Lagos, The Algarve Thursday 29th 37.06N 008.4W
Island Wanderer
Peter and Avril Brookes
Thu 29 Jul 2010 20:34
Last night's concert , broadcast live from the
beach, was an epic! Starting with some rather unusual community singing, there
followed a number of different groups including reggae, rock and pop, some
unknown genres, jazz (which Avril enjoyed) and finished, at dawn, with a steel
band.
Unfortunately we had to be up rather early because
of a long journey ahead. The day started windless and the sea like a
miror.With visibility limited due to a haze and light mist there were no
identifiable features at all; it was rather like floating in a pale
blue bubble - rather surreal! To add to the atmosphere, the wildlife had come
out in multitudes. Birds, fish, insects and numerous sightings of several
variety of dolphin interupted the journey.
After lunch a thick fog set in. We had been warned
of this in the pilot guides. It prevented us seeing the St Vincent cape, the
most south westerly point of our journey. However as we turned eastwards, the
fog cleared to reveal stunning scenery, accompanied by a northerly wind which
allowed us to switch off the engine. Yet more dolphins followed us towards our
anchorage for the night in Lagos.
Was the guide book right about the
western Portugese coast? Certainly it was quite desolate in places
and the visibility was generally poor. To get from port to port required a
long day's sail, usually 7 or more hours. However, the sailing conditions were
excellent on the whole (if you wanted to travel south) and the weather
fantastic. Port authorities were helpful and friendly. There were few boats
around and it was easy to find a spot to anchor. The two marinas we tried
were friendly and had good facilities. Overall, the coast was ideal for passage
making, but perhaps not so good for local cruising. It will be good to compare
with this next leg of our journey, eastwards to
Gibralter.