The blog has been a bit sporadic recently as we have actually been very busy in Vilamoura, visiting the Algarve. Mum W came down from Scotland for a visit - it was lovely to see her. She has had many years of visiting the Algarve so was very happy to be back, as well as taking a break from the dreich Scottish autumn weather. We were also very happy to avail ourselves of her hotel pool and surroundings for some lovely chill time. She flew home yesterday and so now we are on our own - but not for long. After dropping her at the airport we nipped up to Lagos in the hire car to pick up the eight big spare fuel cans we had ordered from the marina chandlery there, and to spend a happy hour in the specialist fishing shop. A trip that takes all day in the boat is covered in an hour in the car.

We left Vilamoura this morning for a short motor down the coast to Faro. To reach the anchorage at Faro you need to come up through the winding narrow channel of the Ria Formosa – it’s a bit like Chichester Harbour with lots of hidden, shifting sandbanks and strong tides. Ah, the joys of shallow draft freedom. We are currently anchored off Faro town waiting to see just how easy it will be to get ashore in the dinghy.

We have come here to meet Tim and Oonagh – friends from G’s London days and also our hosts when we visited Gibraltar on our first holiday together in 2004, which does not really seem all that long ago.

We also plan to pick up Steve and Bibi here when they fly in to Faro next week to join us for the trip to the Canaries and then the ARC itself. We are currently watching the weather carefully as we try to pick a suitable window for the 550-mile crossing to the Canaries. It is being made a bit complicated by the long distance weather effects of Hurricane Ophelia.