Blue Lagoon
Blue Sky's Voyage
George & Michael
Sun 15 Oct 2006 10:38
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Hello Friends
We had an interesting, and indeed rapid exit
from the Mediterranean, flying our Kemp spinnaker goosewinged with the main as
we went through the Straits. Perhaps a little too much sail on reflection, but
it made for a very short journey to Cadiz, despite the odd broach (well 3
actually, the last one so violent that we ended up going astern under momentum!)
No harm done though and I think we entertained Alex who thought sailing was like
that all the time.
(Ben and Barnie have requested that the Blog
records that Michael was steering at the time, though Michael notes that the
wind was so strong that a 20 degree wobble was enough to become
uncontrollable!)
A couple of nights in Cadiz was followed by
a night in Mazagon, before coming over to the Faro/Olhau lagoon. We had quite a
bit of gentle sailing - managing about 60% of apparent wind speed which equated
to 5 to 6 knots boat speed in about 8 knots true wind, which we thought was
quite good. A good opportunity for tinkering with the set of the sails to see
what worked best.
We are now anchored very comfortably in the
Blue Lagoon just south of Faro and Olhau in the company of some other amicable
cruisers. Barnie impressed everyone by catching two fish - spearfishing by hand
from the deck...
 The lagoon here is very beautiful - a
one-dimensional charcoal smudge between sea and sky. To the north there are
low islands which join up at low tide and almost disappear at high water. Beyond
those, the low hump of Faro and the white scribble of buildings at Olhau, backed
by the hills further north.
To the south is the Island of Culatra -
a few small single storey buildings and dunes - nowhere more than a few feet
above high tide. There is a small village with a few very informal bars and a
couple of shops and somewhere there are a couple of tractors and a tuk-tuk for
transport. It all seems very remote for Europe, but it's a friendly enough place
and the beach on the south side is fantastic soft white sand stretching into the
distance.
In fact that's where we're off to shortly
for a game of frisbee and a stroll along the water's edge, so the pace of life
aboard Blue Sky continues, hectic as ever...
Best Wishes
George and Michael
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