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Phantom Lady at anchor off the beach

another seemingly abandoned catamaran

Mike pulls the dinghy down to the water

Feast your eyes on this

Approaching the entrance to the Ria Formosa

Eastern Mole

The tide can run very fast here through a narrow entrance to what is a massive lagoon and salt marsh area bounded by barrier islands such as Culatra.

main street on Culatra

 

 

 

 

Culatra is home to a large community of fishermen and their families. Its largely unspoilt (?) and until a couple of years ago the residents had to go to the mainland to get their water. They even got a proper harbour built two years ago. That's progress! The place was until quite recently a well kept secret only popular with locals and visiting yachtsmen in the know. Our friend Alan, who spends quite a lot of time here, told us there were over 90 yachts anchored off all summer.

ferry from mainland docking off the town

The ferry journey from the mainland town of Olhao has got to be the best value ever. 1.60 Euro each way and it takes 45 minutes!

main form of transportation

there's no rush....

Tucked away round one side is a very shallow mini lagoon known as the 'catamaran graveyard'. We have joked over the years that it's where German sailors go to die.....

the lagoon

Once you come in here you never get out again.........          

                                                                                              

 In fact some take root

A strange place indeed.

ships? I see no ships.....only hardships

Joe would love this

This is for Brian

He doesn't want to come home!

I am sailing

now where was it we were going??

A 6 hour trip with the wind on our beam (what little there was)
Flat sea, blue sky. Lovely. My type of sailing :)

looks nice from out at sea

Passing Carvoeiro which, frankly, is the best thing to do.

even Mike is relaxed (relatively speaking of course)

wonder which code flag this is?? (sailing joke)

read carefully, this is the science bit...

This is our solar panels and wind generator which are very important because they provide us with electricity to charge our computers to go on the internet hahaha
Seriously, we only used to have the wind generator (which is very good and quiet in operation, unlike many) and Mike installed two 50 watt solar panels last winter to boost our power. They have worked very well this trip and were well worth investing in  (£100 each off Ebay). We don't want to have to run our engine too often for power, not with the price of fuel as it is nowadays.

Coming soon.....Ringer goes native!!

It's behind you

cruise ship dwarfs harbour wall and people

Alan and his mystery companion have returned. They are staying in Portimao to watch the Ryder Cup whilst we go on to Culatra and desert island style living.

gotcha

it's big

going into Portimao Marina for water and fuel

Normal service is resumed!

Sorry folks, sometimes you just can't get an internet connection.

Ferragudo Castle

I'm seriously considering buying a sports bra to wear in the dinghy. Our tatty old tender may look like something you wouldn't want as a gift but its actually a RIB with a 15 HP engine on the back that does 20 knots. And Mike likes to go FAST! And when its choppy they don't half bounce.....

different

the market square

everything tastes better outside!

 A late breakfast of coffee and croissant - yum. The small tart is a pastel de nata. It's a bit like a very sweet egg custard. Typical Portuguese.

Ferragudo is a sleepy little fishing town.

still thinking of velvet crabs....

don't fancy their lunch

Strips of fish drying in the sun and getting shit on by flies - yummy. The real Portugal.....

Bom Dia!

That's Portuguese for 'hello' or 'good day' in case you're interested.

Well here we are in sunny Ferragudo....

I'm sat in a cool (thats 'trendy' as opposed to not warm!) beach bar on a lovely beach overlooking the anchorage between here and the tacky tourist strip that is Praia de Rocha, Portimao.
Now Portimao is a large commercial fishing port further upriver from the tourist resort and consequently the anchorage is like the M25 at rush hour when the fishing fleet go out. And I'm talking seriously big trawlers here not just your little fishing smacks.
Suffice to say, there will be no 'blue canoeing' here :(

the simple life

Anyway, we will be away tomorrow. We only called in here to fill up our water tanks in the marina.

The weather is gorgeous and the local fishermen are saying its settled for the next month apparently.