Longest time yet out of touch

Well, since this cruising malarkey is supposed to be about getting away from it all this should not really come as a surprise but one of the things on the list for the future is going to be some sort of 3G dongle that we can use in different countries. Since the last update a lot has happened and we have both changed crew and country. Poor Audrey had to fly back to the UK on the first of October but Andy and Katrine are enjoying Spain. We are in Cadiz today having arrived about lunchtime and had a walk around the city. Below are the various ramblings from the last few days. 24/09 We are just finishing our second day anchored in Alvor and for a change have moved up to anchor outside the town. Yesterday, we left Lagos and payed the eye watering 86 euro for the two nights we spent there. Although we liked it in there, there is very much a feel of it being an English outpost and it was also nice to get to the quiet of the Alvor lagoon. Alvor is only a couple of miles east of Lagos but, so long as you stay near the entrance and on the boat is a world away being very peaceful though busy with kite boarders when the sea breeze picks up. There were a surprising number of boats anchored there including Tala Hinna who we had met in Muxia and then Baiona. She is en route to the Rio Guadiana. Owing to a massive surplus of onions and garlic thanks to the Pingo Doce supermarket and a miscalculation on my part we were able to pass on some spare ones which were gratefully received. Today, we spent most of it ashore exploring Alvor. It is very touristy and much less nice close to than from a distance. We also made a classic mistake of choosing the first cafe to hand when I felt like a coffee without noticing that everything was in English first and then Portuguese. Cue a thin and watery coffee. At least lunch was an enjoyable affair and we had a nice walk amongst the sand dunes in the afternoon. Tomorrow is on for another change at Portimao which will be a fair sized town though we hope to only spend one day in the marina since they seem so expensive on this coast. 25/09 After another very short passage we are anchored in the entrance to Portimao. The anchorage is quite crowded but is a pleasant spot with the light wind we have at the moment. There is lots going on with dinghies sailing around, powerglider things buzzing overhead and cruise ships leaving. Tomorrow we plan to go into the marina, so this should get updated though we are finally going to get the train and bus out to Sagres. 26/09 We finally got around to doing our trip out to Sagres. We put the boat in the marina for security and also because we wanted to do marina like things such as charge up batteries. More on the marina later. We decided to try the train to Lagos and then the bus on from there. I enjoyed the train though it is a bit of a trek from the marina being at the northern side of town and the marina being right near the mouth of the river. Still, we enjoyed the short train ride and picked out where we had anchored in Alvor. As is typical with such trips, the times didn't mesh at all. We started with a one hour wait at Portimou station and then a thirty minute wait at Lagos bus station. Still, we got to Sagres for a latish lunch and had a very nice if rather expensive lunch in a restaurant overlooking the bay where we had anchored five nights previously. We walked out to the Fortress on the point – supposedly a school of navigation set up by Henry the Navigator. It was a bit underwhelming. It is far more likely that the stuff done by Henry was at Lagos and he just had a fort out on the point though of course, there is little way of telling as Drake attacked the fort then the earthquake in the eighteenth century destroyed it completely. Still it was a good spot to visit and the information provided by the visitor center was amusing if badly translated. We had another half hour wait for the bus and then a further half hour wait at Lagos for an onwards bus to Portimau. The marina has not best pleased us here. It is very expensive as they all seem to be along the Algarve being just short of forty euros a night. They don't have free wifi and the toilets are distinctly poorly maintained. We tried to pick up fuel but an unusual easterly had picked up preventing us from tying up so we left and anchored back on the other side of the Rio Arade. The wifi was particularly unhelpful as they would only sell it for a weekly package rather than by the day. One of the things to look at for our continuing cruising will be a local 3G dongle. 04/10 For various reasons I have not had a chance to update this much recently. We are back in Spain and have also had a crew change. Poor Audrey had to fly back home last Saturday but Andy and Katrine are now with me and we have got as far as the Rio Guadiana now. Today we plan to head to Mazagon at the mouth of the Rio de Huelva. The pace is going to be a bit fast till we get to Cadiz which we hope to reach on Thursday by way of Chipiona at the mouth of the Rio Gualdaquivir. It has been nice to get back to Spain simply because I am able to speak more than the three words – bom dia, Obrigado, un ceveja. The young woman in the office here at Ayamonte was staggered that a yotttie should be able to speak any Spanish which I find a bit surprising but there you are. The town of Ayamonte is very nice though it was a bit strange to change time zone with the crossing of a river and there is a very nice big sign by the ferry dock pointing across the river and saying Portugal We really feel to be on the last stages now being less than a hundred and fifty miles from Gibraltar. Once we get to Cadiz it really will be the final stage though we hope to sit still for a bit and visit Jerez de la Frontera. 06/10 We actually managed a bit of sailing today on the way from Mazagon to Chipiona. The forecast was for an easterly-southeast three but we got a bit of a four for a while and the main had it's first outing since the northern rias. Sadly, it didn't last very long and after a couple of hours it was back to the donk. Chipiona is a nice place and we had the thrill of opening out the chart to have the last bit with Gibraltar on it. Tomorrow will be round to Cadiz and a couple of nights there sitting still for a short break. For me the end of the cruise is now looming and we will have less than a hundred miles to cover. As ever, this has led to mixed feelings. At one level, I am really looking forward to getting to the end of this particular adventure and plan for the next one. On the other hand. I will find it very difficult to get back into the normal daily routine. Audrey is back at work already.