We left you happy lot in the Arosa or somewhere in mid August and slowly worked our way down toward Portugal. We spent several days in Bayona and really enjoyed the place, lots of lifes wasters and wanderers gathering in the anchorage before heading further South although the number of boats who choose to pay harbour fees constantly amazed us. We talked to other boats about the continuing hassles they face with Portugal and seriously contemplated missing it out all together. Common sense  prevailed and we opted for a limited approach, choosing harbours that would enable anchoring. So at 11.30 on the 24^th we left for Portugal and specifically Peniche. The weather was not on our side. The log continues several pithy comments like “Crap sail so far” and “BLOODY AWFUL”. On the second day we heaved to, lit the fire and refused to play. Finally resorting to the ever faithful engine in an effort to combat the swell we edged a little closer to our destination. Some 200 miles and 56 hours later we slid into the harbour grateful to reach somewhere we could actually stop. Except that we now found that Peniche doesn’t allow anchoring within the harbour. We talked to a Norwegian Baltic Trader ( it’s a large 100 foot+ wooden sailing ship) who said they had been moored to the harbour wall for a week and nobody had been near them. We took the hint and found ourselves a friendly, albeit very large, fishing boat to tie up to. Guy comes aboard, rabbits away in Portuguese and assures us the boat won’t be leaving for several days before heading home. We slumped through the next 24 hours, found cheap supermarkets, bought booze and thought about our next move in a couple of days. A friendly voiced interrupted our ponderings and I peered up the companion way to see a benign face regarding us. “You can’t stay here” he said. But the man said it was fine as the ship isn’t leaving for several days. “No, you cannot stay, here is for fishing boats, yachts have to use the marina”.  Thinking he may be from the ship I queried his authority and he played his trump card by announcing he was the harbourmaster. The bottom line was we could have a couple of hours extension but we needed to be away from the fishing harbour. So onto the pontoon we went, causing anxiety as we searched for a suitable boat to lean on. Of course the following day the wind blew up from the SW and we were stuck another day @ a rate of 18.93 euros per day. This had been our first harbour since Granville way back in late may so we hadn’t done badly but we felt it to be a poor opening for Portugal. Which reminds me about the infamous bureaucracy. I had duly gathered up all the possible papers they could require and found my way to the relevant police department. A casually dressed man took down the details on a photocopied sheet and in 5 minutes or so it was all over. In truth it is harmless but it is just so pointless that we no longer bother on the grounds that EU citizens have free travel rights across borders. So far we have remained free…..

From Peniche we opted for another long haul down to Cascais, a dormitory town for Lisbon and faced another “…slow, bumpy, wet and boring…..” sail/motor. As we finally approached the harbour the fog came down leaving us to creep very slowly through the last mile. With visibility down to 100 yards or so I can only hope the fishing boat was well aware of us on his radar before we saw the faint glimmer of his lights as he appeared on our starboard bow. my frantic waving of a halogen spotlight on our sail was rewarded by a flash or two of his amber revolving light as he steamed past us and out to sea. But into Cascais we crept, dodging the eejits who happily anchor without any form of light, and dropped the hook around 5 am We certainly know how to stretch our days out.

By now the gum infection I have had since we left had come back with a vengeance and the thought of going ashore was a real no no. I consulted the ships doctor who wrote out a prescription, illegible, and so I began a dose of hot salt water mouth washes. To date it has worked and the gum certainly feels less tender. Isn’t the NHS(boat division wonderful) So we didn’t get to see Lisbon, by all accounts one of Europe’s finest cities and will content ourselves with a few days on our way back.

From Lisbon we made two more stops, Sesimbra, not much of a halt and not geared up for visitors although we moored alongside the wall with a Swedish couple alongside us and then onto Sines. Sines is the birth place of Vasco de Gama and a stature overlooks the harbour and anchorage. In Bee’s inimitable way the log reads “…..with mr Pyjama overlooking his protegies…..” And what a motley lot we were! A French Gaff schooner, a French two masted junk, us, plus several other nations all heading South. The following morning almost everyone, cept us, had left by 8am We quickly followed and endured another swell ridden, semi windless day. We had hoped to round Cape St Vincent in daylight but it was 22.30 before we were forced into an early gybe by a kamikaze fishing boat and thus went onto an easterly heading to enter the Algarve. So now we know. When sailors talk about Portugal it’s the Algarve they are referring to. The swell has dropped away, the same winds that were insufficient to deal with the swell round the corner now have us creaming along at 5 or 6 knots. We were ecstatic and anchored in a dark, quiet bay around 1am. OK there was a little swell but nothing compared to the constant movement around the corner. By noon we up and away, sailing off the anchorage and heading along the coast. The bay we had left, Sagres, is spectacular and if you’re heading this way it is very handy and sheltered from the N & W

The next couple of days were just wonderful sailing days. Smooth sea, Northly winds around 3-4 and few other boats about. We were heading for Faro, where we now are, to meet up with a very good friend of Bee’s (and mine) but spotted at least half a dozen anchorages along the coast we will try out. We spent one night in Portimao but arrived here on Friday evening. Actually the sail to here was one of those days when we needed to arrive after low water and so spent much of the day trying to slow ourselves down, finally resorting to a reefed mizzen and genny. Crept up the channel to anchor in 4 metres or so of quiet river opposite Faro. The airport is clearly visible across the marshland  and with Lindy now safely on board, the “whitey from blighty” as Bee calls her, we’re all set to leave tomorrow for a cruise along the Algarve.

We still haven’t worked out what to do about winter and the options range from the River Guadiana, Alvor, Sevilla to heading across to Cuba and then the States. The Swedish couple we met fired our enthusiasm for Turkey, not for this winter but as a destination next year, so we really are very undecided. Anyone got any thoughts?

And a week or so after this was written the “Wayne & Waynetta” of the marine world are moored alongside a pontoon at Olhao. Lindy has returned to the safe, swelless, fast moving and clean world of home after a week of headwinds  that had us cursing our luck. At one point as we vainly tried tacking against swell and headwind the GPS predicted an 18 hour journey to cover a distance of 14 miles. Never curse the m25 traffic snarl ups again you lot. On the first day out, the sea arrived alongside the boat in solid lumps, leaving our newest crew member feeling decidedly “hughie” As a mark of respect we decided to pull into Villamoura. This place is all designer shops, powerboats costing the price of a house in Park Lane and pontoons so narrow and close together that along with your electronic swipe card to access the gate etc skippers are issued with a shoe horn to facilitate mooring. my request for an outside berth was et with a polite refusal (none left and anyway more expensive-she obviously knew a set of gyppos when she sees them) But with the help of a an in a rubber boat, a sort of mobile bow thuster we reversed into the tiny space. The cost ? Well the electronic card was rented to us for 46.11 euros and the space for 35. So now we know. It costs as much to moor a boat in Portugal as it does on the South Coast…. By contrast this pontoon is free, currently at any rate, and occupied for the most part by the sort of yotties for whom the RYA, boat shows and glossy magazines do not exist. We were met by a woman yesterday who asked how such and such a couple were. We looked perplexed. “You are from Hannah” she asked. It turns out that she had met the previous owners in Portugal about 10 years ago and remembered the boat. Whilst martin & Roma have returned home this other couple have continued to wander the Portuguese coast.

Lastly my laptop really is on its last legs so if anyone reading this has a decent one going cheap I would be interested to hear. It has given great service over the years but is nearing the end of etc.