37:00.505N 07:56.528W FARO

Ariel of Hamble
Jim and Valerie SHURVELL
Thu 13 Aug 2009 12:42

37:00.505N    07:56.528W    FARO

 

6th August, 2009.

 

We set sail after a quick tidy up for Faro.  We had a lovely sail across the bay to Faro flying the spinnaker in the light wind.  Half way across the bay we came across a Sunseeker left drifting and as we sailed past quite close they looked up from their sunbathing!

 

Our journey covered 44.2 miles overall into the lagoon where we picked up a buoy. It had taken us one and half hours from the entrance to Faro harbour until we arrived at the lagoon as 2 knots of tide was hindering our progress.  Faro lagoon is very pretty and many people take the tourist boats to view the bird life in the lagoon.  The lagoon is a national park – the Reserva Natural da Ria Formosa.

 

It was funny as we were in the path of the runway for the landing planes.  We could actually wave to the crew and passengers as we were so close.  Our friend John Bush was safe and sound at home so we gave up watching for the Monarch planes.

 

During the evening we were entertained by music as there was an outdoor concert on the sea wall and the sound travelled across the water to Ariel.

 

7th July, 2009.

 

We were up early for breakfast as the first planes arrived just after 7 a.m. and the tourist boats were out early giving us a wave as they passed by.  We took the dinghy and left it in the marina tied up to the steps.  We went on a sightseeing trip around Faro.  It is today’s capital of the Algarve and home to 30,000 inhabitants.  The historical Vila Adentro is the ancient town within the city reached through the impressive Italian renaissance style archway called Arco da Vila.  This archway was funded by the fishing community and built in 1814 by a Genoese architect.  The town hall and cathedral are the two main buildings in this city.  The cathedral has been rebuilt several times over hundreds of years and the last time after the big earthquake of 1755.  Students studying the cathedral would have lots of problems deciding what had been rebuilt and when.

 

After a refreshment stop we took the bus to Loule to meet up with Peter and Jane for lunch.  Jane very kindly came and met us and prepared a cold lunch on their terrace at their beautiful villa overlooking the area from the mountain down to the sea.  It was lovely to swim in their pool before we headed off to a restaurant for a BBQ menu.  We had a great evening with 10 very interesting and happy people with a gentleman playing Fado music in the background.

 

Jane dropped us back at the marina just after 1 a.m. and luckily the dinghy was where we had left it in the morning for our fifteen minute ride out to Ariel.  Luckily the full moon was out and we could see our way.


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