Southern Portugal to the Canaries

After Lisbon we visited Setubal estuary which had been highly recommended. We tried two places there, firstly an anchorage under the 'Forte da Arrabida' and then in the marina at Troia. Both were disappointing. From there we sailed south and had a close encounter with a military exercise before anchoring at Sines.

Sines was the last stop on the West coast so next we rounded the south west corner of Portugal, just missing the unfriendly Orca's ( a boat behind us sent out a Mayday call and lost their rudder. They must have been within 35nm of us). After a windy evening anchored off Baleeira we made it to Lagos for some R&R. The town was civilised and remarkably upmarket, the happy hours were everywhere and the quality of the cafe performers was exceptional (imo).

Ellen and the girls arrived whilst Paul and Sue stepped away from the boat for a few days. The girls sailed to Alvor, Albufeira and Culatra before their final stop in Olhão, next to Faro. Here we did the crew change with the girls flying home and Paul, Sue and Tjerk joining the boat. We spent our last night in mainland Europe anchored off Culatra.

The following morning, once the breeze started to fill in, we set off for the Canaries

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