37:57.137N 008:52.08W

What did I say in the last entry - We have anchored off the beech and are hoping for a better night’s sleep tonight! How VERY stupid of me!

Sleep well we did not – we had a pleasant evening but then the wind picked up to a steady 20-30 knots with gusts of 38 knots and as we had an area behind the boat with less than a metre of water at low tide we had an unsettled night – eventually got some sleep at about 1.30 am only to be woken at 3.30 am with the wind alternating between 30 knots from north to no wind then 30 knots from the south - not nice – the final straw was a 41 knot gust during which, something made a loud bang sound sending us both up on deck in seconds – as soon as the squall came it went away and we decided that the noise must have been the rudder as it was no longer locked in the position it had been. Apart from that all was OK but decided to head off once it was light to Sines 35 miles south.

Arrabida anchorage

We set off with reefed Genoa only in strong winds, we seem to have a gremlin on board as the auto pilot wouldn't work for the trip so we had to hand steer, as the wind reduced Steve put mizzen up but the wind died down further we were unable to put the  cruising chute up as it takes both of us to do it. Luckily the wind picked up again after about an hour and we were soon making good progress again.

On route we had a very playful group of dolphins who played around the boat for a long time.

We arrived and anchored in Sines Harbour which is well sheltered and although we has 20+knots in the outer harbour there was very little wind in the anchorage. there are 6 or 7 other boats anchored. Steve reconfigured the auto pilot which now seems to be working, however, the wind generator which was working before we left Arribida is no longer putting a charge in – Steve has been unable to find the problem yet – hopefully it will have an easy fix when we find out what's wrong!

Today we went ashore with Willie and Ria for a wander and this evening they, Becky and Eamon – an Irish couple who we have seen in 3 or 4 anchorages along the way came over for drinks and nibbles.