Tuesday 21st September Setubal - Mo tries to photograph dolphins
We were up early again and set off for Setubal. We had hoped to pick up some fuel, but the fuelling berth was occupied by a very large British super yacht. They were still waiting for the office to open and needed over 1,000 litres, so it was going to be some time before we could get a look in. For most of the day there was very little wind so we had to motor. We were entertained on the VHF by a Portuguese war ship that was taking part in submarine exercises and Dutch warships that were firing flares at each other. Neither of them seemed capable of broadcasting the essential information, which was "where"? We took it in turns to sunbathe on the foredeck and read. We made our way up the long entrance channel, across the shallow sandy bar, to find an enormous basin with commercial activity on the port bank as far as you could see. 
Even up here there was a pod of dolphins playing together and even jumping clear of the water. Mo tried once more to photograph them. We anchored off the steeply shelving beach on the starboard side of the river and relaxed with a drink, or two.
We had a leisurely start and JP had just come out of the shower when Mo retreated to find some clothes as the Brigada Fiscal launch was coming alongside. One official came on board and filled in the usual answers to the same questions and left satisfied. After breakfast we emptied two of our spare diesel cans into the tank as we were concerned that we might be getting low. The journey was uneventful and we arrived in Sines late afternoon. On the approach to Sines all you could see was oil refineries and commercial docks. However, once inside the breakwater of the fishing harbour where the marina is you felt you were in a small holiday town with a lovely beach overlooked by an old castle. JP was on the way to check in when he met the friendly Brigada Fiscal man on the pontoon and completed his forms on the spot. He was also engaged in conversation with Sue on a boat called Keffy. She raved about Sines, the marina and the friendliness of the people. The marina man was also friendly and only relieved JP of 18€.
We got up and after breakfast set out for the shops as we were really low on fruit and beer. Sue explained where the shops were and recommended a route up flights of steps underneath the castle. We found ourselves in the older part and carried on walking up hill looking for a larger supermarket. We were unlucky but following a food delivery van located one that was tardis like, once you were inside it had more or less everything you could want. We had to get back to the boat in order to move her onto the fuelling berth for the expected arrival of the owner at 1300 hours. We took on 127 litres which cleared us out of most of our cash. We returned to our old berth and had lunch. We then set off back up the hill by a roundabout route. Mo found a path leading through bamboos which led to a smart housing estate on the edge of the town. We took some photos of the castle and of the statue outside of Vasco da Gama, who was born here, looking out to sea.
Having got our cash we spent €1.70 of it having a drink (perhaps the cheapest round to date). When we got back to the boat our passage plan was shot to pieces as we had intended leaving by 1600 hours, although this was not critical in any way. Mo had extracted yet another Mosoulet from the freezer and we ate this with rice and allowed it to settle, just a little, before JP became impatient to get away. In the marina when JP looked at the wind speed there was just 3 knots and he wondered whether to take out the reef. However, as we bounced out of the gap in the breakwater into the Atlantic swell the wind speed was around 20 knots from the SSW. It just happens that that was where we needed to go! We took an initial tack out to the west and then tacked back towards the rhumb line. We were making very little progress and so we decided to motor sail. It was not long before the wind died away again but it did not change direction. We rounded Cabo de Sao Vicente at around 0600 hours. Mo had taken the brunt of the first part of the night and JP cat napped through the rest.
The rest of the trip up to Lagos was uneventful. Visibility was less then 2 miles so we did not see much until arriving at the Punta de Piedade. The lighthouse is above sandstone cliffs that have eroded into vertical piers and caves which are a major tourist attraction. These continued up to the entrance into Lagos. We checked in at the marina and enquired about long term availability and rates then berthed. We had a shower to freshen ourselves up and then went to explore the marina complex. We found the boat yard and made arrangements to lift out on Monday. On the way back we stopped for lunch at a local café bar near the yard that we had been told about by one of our neighbours in the marina. We had an enormous meal of sardines with salad and new potatoes. With wine, water and the traditional unordered starter of large prawns, olives and bread, it cost us €22. We wandered around the town and then returned to the boat to relax with a drink, or two, as we did not require anything else to eat. JP however did manage to find himself a little pate and cheese.
As we lay in with our cup of tea we looked up some of the harbours east of Faro. We fancy exploring more of this coast before finally settling down here for the winter. We updated this journal and started work on the web site. Widow Twanky produced two bucketloads of soapy washing for Mister Twanky (or the ghost thereof since he's presumably deceased?) to rinse and wring out, whereupon the greater skills of the good widow were required to arrange the proceeds on the guardrails. At this juncture we set out to the supermarket across the road and came back with, amongst other things, beer and wine. We met Sue and Brian, from Keffy, who had arrived from Sines the evening before on the way back to the boat, and invited them around for a drink after supper, which proved to be great fun.
We had another go at the web site, then set off for the marina office to pay our dues and book in for November 3rd. We continued on to the supermarket, as we needed bread, and one or two other items. We took the opportunity to buy more of one particular wine that we had enjoyed last evening. After lunch, we had another go at getting frustrated with the web site.. where we now leave you..
