Sines to Lagos / Gibralter - 30th August -2nd September
Nimue
Tue 2 Sep 2008 19:20
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An 0630 start from the Sines achorage and within an
hour we had rain and it turned rather chilly. However we rounded Cape St
Vincent in glorious sunshine and noticed how the swell virtually diminished once
we had rounded into the Algarve. It was approximately 30 miles to
Lagos from here and once again we found a nice anchorage in the bay just outside
the Lagos breakwater and apart from one other yacht we had the place to
ourselves.
Michael had always wanted to take me to Lagos, as
it was where he had spent a week before delivering a yacht down to the Canaries
back in November 2002. We even managed to sample the delicious roast
chicken at the same cafe/restaurant he had frequented on most days, although it
wasn't as cheap!!
  Sailing towards Cape St
Vincent
After having
rounded
the Cape
Most of Lagos and it's ancient castle walls were
destroyed in an earthquake in 1755, but is now a pretty fishing port and is just
a few miles east from Praia de Luz, where Madelline MaCann went
missing. I did see her 'photo' in many of the Portuguese
shop windows etc.
After a couple of nights at anchor we ventured into
the Marina, primarily to clean the boat and do some laundry. In fact
I got chatting as usual in the laundry and ended up talking to a very nice
couple with whom I arranged to meet in the nearby hotel bar later that
evening for a drink. With Nimue all 'ship shape' and a large shop
undertaken in Pingo's we went to meet David and Gillian and it turned out that
they were the parents of Ian Percy - he won the 2008 Olympic gold medal for
sailing and obviously they were very proud parents! We spent an enjoyable
evening with them and also the next morning as we took them to 'The Owl
Story English' bookshop, where I wanted to pick up a copy of the
2008 Gibralter Straits handbook and David nearly purchased the whole
bookshop.
  Approaches to Lagos
Marina
 The lifting footbridge into the
marina - opens on request
We left the marina and spent another night at
anchor, as we had heard that we may be moved on if we tried to anchor at
Portimao (10 miles east), as it was becoming the turning circle for big cruising
ships.
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