36:33.0N 006:18.0W

Distance: 265NM

Date 27 – 29 October

This was definitely a passage of two halves. The first half was a rather boring 24 hour engine on/engine off affair from Cascais to Vilamoura on the Algarve. We rounded Cabo San Vicente at 2am and started heading east towards the Med – until then we had been sailing south for 1300 miles, so it felt like the sun came up in the wrong place!

After a day and night in Vilamoura, we set off again at 5am in in order to get to Cadiz before dark. The wind soon picked up to a SW 5/6 so we raced along at a sometimes rather alarming pace. Eventually sense prevailed and we reefed down to slow us down a bit and make the ride a bit less like being on a roller-coaster. Although it was great to have decent wind, the seas were dreadful – big, short lumpy waves from all directions. We think it was a combination of weather and the continental shelf. Suffice to say, we were very pleased to arrive early (a very rare thing for us) and crack open a beer!