat!

100's of little fishing boats on Ilha Da Culatra

 

Algarve hot & sunny

Albufeira   

The wind had abated so we had a short sail east to Albufeira.

Another expensive marina so we did our usual trick of arriving late and anchoring just outside, then heading in 1^st thing in the morning to make sure we get our moneys worth.

Magnum at rest in Albufeira Marina

We arrived on Sunday the day of the British F1, had a bit of a wander and the camped in a bar to watch the action. Unfortunately the bar served cheap beer so the afternoon is a bit of a haze but an enjoyable way to while away a few hours, we also ate out in the evening which is the first time since we left. Budget Blown !!! but not too bad as restaurants are good value in Portugal even in the marina.

Albufeira to Ria Formosa (Faro/Olhao)

Another short hop to the tidal lagoon at Faro. This is huge, think Poole harbour but maybe 3 times the size.

For the first few nights we anchored near Ilha Culatra and dingyed up To explore Olhao and the island of Culatra itself.

    

Olhao was small tourist resort seemed nice enough but difficult for us to really get to look around much with the pressure of the food shopping to get done and delivery back on the dingy before the tide dropped to low and we were unable to cross the Ria – Olhao one side and Magnum the other marsh land in between! 

We also took a trip up to Faro which is the other side of the lagoon, it was a bit twisty and turny to navigate, similar to Beaulieu river with withys (sailing term for tree branches) showing us the way. Managed to anchor just outside the channel at high tide and by the time the water dropped we were surrounded by meter high river banks and a range of seabirds (mainly herons and egrets), we were a bit disappointed not see any flamingoes but we had seen them flying overhead the previous day.

Our night at anchored proved to be interesting, one because we were only about a mile from airport and we plane spotted as they almost touched the mast – mainly Ryan Air – would not be my choice! Also because of the number of flying creepy crawlies, spent most the night scratching and worry about what might have found it’s way in!

We dingeyed into Faro the next day, pretty town particularly the old town. Funnily it was over-run by motorcyclists there was a rally and there were 100’s of bikes and bikers everywhere, funny to here so many English voices – long ride!

We celebrated our wedding anniversary that evening with a bottle of champagne with our dinner and a game of Connect 4, we know how to live it up!!

Mark in the moonlight

Windy Welcome to the Algarve

Sines to Lagos (Algarve)

This was our longest passage for a while and a bit daunting as there are no alternative ports on route, just high, daunting looking cliffs. So if it all goes pear shaped or the wind goes silly you are stuck with it.

So it was just Amanda, Mark and Magnum against whatever the Atlantic decided to dish out . . . gulp!

The forecast looked ok but we knew from experience that the wind along this coast is always strongest from 16.00 through to 19.00 and that at the last Atlantic headland, Cabo St Vincent would be stronger still.

We left at 06.00 and motored for the first couple of hours to ensure we kept on schedule for rounding Cabo St Vincent before 16.00. 

An early passage, sunrise of Sines

By 07.30 we had seen 3 different pods of dolphins and the wind had started to arrive. Next few hours we hurtled downwind in brilliant sunshine and crystal clear blue water. After about 8hrs we were within reach of the most SW point of Europe Cape St Vincent and we held our breaths as the wind was still a pleasant 20 knts from directly behind.

As we rounded the Cape Amanda got the video out to record the moment and took a 3 minute video. Just as she was putting the camera away the wind arrived !!!

In about 30 seconds to changed from 20knts to 35knts plus (gale force 8) and we still had full sail up !!!! A few scary moments later and we had furled away the foresail and put 3 reefs in the main, things were now back under semblance of control but we still had 4hrs left to reach a safe port and we had to turn across the wind, which dramatically increased our angle of heal.

The wind settled to around 30knts so we unfurled some of our foresail and had a fast but wet sail into Lagos. 

A wonky Cape Vincent

Our first views of the windy Algarve

Mark enjoying every minute round Cape Vincent

Getting windy

 Lagos

Lagos was a bit of an unknown for us as we have never been to the Algarve before. It was quite a pleasant surprise, touristy but still with character and loads to do and see. The rock formations along the cliffs are amazing and the locals run tours of all sorts, kayaks, ribs, glass bottom boats, scuba, dolphin watching and just about any method possible to part the tourist from his Euro!!

Imitation Galleon

Glass bottom hydrofoil

The marina was eye wateringly expensive, but the wind was still howling and there appeared to be little in the way of shelter along this bit of coast for us to anchor, so we stayed 2 days (€90+ ouch !!!!)

At that cost we had to leave after day 2 regardless and were just considering our options when Mark bumped into an “English” local. He recommended a small cove not mentioned in our pilot book that would give us good shelter from the northerly gale.

With a small amount of trepidation we set sail and were met with winds gusting 30knts at the harbour entrance. With a small scrap of headsail set we made good speed across the 10 miles to the recommended spot. It didn’t look too good on approach just more spectacular rock formations and lots of white water. As we got closer the headland opened up and we sailed into tranquil, crystal clear waters.

View from the top

Shelter

We snuck in as close to the marked swimming area as we dared, dropped anchor and made ourselves at home for the next 3 nights.

We (Yes Amanda too!!) swam from the boat to the beach, and used the dingy to explore the rocks, caves and secluded beaches.

One beach we visited, which only looked accessible by sea, was beautiful. We loaded our snorkeling gear in the dingy ready for a day sunbathing and playing with the fish. We had just beached the dingy and dragged it clear of the water when Amanda spotted we weren’t alone. There were 2 naked men sunbathing in one corner, unperturbed we donned wetsuits and masks and headed for the water, before we had even got to the water another 2 naked men arrived……..

We had a dull snorkel as the water was too agitated to be clear, so returned to the beach to find it populated by naked men, we had obviously stumbled onto the gay pickup beach and it was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable !! Straight back to the boat for us …………….

Secluded beach

Gay Pride beach just over Marks shoulder

Beach at sunset, water was deeper than I thought hence water line mark on shorts !

Still enjoying Portugal Atlantic Coast

Cascais to Sesimbra

We headed off early for a short trip to Sesimbra expecting a windless morning but luckily we had wind and sailed the 35 miles.  We were also treated to dolphins visiting us twice. The water was amazingly clear at over 200m and the dolphins loved our bow wave. The scenery on route was spectacular with huge cliffs and amazing rock formations – quite similar to the Jurassic coast in Dorset.

We really loved Sesimbra the marina was small, friendly, cheap and clean. We arrived on a Sunday evening (26^th June) and there were lots of locals packing up there boats after a hot weekend but we were then left with peace and quiet.  We were about 30 minutes walk into the town but after a first walk in we decided to get the bikes out to make life easier.  There was a lovely long sandy beach and some of the old town lined the seafront with small shops and restaurants.  At the other end of the promenade there were a couple of large hotels but they were not too intrusive (like finger of fudge!) mainly for Portuguese tourist although we did see 4 English people!

We also had a bit of an adventure catching the bus into Lisbon from Sesimbra, takes about an hour and had been advised by marinas further North that Lisbon marinas were likely to be full with bookings and we knew they would have cost about twice as much. We had a busy day sight seeing in Lisbon trying to cover as much ground as possible on the underground and the trams.  Lisbon is the capital of Portugal (in case you did not know) and was bigger than we had anticipated, to make the most of it you could do with more than a day.  The main town was full of spectacular buildings and squares and old cobbled streets it was difficult to know where to go first! Plus it is on the bank of the Tejo River which is huge.

Tejo River

We also took at tram out to Belem a district in the west of the city with it interesting maritime history oh and we had McDonalds! We don’t even do that at home but starving and nowhere else to eat so had to be done! We firstly visited the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos which was built in 1500’s and was built to demonstrate Portuguese’s wealth after Vasco Da Gama reached India in 1499.  This was a hugely impressive building, where Vasco Da Gama is buried in the main chapel and then there are various other museums that are housed in the buildings.

We also visited the Monumento Dos Desombrimentos which was built 500 years after the death of Henry the Navigator and depicts many of Portuguese explorers.

Next stop was Torre De Belem again built in 1500’s to defend entrance of river, was once in middle of river but earthquake in 1700 moved the river bed! Quite an impressive building and how did it remain standing in the earthquake!

The only time I sat down all day!

Mark looking like a tourist

Another windswept day!

The final stop for the day was the Maritime Museum, bit of a shame we did not manage early in the day as we were both shattered and did a bit of a whistle stop tour but was huge and interesting that Portuguese had been such big explorers  - India (first trade route) Madeira, Azores, Madagasger, the list went on.

Legs were aching by the end of the day but our excitement wasn’t over for the day, when we finally managed to get back to Sesimbra one of the restaurants had the catch of the day on table outside – 10ft Swordfish, never seen anything quite like it.

National Park Arabida

From Sesimbra we headed East to a national park which had been recommended to us by a guy we met at Viano de Castello. It is a land and marine national park and has a pack of wolves living in the forested hills, there are a few houses along one end of the shore owned only by the very wealthy and the windy road along the mountainous shore is famous for appearing in the Bond film “On Her Majesties Secret Service” where Diana Rigg gets shot at the end!

Anyway he was right, it is a beautiful place, navigation into the anchorage was not easy as it is protected from the open sea by shifting sandbanks, so the only way in was to use a tidal channel 100ft away from the towering rock cliffs and with depths as low as 3m I had to brush up on my tidal calculations.

Once in and anchored we had a pleasant day relaxing and swimming to the beach (well Mark did, the water was too cold for Amanda). We were the only boat there and overnight we could hear the wolves howling from the towering cliffs above us.

Next day we inflated Daisy dingy and were going to head for the beach, when we were boarded by customs officials who checked our papers and then informed us that we had to move as we were too large to be anchored in the park boundaries. Luckily we only had to move about 200m further out and the water was still shallow due to the protective sandbank. The moving process would have been easier if we hadn’t hooked what looked like a massive rusted metal frame from the sea bed on the end of the anchor !

We had just moved and ensured we were safely attached to the bottom, when we could hear thunder in the distance. There was nothing in the forecast about rain, but rather than head to the beach as planned we decided to wait and see…….10 mins later we were hit by 40knt + winds and even with the protective sandbank the waves quickly built up, next came rain with the intensity of a hail storm. 

We had nowhere to go for better shelter and the visibility was too poor anyway so we had no option but to sit it out and keep our fingers crossed that our anchor held (whilst watching the people on the beach running for cover! ) It did and about an hour later the thunderstorms blew over and the sun came out again, by now the sea was to bumpy to stay where we were so we motored the 7 miles back to Sesimbra and had a night anchored off the beach being serenaded by a Portguese pub singer who warbled on for half the night !!!

Sesimbra to Sines

Nice little day sail of about 30 miles we left late to ensure the wind had swung to the Nth as forecast.

Cracking sail with a good breeze although as always the Atlantic swell built and built and gave us a few sweaty palm moments entering the harbour.

We anchored off for the 1^st night to save cash and then entered the marina 1^st thing in the morning to get our moneys worth !  Lovely little view.

Fort & too small to see statue Vasco Da Gamma

Sines is famous as the birthplace of Vasco da gamma (yes him again!) and we had a couple of days there food shopping, swimming and we even had a run !

Not a huge amount going on here but they did have the best pedalos in the world !