3;56. 36:57.98N 009:34.74W its Monday lunch time on a hot, 30 Celsius windless day. Yes we are under engine again thumping away south to our next port of call at Sines.It was my turn to cook some lunch today ,fresh baked baguette filled with seasoned tomato, salami  and cheese, followed by fresh baked (Mr Kipling) Viennese whirls smothered in creamy rich custard , sounds good eh! . We spent yesterday in Porto Nazare doing the minor repairs that always need fixing and refuelling the boat, then returning to our berth with Ula lying alongside. We all went to dinner together in Nazare, eight in totals, a bit of a farewell supper because, Ula will be staying in Nazare for a further day then sailing to Lisbon (Cascais).We hope to meet up in Las Palmas in November. Libertad is having to get to Lagos by Wednesday evening to allow Tim to catch his flight home from Faro to Gatwick on Thursday.This will leave Jake, Nick and myself to sail on Friday for Madeira some 500 miles south west of Lagos.

Corrie tells me that the funeral for Phil is on Thursday and our thoughts will be with you all that knew Phil on that day.

We have had a great variety of weather, mostly bad but we have coped. Two hours before arriving in Nazare at 01:00 am, the fog descended giving us less than 50 mts of visibility. We piloted the boat in to port using radar and plotter seeing  the harbour lights at the very last moment Tim was in the bows with a large spotlight and fog horn reporting back to the cockpit he could hear surf, and breaking waves. Once inside the harbour arms the fog lifted to a wonderful moonlight night. That’s what we call Murphy’s law . On passage we went through large patches of plankton and the phosphorescence was spectacular, an iridescent azure or turquoise colour sparkling behind us like jewels.

We let go lines this morning at 07:00 hrs to a dizzily ,foggy start .the fog siren blaring  it's warning across the bay, We headed west for an hour to get well offshore before turning south, spotting the mine field of pot/net buoys on the way. We have been fortunate to date and not actually hit one; Ula was not so lucky and picked up a buoy with rope which temporarily fouled the prop. John, with great skill managed to disentangle himself and continue on passage, He was still shredding rope after his arrival in Porto Nazare.

The fog cleared as we approached the Cabo Carvoeiro near Peniche  and could see the dramatic islands of llha Berlenga and llha Farilhao. Passing between the mainland and island we picked up a favourable current of two knots.

The wind is now on the beam from the west a 6/8 knts, and gives only 3/4 knots of boat speed so the engine is running yet again. Our e.t.a. at Sines is about 01:00 Tuesday morning if we maintain this speed. So I wish you all a fond farewell for now.

Best wishes

Paul