Faro to Ayamonte

It was hard to leave Portimao but we needed to continue our journey east. We spent a couple of nights in the marina to give us time to catch up with laundry, clean the boat, fill up the water tanks and go shopping to stock up on provisions.

Scarlet in Portimao marina

The marina has a hotel complex which gave us free access to a very nice swimming pool, so once all the jobs were done, we relaxed for an hour or so, and in the evening we mingled with the tourits in Praia da Rocha just a short walk away.






The next day we left early and motor sailed towards Faro as there was no wind. We soon settled into our usual routine, which mainly involves making mugs of tea, looking at the changing coastline and keeping eyes peeled for lobster pots.

There is an anchorage just through the main entrance, which has strong cross currents other than at slack tide, and decided to join a few other yachts at anchor in about 6 metres of water. After dinner, we tuned in the television and caught the back end of a news bulletin, which showed a large 'bush' fire, but we did not catch the location.

The next day we waited for the half flood tide and ventured around the corner to Ponte Cais. This is a very popular anchorage, and we counted over 40 boats peacefully on the hook. Well, peacefully up to a point. The locals appear to travel in high powered ribs, carving their way through the moored boats, causing a lot of wash and noise.

At anchor in Pontecais

We had, to some extent, become used to the wash of passing boats in Portimao, so we tolerated it and by the afternoon most activity had dwindled to nothing. It was in the afternoon that Lynne noticed we appeared to be a lot further away than we had been from a Norwiegian yacht when we first anchored. Unusually, we had not put the anchor alarm on, but if we had done, it would have confirmed what was plain to see. We had dragged considerably and not even noticed it! Fortunately,
we were at the back of all the other boats, or we would surely have bumped into one. We set about raising the anchor with the remote control and it became evident that not only had we anchored in a huge amount of weed, but also some long since discarded fishing gear. Unable to free the anchor off and dispose of the gear on land, we had no choice other than to break out the new knife/saw and hack it off. Once free, we put the experience down to bad luck. But, after another two attempts to re anchor in different places with the same result, we gave up and headed back to our original spot from the night before. 

As evening approached, we noticed a change in the colour of the sky and the sun was now very hazy.

Eerie sky

Lynne broke out the Cobb barbecue and proceeded to cook an amazing roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings, well, the ones we like anyway.

Masterchef!

Cobb chicken

Roast chicken with trimmings, yummy!

Reports on the television had confirmed some extensive bush fire eminating from Tavira, just along the coast. But, the wind must have changed direction, as a huge cloud of ash was heading our way. After dinner we closed the hatches and settled down for the night having checked that the anchor alarm was switched on. At first light the next day, we noticed the whole boat had taken on a smokey aroma and our first thoughts were to check we had put out the barbie. But, seeing flames leaping from the hills in the distance meant the bush blaze was still out of control and spreading.

Ash cloud, time to go

A layer of ash was by now all over the boat and visibility was much reduced. It was also difficult to breathe.  The sun was struggling to burn through the haze. We decided the best course of action was to leave and, after checking the charts and popping some waypoints in the plotter, we headed out to sea. Lynne took the first two hour watch and the sky, even out at sea, was laden with ash, making visibility very poor.



We continued in the direction of the Guadiana River with the intention of making for Ayamonte marina. It was only as we approached the river that the skies began to clear, but the ash cloud must have stretched for over 20 miles.
As our leaving had been in haste, we would arrive too early to catch the right tide to get us safely in the river, so we found a spot to anchor for a couple of hours and have a bite to eat. One of the highlights of our trip down the coast was the occasional visit from a flying fish. We spotted about four of these remarkable creatures. They pop out of the water and glide for what looked to be about 20 metres!


Our pilot book has been an invaluable source of information, and it described the pilotage to get through the entrance in some detail. Apart from running aground on sandbars, another hazard was a submerged wall, so with the chartplotter set to full detail and a series of waypoints to mark hazards, we made our approach. As it happened, it was straightforward enough and weather conditions were just about ideal.

Guadiana river, the Portuguese Spanish border

We chose Ayamonte marina on the Spanish side of the river, as it has more manoeuvring space than Villa Real de Santo Antonio on the Portugese side, and friends Chris and Frances from Usqubae of Fife had given it a good report. We did radio ahead a few times but got no reply. As this is a Spanish marina and we had arrived early afternoon, we figured it could be siesta time for the staff, so chose a free berth and moored up. Once the office opened we checked in but found we would have to move to a different berth so we waited an hour for the wind to die down (it picked up about the time we arrived!), and popped Scarlet onto her new temporary home. Once connected to the shore power, the first task was to get the hose out and attempt to clean the boat. Several hours later she looked just fine again, so we had a nap and then decided to head off into the nearby town to have a look around.  We got back to Scarlet in time to enjoy the sunset.

View from cockpit looking back at marina entrance

We should just say at this juncture, that the Guadiana river is a very important one, as it is the border for Portugal and Spain. As our marina was in Spain we took down the Potuguese courtesy flag and hoisted the Spanish one, but we noticed some boats that were coming and going, were flying both...very confusing!

The river is navigable for some 40 miles, and is very popular for boaters as it is possible to anchor just about anywhere. It was on our hit list of places to visit en route to Almerimar.

Ayamonte is a delightful place. Both of us felt at home straight away as we explored the medieval town with narrow streets and car free centre. It must have had an effect as we went straight back to the marina and paid for 3 extra nights!

Street cafes, siesta time hence few people.



This was to give us time to explore some more of Ayamonte.  For the first time since we left the UK, the fold up bikes came out and we enjoyed exploring the area.  There is a dedicated cycle path around most of the town, so we didn't have to worry about being mown down by traffic.

Steve with the  'Hogs'

On Monday, we took the ferry over the border to Portugal on the other side of the river, to a town called Villa Real de Santo Antonio.  The pilot book had suggested it was a pleasant place to visit with a large pedestrianised centre, making it easy to get around.  We decided to take the bikes with us so we could explore.  Whilst it was a nice town, for Lynne & I, it just simply didn't have the same charm as Ayamonte.  After a couple of hours walking round, we decided to head back across the river and grab a bite to eat in Ayamonte.

Approaching the main square in Villa Real de Santo Antonio

Along the river front in Villa Real de Santo Antonio

The marina facilities, ie showers and toilets, are in small portacabins next to the office, so we chose to use the shower on board. Our shower room is quite large for a boat and the shower itself is reasonably powerful so we usually use that anyway. There is no WiFi provided by the marina, but a small independant internet cafe will set you up with WiFi access that you can use on the boat for about 6 Euros a day. There is a small supermarket near to the marina office, but a much larger one is only a 15 minute walk away near to the ferry.

The marina staff will give you access cards for the gates (you need to pay a deposit) but the staff advised that we may as well just go to our gate, wave at the camera and they would buzz us in. This worked just fine until the evening we decided to go out for a drink at 10pm on the Sunday. The town was heaving with families finishing off meals, and just about all the restaurants were packed. We stayed out for a couple of hours, soaking up the atmosphere and then decided to call it a night. As we got to our gate we waved at the camera but nothing happened. OK, the marina is manned 24 hours so we knew someone would be around. So, we walked up to the office (which was in darkness), and tried the door, which was locked. We hung around for a while and luckily a security guard came out to find out what we wanted. "Please can you open gate C? We are going back to our boat." "Si" was the reply. "Yes, C" we said. "Si" was the reply once again. As we made our way back to gate C, we heard gate B unlock as we went by. We got to our gate, waved at the camera and stood waving for another few minutes to no avail. Back to the office to explain again that it was gate C we wanted, not B. Afer another exchange of 'C' and 'Si' we trudged back to the gate and went into waving mode. It was about ten minutes later, still stood outside that the guard came along and wanted to know what we were doing. "Trying to get to our boat", was the reply, "can you open the gate?", "Si" said the guard, "C" said Lynne pointing to the large and obvious letter C on the gate. As it happens, he had understood us all along, and his control panel in the office showed the gate was open. But, when he tried it too, it would not budge. The guard shrugged his shoulders, then leapt over the fence and climbed the stairs and released the gate from the inside. Never a dull moment in Ayamonte!

Like Portimao, some places get under the skin in a good way and this one is definitely one of them. But, once again, it is time to move on. We will leave on the half flood tide tomorrow to go up river and find a spot to anchor for the coming week. Then we will head out of the river and continue our journey eastward.

Steve and Lynne x

Anchored in Portimao

For the last two weeks we have spent a very enjoyable time at anchor just inside the entrance to Portimao.
This was the first time that either of us had spent so long 'on the hook' and it took a little getting used to. At first our biggest fear was waking up in the night to find Scarlet had drifted onto other boats or the nearby rocks. We took a 3 point fix and switched on the alarm facility on our chart plotter. As it turned out, the holding was excellent and we always had at least 4 metres under the keel.

Part of the anchorage at Portimao



Anchorage as seen from behind the marina

















The anchorage was very busy with more than twenty other yachts at any one time. Despite the fabulous surrounding, two issues perhaps just took the edge off a little. The first was the swell from the passing fishing boats and the other was at weekends, when the local clubs/bars in Praia da Rocha opposite would play music at full volume until 4am in the morning.

Scarlet at anchor

Other than this, everything was fine and we used our tender just about every day to visit the nearby beach at Ferragudo. The main beach was full of holiday makers which was fine but having the inflatable boat meant we could access a lovely beach that you could only walk to at low tide.

Robinson Crusoe?

This gave Lynne a chance to use the outboard motor and get used to 'beaching' the tender. Of course when the tide goes right out it means it is a bit of a struggle to get the thing back in the water!

Did you lock the boat up Steve?

One day we decided to pay a visit to Portimao town and parked the tender outside the nearby marina office. Our pilot book says that for a small fee they will look after it for you but that small fee turned out to be a staggering 20 euros!! Unsure of anywhere else we could leave it securely we paid up and set off for town.

Compared to the cosmopolitan resort town of nearby Praia da Rocha, Portimao felt much less touristy and we noticed that in August there would be a sardine festival!

Portimao town

Portimao looking back from the waterfront

Of course all the sightseeeing was thirsty work so the hunt began to find a place to eat. Being on a cruising budget means you have to watch the pennies so eating out is not something we do very often.  However, we spotted a deal that was too good to refuse, an 'all you can eat buffet' for 7 euros each. The food was really good and we both agreed that the chicken was some of the best we had ever had.

Grill Brazil, great food, great value

One of the things about being at anchor is it helps to be as self sufficient as possible. This was the first real test for our solar panels. The panels we have can be angled througouht the day, providing you are not getting a suntan on the nearby beach of course. Just about every day they gernerated enough power to run the fridge and allowed us to use the inverter to watch telly or charge up the mobiles and of course, run our anchor light at night.

We had a lovely suprise one afternoon when we were joined at anchor by friends from the Rally on Moonstream and we had a lovely evening meal together. The next day we planned to have a bar-b-cue on the beach but in the afternoon the wind had whipped up a sandstorm on the beach so we decided to hold it on the boat instead. Lynne put our new Cobb barbie to good use.

Chicken, yummy!

After two weeks at anchor we started to run low on fresh water. We reckon that each of the two tanks would last about a week and this includes showering on board. Clothes needed washing and we had almost run out of cornflakes so we headed over to the nearby marina and booked in for two nights. The price is high (it is high season), but we did get a 5% discount for having RYA membership. For anyone thinking about buying a yacht, size is everything when it comes to mooring fees, stay below 12m and you would be amazed how much you can save. Scarlet is 12.93m but we often have to pay the same price as you would for a 15m boat.

Marina de Portimao

Tomorrow we will leave early to go to Faro and anchor for a while but for now it's off to the local supermarket for cornflakes.

Steve and Lynne x

Sines to Lagos-The final Leg

There was a 'gate start' to today's race, meaning that all boats had to pass the start line between 6am and 6.30am. We passed the line at about 6.15am. Sadly, there was very little wind and the sea was glassy calm, so we all had to motor sail for several hours before we could switch off the engine.

Fortunatley the tide was with us for some of the way and even though the engine was barely at tickover we managed over 7 knots over the ground.

Chartplotter showing AIS targets of Rally boats in front

As we approached Cape St Vincent, the wind picked up dramatically and we had an exciting sail, with gusts of over 30 knots at times.

Cape St. Vincent

When we were at 90 degrees to Cape St Vincent, we dropped our ensign in the age old tradition, as a mark of respect to Admiral Nelson.

A short while later, we rounded the corner into the Algarve. This was when the wind calmed down again. We continued to sail for a little while, but it meant tacking several times. There is a bridge just before you enter Lagos marina and the last time it is opened to let boats through is 9.30pm. If we arrived after this time, it would mean having to spend the night on the arrival pontoon outside the marina. At about 6.30pm, we decided to put the engine on again and motor sail the final few miles, to ensure we made this deadline. Many other of the boats followed suit, although one or two of the quicker boats succeeded in sailing this last few miles.

Rally Boats in Lagos Marina

We were allocated a berth next to Moonstream and Caroline, Tim, Jim, Ken and Sue invited us over for a delicious supper of Coq-au-vin. We had a fantastic evening and shared our most memorable moments from the Rally. One of the highlights of the evening was when Caroline produced a home made Christmas Cake she had brought with her from Mexico City, prior to the Rally! It was quite surreal eating Christmas cake in June when the weather was so warm.

Caroline and John - Dinner on Moonstream

Before we bid our farewells for the night, Steve and Tim agreed to set a time for their long overdue game of chess the following morning. They had both spoken about this game since Plymouth but had somehow never got around to playing a game.






Steve and I went to bed exhausted but proud of the fact that we had made it all the way to Lagos in Scarlet Lady.

The next day we went into town to do a spot of sightseeing and then came back to the boat to wash the rest of the salt off and catch up with the laundry. The temperature was just nudging past the 30 degree mark so we used the blackout blinds and switched on the cabin fans to keep the inside of the boat cool.

Later that evening we attended the final Rally dinner and presentations. This was the best meals of all and each boat received a commorative plaque.
It was great to see that Nick Martin (our WCC guide throughout the Rally) get the biggest cheer of the night. Nick did a fantastic job and we wish him luck in his new life in Sydney.

Nick Martin standing on left receives a signed Rally Portugal Flag from Jim Humphris of Moonstream as a token of all our appreciation for his hard work.

It still is difficult to comprehend we had actually crossed the Bay of Biscay and sailed all along the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal in just under a month.

The Rally Portugal has been great fun, a little tiring at times but we have learned new skills and made many new friends. Anyone looking for a fun way to go to the Algarve in company should take a look.

We are now looking forward to continuing our adventures on Scarlet Lady albeit at a slower pace, as we plan to carry on and sail into the Mediterranean.

Of course, some of the Rally participants are going to do the Atlantic crossing to St.Lucia......

We intend to head off in the next day or so, slowly along the Algarve coast to Gibraltar before heading though the straits in late September to Spain.

Before we sign off for now here are some pictures in and around Lagos.

Oeiras to Sines

The start to today's leg was another 55nm but a later start at 10am, so we had a bit of a lie in which was nice. 
We started off with just the genoa up but later got out our whisker pole to 'pole out' the genoa. Sadly the wind was a bit fluky and we had to give up on the whisker pole after only a short time. 

Whisker Pole

The wind eventually reached 19 knots and we had a great downwind sail. On approach to Sines, we were greated by three flames, which were the flares from the oil storage facilities surrounding the harbour. We were the last ones to finish and as it was quite late when we arrived, we had dinner onboard straight away and called it a day.

The next day we walked up to the fort to attend a Rally prizegiving, nothing for us but the port and nibbles were great!

Sines is an interesting place and has a monument to Vasco da Gama who was reputedly born in the fort and christened in the parish church.
Vasco da Gama was a famous Portuguese explorer and was one of the first to sail from Europe to India.

Vasco da Gama

In the afternoon we had a pontoon party and Steve made some bread, to which we cut up and added smoked salmon on some, and Parma ham to the remainder. It soon went but we held some bread back for toast in the morning, a rare treat.

Pontoon party in Sines

In the evening we went for a lovely meal in town but had an early night as the next day was a long 75nm leg to Lagos, our final destination for the 2012 Rally
Portugal.

Steve and Lynne x

Peniche to Oieras

As soon as we left the harbour, the wind was right behind us, meaning we had a downwind sail nearly all the way to Oeiras. We only had our genoa out for the entire journey. 
Going downwind is not the best point of sail for the autohelm so we gave 'Fred' the day off and took it in turn to hand steer.
It is certainly one of the more exhilarating points of sail made just about perfect with the warm weather.

Usqubae

Just before reaching Cabo da Roca, a rougue wave the height of a double decker bus, picked us up from behind and we surfed over it at an amazing 10.8 knots!!
       
Once we rounded the headland of Cabo da Roca, the wind speed increased considerably and we recorded a gust of over 35 knots. We had to very quickly reef in our genoa and hold on tight until conditions calmed down. The entrance to Oeiras is very tight with strong cross currents and in the high winds it made for a difficult approach. It was a relief when we finally made it on to our berth. This leg was the best sailing leg of the rally so far and for all of us the best downwind sail ever.

In the evening, we were treated to a superb welcome drinks and buffet reception by the commodore of the yacht club.

In Oieras, it has become a tradition for Rally particpants to paint the harbour wall. As none of us are in anyway artistic, we decided to pass on this but some did partake with great results.

Wall art from previous years

Firedrake

Karma Wins

Miss Charlotte

Apologies to the team from Coral IV as we did not realise that they stayed up into the early hours of the morning to paint theirs. All won prizes which was very fair.

Oeiras marina is very posh. We don't know how much the mooring fees would have been here as they are included in the Rally entrance price. The marina is spotless and a good stepping stone to go and explore nearby Lisbon. Instead we opted to rest up, clean the boat and go on a local tour.

Oeiras marina

Our tour took us to a place called Poets Park, a vast free to all park with marble statues of famous Portuguese poets, past and present.

Statue in Poets park

On the way back the coach dropped us off at a nearby supermarket for last minute provisions before the next leg to Sines

Lynne and Steve x

Figueira de Foz to Peniche

Still full of sardines from the night before, we set off for another 'short' leg of about 55nm.
The race start today was at 8am. Unfortunately, there was very little wind so we had to once again turn on the engine and motor sail for a few hours. In the early afternoon, the wind picked up to about 15 knots and we had a cracking sail for the rest of the way to Peniche. Those in the rally fleet with spinnakers and cruising chutes put them up and it made for quite a spectacular site. Sadly, we didn't see any dolphins today.
We arrived in Peniche at about 6pm and rafted up to the Moonstream.

Rafted in Peniche

After tidying up the boat and hoisting our code flags, we headed into the town.
Our first stop was to find an internet bar/cafe and one that served Guinness. Not such a tall order after all and after catching up on weather forecasts for the trip to Oeiras the next day, it became apparent that bar was getting a little lively. This probably had something to do with the fact that the football match being shown on the huge tv was Portugal vs the Czech Republic.
As it was becoming difficult to hold a conversation, we popped over the road to have one of the best seafood meals we have ever had (Peniche is a fishing port) and towards the end of dinner it became obvious that Portugal had won the game. Locals jumped into their cars and began driving round and round hooting horns and hanging out of windows and sunroofs with national flags. What an atmosphere. We later agreed that Peniche was one of our favourite stopovers.

We retired to bed, not sure what time the car horns stopped blowing but after a day on the water most fall asleep soon after the head hits the pillow.

Tomorrow it's off to Oeiras

Steve and Lynne x

Povoa de Varzim to Figueira de Foz

We set the alarm clock for 4.30am to get the boat ready for the 7am race start. However, re-attaching the newly repaired in-mast furling main sail took rather longer than we expected and we were a few minutes late joining the others at the start line. We started the race under sail only but there was so little wind that we were all just bobbing on the sea not going anywhere. After about 30 mins, Scott from Katerina suggested over the radio that we all motor sail until the wind picked up.  We had a 75 mile passage ahead of us and would never get to Figueira da Foz if we didn't. John also wanted to get there in time for the sardine supper!




Plane Magic, the smallest but prettiest yacht on the Rally

After about 5 hours, the wind picked up enough to sail but the wind strength was still not great, so progress was relatively slow. However, the sun was out and it was warm so none of us minded pottering slowly to our destination. Some of the boats got their cruising chutes/spinnakers out and made better speed. Others just pottered along but it did give us the chance to take some pictures of some of the other boats.

Katerina

Moonstream

Karma Wins

Ailsa

We sailed until about 8pm, when we decided to put the motor on for the last half hour. The marina cafe was laying on a supper of sardines at 9pm and we didn't want to miss out! After we had moored up, we quickly changed and went out for our delicious sardines and a few drinks.

Tomorrow there is a trip organised to Coimbra, but we have decided not to go and have a day to catch up on some sleep and to clean the boat, as we will be on the go again the following day.

Steve and Lynne x