31 May –
8 June 2007: The
Algarve
We soon exhausted all that Lisbon had to offer, and it was time to
continue on our journey South. We
had a long way to go to our next chosen port, so it was another early morning
start. We headed out of the Tejo
River on a lovely sunny morning, and as soon as we were at the river entrance
hoisted the sails and pointed the bows towards Cabo Espichel. The wind was light but warm, and for the
first time since leaving the UK we were sunbathing on the deck in shorts and
T-shirts.
We arrived in Sines in the early evening, and anchored off the Vasco da
Gama beach on the other side of the bay to the marina. (After the vast expense of Cascais
Marina we are now opting for free anchorages). Sines is the birthplace of Vasco da
Gama, and now has a big petrochemical industry. We sailed along a coastline full of huge
smoking oil refinery chimneys and vast tankers, but once tucked up inside the
harbour we could only see the pretty old part of town. We had a BBQ that evening and enjoyed
the peacefulness of the anchorage listening to the waves lap at the beach. The following day we went ashore to
explore the town, and found a quaint little village with a relaxed
atmosphere. There wasn’t much to do
or see (apart from the ruins of the fort where Vasco himself was born…J),
but it nice to just wander about taking in the surroundings. That was until we returned to the beach,
where 100 school children had just been given a demonstration on what to do if
in distress while swimming off a beach.
The kids had been given goody bags that contained whistles and they had
great fun seeing whose lungs were the strongest by blowing into the whistle
incessantly. The noise was
deafening!
Ed the Duck looking wistfully at Rahula at anchor
in Sines
Then we had another 50-odd mile passage “around the
corner” (Cape St Vincent) to the Algarve.
We were looking forward to getting down to the South coast of the Iberian
Peninsula as we had been told about the perfect sailing conditions there –
strong wind and a flat calm sea.
The sail from Sines to the Algarve was one of those annoying days when
the wind would not make up its mind.
One minute we were drifting along in sweltering heat under engine, the
next minute we were putting two reefs into the main and reaching for our
fleeces! Once we eventually made it
around Cape St Vincent we tried anchoring in the first bay we came to (Enseada
de Belixe). It was quite windy by
this stage, and there were lots of sharp rocks on the shoreline. As soon as we dropped the anchor and the
boat settled we both agreed (a rare event!) that this anchorage was not
suitable for an overnight stay, so James started hauling in the anchor. I was on the helm getting a great show
of James with his shirt off heaving away at the anchor and making lots of manly
grunting noises. I then realised
that perhaps something was wrong (maybe something to do with my imaginative
expletives…J), and sure enough, our anchor was caught on a line along the
seabed. We (meaning ME…J)
soon freed the anchor, and sailed away to the next bay near Sagres town
where we anchored 20m from people sunbathing on the beach.
Cape St Vincent
We sailed from Sagres the following morning in perfect Algarve
condition. There was a strong
northerly wind blowing and very little swell, which meant Rahula was in her
element racing along with very little effort at 8+ knots under a reefed Main and
Genoa. Around lunchtime the wind
started dropping and we increased sail area, until eventually we were sailing
under full Main and our large Drifter.
As soon as the Drifter was out Rahula kicked back and sped up, slicing
through the small white horses forming on the crests of the wavelets. We were amazed that she could still sail
so fast while so heavily laden down (A’s shoes and wash-bag….J). We had a little party dancing to Ride a
White Horse by Goldfrapp – This was more like it! Much better than slogging though the
large swell on the West Coast as we had been for the last few months. Then the wind built again and Rahula
accelerated even more. The whole
boat was humming and we agreed (Twice in a week!) it was time to furl the
Drifter. The log was now steady at
9 and a bit knots, and we wanted to see if she would make 10 knots. At 9.9knots there was a large twang and
the Drifter flew away high above the boat to Starboard (since then I have
calibrated the log and we were actually doing 10.2 knots! J). We’d blown the sail! All that was left where the bottom of
the sail attaches to the bowsprit is the metal eye…(In fairness to our
favourite sail: it is a laminate sail designed to last one or two seasons which
is now a decade old! J)
We lowered the wounded Drifter into the cockpit and had a fun half hour
trying to fold a large laminate sail in a small cockpit in the now strong
wind.
All that was left attached to the boat from our
nice Drifter sail…
Luckily we were headed for Lagos, which has one of the largest marinas in
the Algarve and a resident sail maker.
We arrived on a Sunday when everything is shut so we anchored off the
Breakwater and enjoyed the sunshine for the rest of the afternoon. Early the following morning we motored
into the marina and soon handed over our Drifter to Roberto the Sail Maker (and
general boat odd job man, we later found out). Then we took in the surroundings. Lagos marina is huge and was full of
British boats. We soon found out
that most of these boats had wintered in Lagos, and their crews had formed into
a tight knit village community complete with social evening and village
gossip. By the end of our first day
alongside we knew who was from which boat, where they were headed (mostly the
Mediterranean) and who to see if we needed anything done. We heard lots of tales of people
planning to do a circumnavigation like us but ending up staying in the Algarve
because the boat broke or they liked it here. It was like being in a friendly, sunny
marina on the Solent (Is there such a place?!), and it was nice to have
some new company.
The town of Lagos wasn’t much different. It was full of British holidaymakers and
all the shop owners seemed to be British.
The town centre consisted mostly of shops selling beach stuff and Estate
Agents. I had a quick look at some
of the houses for sale – there are definitely no more bargains to be had on this
coast. The houses for sale were
mostly apartments in big blocks built specifically as second homes. Even the supermarket had signs in
English and sold Heinz Baked Beans and Worcester Sauce!
We used our time in Lagos to do some maintenance and shopping. We even managed to find a Lidl that was
selling 12 Volt cool boxes. Since
the weather has become warm we have to keep more things in the fridge, which has
meant less room for beer and tonic.
As there is nothing worse than a warm beer or G&T after (or indeed
during…J) a hard days sail we have been toying with the idea of getting
another cool box. And there it was!
Complete with a fridge motor and cigarette lighter plug. We had to have it. We (meaning Me again! J)
lugged it back onboard, filled it with beer, plugged it in and waited. A few hours later we were sat in the sun
drinking ice-cold beer. Now we’re
cruising! We still need to find a
home for it, as at the moment it is living under the chart table…
