Thursday 28^th February – Ilha da Culatra – Vila Real De Santo António

37:11.711N 7:24.795W

After three weeks and two attempts, we have finally made it to the Rio Guadiana, the river that forms the border between Portugal and Spain.  We are staying at the marina at Vila Real de Santo Antonio tonight which is on the Portuguese side of the river; later we may visit the Spanish marina that we can see from here on the opposite bank at Ayamonte.

We set off this morning in bright sunshine, hot but no wind so we motored/ motor-sailed for about 2½ hours, using the opportunity to fill the water tank, and then had an early lunch.  Whilst eating lunch, we switched the engine off for some peace and quiet and the wind increased as we were eating and we found we could achieve around 3-4 knots – not a great speed but it meant that I could fish, and as we didn’t have a long distance to travel, we could afford the time.  So, I trailed my mackerel spinners off the stern.

However, soon afterwards, we saw a pod of dolphins; these were much larger than the Common Dolphin we had seen previously – from consulting our book on marine life, Richard thinks that they may have been Bottle Nosed Dolphins.

Anyway, Richard said I should bring in my line so that I didn’t catch a dolphin.  I said that I would but that I didn’t really want to as, if there were dolphins, it could mean they were feeding on a shoal of fish.  But when I pulled the line in I found I already had three mackerel – so both the dolphins and I got our dinners J

We sailed the rest of the way in moderate wind, making 4-5 knots and arrived alongside at 16.10.

The pilot book warns of the narrow entrance to the marina and the cross tides and advises to not to enter other than at half flood or above.  We were on the half-flood mark and the pilot book is correct.  I had to shoot the entrance quickly as I was being swept down onto it; I then had to do a hand brake turn to get alongside the visitors pontoon.  The marina staff are on hand to catch lines when you get in which is nice and there is free wi-fi, which makes up for everything else!

This evening we have had a pleasant walk around town before returning to Pyxis to cook dinner.