We decided to name the blog after the nickname several people we'd met had given Marina de Lagos. They all call it the "Velcro marina" because it' so hard to leave. We completely agree and have gone further to call Portugal the "Velcro country." It would be so easy to just stay in this wonderfully welcoming country with its amazing people and food. If it were not for the fact that we really want to see the rest of the world, we wouldn't attempt to break the Velcro at all.
Anyway, we arrived back to Lagos with the idea that we'd spend a week or so cleaning the boat up and provisioning for our next adventure - yes, I still have tons of canned goods stored aboard but the fresh food here is amazing. All was going exactly as planned. The boat was in much better shape than we thought, she'd be in, our sails which we took to the sailmaker over a year ago for reconditioning were delivered back to the boat and the package that our dear friends Kathy and Stephanie (who are still promising to come visit us once travel opens up) shipped for us arrived the same day we did. We knew we had a few small jobs but overall, everything was great. I even took almost every stitch of clothing we owned back to our Airbnb to utilize our in-house laundry. We got the boat into the water and into to our slip with no issues. We then decided to turn on the refrigerator to get it cooled down in anticipation of excessive grocery shopping. When we got back to the boat the next morning, our holding plate had expanded and burst. Not such a problem, we thought! We got in touch with the manufacturer and since we were still under warranty, they'd ship us a new one. Well, that ended up taking a little over 2 weeks before they even shipped it and another almost 3 weeks (with one week in customs twice filling out the exact same info they asked for and being charged a storage fee - but don't get me started) before we got it, installed it and found someone who could charge it up. So, what do you do when you're stuck in paradise? You make new friends, meet back up with old ones, learn a new craft and explore the area.
So, we've told you already about the Lagos Ferry Cats with whom we fell in love. Well, last year Joyce, one of the caregivers of the cats, did us a huge favor by making and delivering some homemade goodies to the boatyard in our name. The boatyard loved it. So, I asked her if we could meet so that I could thank her in person. Well, I fell in love at first sight! She absolutely adorable with a heart that's bigger than she is. Originally from the UK, she's lived in Lagos area - she just moved a little away from town to an amazing country estate - for about 7 years. In addition to stray cats, she also apparently takes in stay sailors. We were invited to her house for afternoon tea, we met several times for lunch or just a coffee and she even took us to a neighboring town for "crazy golf." She also decorated our boat with a picture that her artist husband Malcolm painted (it's the lighthouse above our beloved grottos) and knitted us some ferry cats of our own. We had so much fun with her and know we'll meet up again sometime.
Finally, we were almost ready to leave, when we realized that the starting battery that was installed was too small. Rather than wait an extra day for delivery, we decided to just take the train to Faro (about an hour and a half away) and bring it back. We got to the train station to find that the workers were on strike but that minimal essential service was running. So, we were able to get a train there but had to catch an Uber home. It was still worth it to get the battery installed sooner and be ready to go.
We awoke the next morning, excited to start our sailing adventures and the engine wouldn't start. Ugh!!! We waited awhile for the batteries to get up to full charge and got her started. We decided that since we were close, we would go back into the docks at the boatyard to see what was wrong. Well, we found out that our starter was out. We spent one more night at the boatyard dock and got to enjoy the company of new friends one last time. The next morning, Pedro managed to change out the starter and we were again on our way!!
Our first stop was Portimao. While it was only about a 6-mile sail, it was our first sail in almost 18 months so we were in heaven. We anchored just inside the inlet and enjoyed another relaxing and quiet evening.
The next morning, we set sail for Isha da Culatra and Olhao. The sail was about 30 miles and it was mostly downwind. We got to use our spinnaker for only the second time ever and the first time in about 2 years. It was wonderful. We found a great anchorage and took our dinghy over to the island where we walked around town and out to its beautiful beach. It's such an adorable little town and the beach stretched on for miles. We then rode over to the town of Olhao to find someplace for lunch. We happened onto an amazing restaurant recommended by a patron who was sitting at an outside table. Well, as you can imagine, we struck up a conversation and the next thing we knew, we were invited back in his house so that he and Pedro could play guitar together!
As usual, I took way too many pictures to upload, so here's a link if you want to see more.
So, as I type this, we are back on the boat anchored just outside of Isha da Culatra enjoying our (we think) last Portuguese harbor. We plan to set sail first thing tomorrow for Ayamonte, Spain. It's only about 20 miles so we should get there pretty quickly! But we'll fill you in that next time!
Until next post!
