16 October 2013 – at anchor, Portimao

37:6.7N

08:31.4W

Still in the Algarve…  and the light airs mean that we’re likely to be delayed at least another 10 days before going south.  Time is getting tight!  But the absolute deadline for arrival is in a month.  Eventually the wind must change back to the north, but the statistics indicate that in October the probability of a northerly wind decreases from 60 to 30%.

On Sunday, we had news that Mitch, a friend from California, was sailing down to Lagos, crewing a 50 footer on its way to Mallorca.  We went back to Lagos to spend an evening with Mitch and Mike, and also met their skipper, Capn Arnstein (aka Captain Perstnickety!)

It was great to see them and admire Mike’s beautiful boat “ Roving Spirit.”  We went out to supper in Lagos and then saw them off on their way to Gibraltar on Tuesday morning.  We’re hoping that Mitch and Donna will join us for a bit of sailing in the Antilles.

We then went back to the anchorage in Portimao, and are happy to be away from marinas.  We went out to supper yesterday – a sushi bar had been recommended.  It was great!  As so often happened we hadn’t quite understood the directions and ended up hiking along the beach as the sun set; and then finding that we had to climb the cliff steps at the end of the boardwalk.  We walked back along the strip and it all felt quite different –the hamburger joints and Irish pubs all catering to the tourists.  We left the dinghy in the Portimao marina, alongside Turid and Helge’s boat Leikaren.  They went home to Norway today.

Today we went to try to track down a pilot for the Morocco, although I suspect that we’re unlikely to venture down the coast.  The anchorage is about 10-15 minutes from the town by dinghy.  It’s still so warm that no pullover is needed!  In the afternoon we walked along the beach, past the Moorish castle and into the village of Ferragudo opposite Portimao.

The village centre has a sculpture with four faces comprising hand-painted tiles of scenes from the village. 

The tide goes out a long way and it was a real effort to get the dinghy back into the water from the beach – the water had receded a long way!