Monday 3^rd March – Rio Vascao - Alcoutim

37:28.111N 7:28.147W

Last night we had a very still and quiet night with the river to ourselves, no sodium glare and bright stars overhead – we sat out and enjoyed the view for a while before going down below.

We awoke to find the river shrouded in mist.  Gradually during the morning the mist cleared and by lunchtime the sun was out once more.  I tried some more fishing but the fish weren’t having any of it; in addition, the debris floating up the river on the tide (bits of bamboo of all sizes) kept snagging my line.

As the tide turned around lunchtime Richard started the engine and we dropped back down to Alcoutim and anchored in the river just below the town.

Late this afternoon we took the dinghy across to Sanlúcar de Guadiana; this town is opposite Alcoutim on the Spanish side of the river.  We had a walk round – it is quite different to its Portuguese neighbour.  We like them both.

We picked up a few provisions in the local shop and returned back to Pyxis for the evening. 

Being a little bit out of town we are enjoying a peaceful evening on anchor – it was warm enough to eat on deck with the cockpit light on and we finished the evening on deck too with a book.