Wednesday 20th October - Wednesday 3rd November Late cruise into Spain
Faro
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| Looking out from Faro cathedral tower over the lagoon |
Sandy arrived by the red-eyed Easyjet. We decided to take it easy for a day, and in the afternoon went ashore for a womble around the town, including a trip up the cathedral clock tower. We got up early on Thursday morning, so that there would be some rise in tide if we were unfortunate enough to go aground, and to get out before the line of the marshes was submerged in water, making it difficult to see where the channel lay. In the event, we had no problem, and anchored inside Culatra to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. We had been concerned that the bad weather would still be making the entrance rough, but there seemed to be no problem, so we decided to head for Tavira, 15M east.
Tavira
The day was sunny and pleasant, but there was no wind, and we motored. We entered Tavira about 1500 hrs, and anchored off Quatro Aguas. The following day, Friday, we took the dinghy up to Tavira, arriving around high tide, and moored up at some steps. We decided to take a look around the town (both sides of the river) and enjoyed particularly the views from the castle. We then came back to the river, checked the dinghy and put it on an improvised outhaul, and then sat down for a drink and snack lunch. It was only then that we realised that a small weir had materialised to the seaward side of our mooring, so that even if we had done the shopping we could not leave! We enjoyed the sunshine until we judged the tide had turned, loaded up with shopping, only to find that this conclusion was premature - the tide had gone down a little further. There was no alternative but to return to the café for a bottle of wine, followed by coffee, to await the tide. JP decided he would hasten matters, and so set off with the dinghy (and shopping) himself. He was unable to get sufficient purchase with his bare feet on the slippery weir to haul it over, and was so stranded. Finally some fishermen towed the dinghy (with JP aboard) over the weir with the aid of their 40HP outboard.
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| View of Tavira across the river from the new bridge | The church clock tower from the castle |
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| JP rescued from the weir |
Guadiana
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| The church and square in Vila Real |
The next day, Saturday, we left Tavira for Vila Real de St Antonio, and arrived at the marina in time for a quick look around the town. We set off early on Sunday with the flood to go up the river Guadiana, that forms part of the border between Portugal and Spain. We reached our initial objective at Alcoutim, but decided to continue on to Pomarao. Here there is a dam across the Rio Chanca, and the Guadiana itself flows under a road bridge. Lloyd and his daughter Jessica from Windcharger sought us out as we had our lunch at anchor down river. He was worried that we had taken a chance over the shallows caused by the dam, and came to tell us in case we came back up river. His wife Sam recently had a baby, Tom, and they have lived aboard the boat since acquiring her in Vilamoura. We returned to Alcoutim, and anchored with some difficulty, as the bottom appeared to be hard flat rock. The anchor however held overnight. We went ashore to Sanlucar to find it almost totally deserted and asleep, despite being a Monday, so crossed over to Alcoutim, said by the pilot to be more lively. We went up to the castle, where we were relieved of a small fee to see over the castle and museum. The latter was very interesting, having walls excavated dating back to the 12th century, with various tools, coins and pots that had been recovered. A video theatre was showing a film with English subtitles depicting the main attractions of the region.  |  |
| Sanlucar from Alcotim, with the old fort on the hilltop | Down river, the view from the castle with cemetry |
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| Looking up river from Alcotim |
After lunch, we took the ebb tide arriving at the suspension bridge at about low tide, with just sufficient light to negotiate it. We anchored just below for the night. Tuesday morning looked reasonably settled, although there was a suggestion of fog that looked as if it would burn off. We tried to get fuel from the marina at Ayamonte. The pontoon that had been put in position in 1999 still did not have its fuel pumps, promised for 2000/2001, and we went aground on the soft mud in the entrance to the marina. We retreated to Portugal for the fuel after all, and then set off for El Rompido on the Rio de Piedras.
El Rompido
There was again little wind, and what there was was from dead ahead, so it was again a case of motoring. We needed to in any case, to reach the river mouth with its shallow shifting sands near high tide, and still with some flood remaining. We negotiated the river mouth, just too late to follow a fishing boat that was being inordinately cautious, with a least depth under the keel of 1.7 metres. We anchored off the lighthouse, and launched the dinghy to go ashore. We visited three supermarkets in turn, each one becoming more celubrious, in the small village. There was rapid development taking place, with a number of new buildings under way. We found a hole in the wall to replenish the cash expended on fuel, and returned via the lighthouse. We found a collection of new retail outlets and bars, devoid of any customers, but in the style of round tropical huts. They included another (empty) supermarket. No doubt they will be very popular during the season in future, when the development is completed. We returned to Fuga.  |
| Sunset over the Rio de Piedras, from El Rompido |
Overnight the wind began to build up, and there was heavy rain. This had not been forecast earlier, but only after the event, promising a day of book reading: certainly not one for renegotiating the river entrance. By Thursday morning, the wind had let up a bit, and we decided we would try the entrance. It was already looking doubtful as we approached the large hotel on the bank, with white water everywhere ahead. Our minds were made up by a couple of fishermen who came in gesticulating to us that it was very rough in the entrance. We turned back, and anchored as soon as we could, to see if the rise in tide improved matters. It did not, so we motored back up the river, and beyond the lighthouse, to explore the upper reaches. We turned around before reaching the really interesting bit, as the tide was now falling. We re-anchored a little up river of our previous spot, and in due course turned in early. We were awakened by the sound of a nearby horn: our neighbour had returned to find that with the turn of the tide we had swung rather too close to his moored boat for comfort. We felt obliged to pick up the anchor and drop it again a little further away from him. The following morning started well, and we went ashore for some supplies. The cold front that had been promised materialised, and with it the wind strengthened and a belt of rain came in. We retreated to our books again, and it was mid afternoon when the sudden realisation of a cessation of both wind and rain encouraged us to try once more to leave the river. This time we were in luck, although soon after clearing the mouth another storm cloud came over and drenched us. We had come to realise that there was a problem in the propeller department. There had been a noise as we entered the river, but it did not appear to be a problem at that time, but now we were getting mixed results from our folding propeller. By reversing and then going forward we were able to get it to drive satisfactorily. Our late departure from Rompido meant that inevitably we would arrive at the Guadiana at a totally unsuitable time, but we were unprepared for a flog up to Faro arriving in the middle of the night.
As it was, we arrived off the Guadiana in the dark with a strong ebb tide running, and our normal depth repeater at the helm had gone on the blink from its earlier baptism. We were barely making any headway over the ground, as the depth of water below the keel came down below a metre, with a moderate sea running. We did not touch, and made it in eventually to anchor off Ayamonte.
Olhao
The next morning we got up early to catch the early half of the ebb to allow us to clear the entrance, and hopefully carry the last of the flood into the lagoon at Faro. There was a west south westerly breeze which meant that we could almost fetch our course, but this then strengthened and headed us. We took in one reef, and enjoyed the good beat to arrive off Faro not much later than the advertised time. We anchored off Culatra for lunch, before going up to Olhao. Here we had a slightly nasty moment, as in trying to stop the boat for the turn in the 'marina', the propellor did not want to bite in astern, and it became obvious again that we had a problem. We got dressed up, and after opening Richard's champagne, went out to O Carlos for a very pleasant meal with a shade too much booze. We enjoyed a lazy day on Sunday, exploring the town.
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| Flower sellers on the quayside at Olhao | A pair of storks in their nest on a tall chimney: they seem to nest everywhere! |
JP lashed the ships knife to the boathook, and with the aid of goggles and a mirror managed to shift the tangle of polythene and fishing line that was enveloping the prop. (As the marina at Olhao has had its EEC funding withdrawn because of the raw sewage outlet into the middle, for which there is ample odoriferous evidence, JP had refused the opportunity to try swimming for it.). We felt we had to visit O Carlos once more to celebrate, but this time we moderated our drinking as Sandy had to be up early to go to the airport in the morning. Monday proved to be a holiday, probably All Saints, judging by the crowded church. We were unable to get the phone recharged, buy gas, or visit any of the other shops, but did manage to lay in some supplies. JP re-marked the anchor chain, and removed the original anchor and chain from its mounting in the bow, as it was unusable, more so since the winch motor had been burnt out in Bilbao. On Tuesday we were able to do the shopping that had eluded us the day before. On returning from a rubbish dumping trip, JP found that the crew of Ibis were in, along with some other boats from Alvor. It being Helen's 50th, they were celebrating and we joined in before nipping off to O Carlos once more for a last snack. Wednesday morning proved drizzly wet and rather miserable, and JP was dissuaded from setting off for Albufiera.
Finally, we left Olhao on Thursday, and enjoyed a pleasant sail to Albufeira. The next day we completed our journey back to Lagos, and checked in for a long stay.