As always we had one eye on the weather. Only 125 miles now from Portimao, our destination in the Algarve, the journey would be difficult to complete without some sailing at night, even if we stopped along the way. Since being in Portuguese waters we had to keep a constant lookout for pot marker buoys. They were everywhere, sometimes even in surprisingly deep areas. This put us off night passages, however at least if we could sail, rather than motoring, the risk of fouling the propellor was removed.
Although the winds were relatively light, they were still generally Northerly, but with some stronger Southerlies predicted in the next week we picked the best looking day and set off South at noon.
We made good mileage motor sailing until dark at 7 pm, then settled for an intentionally slow downwind 13 hour sail. The combination of big swell and light winds, particularly when directly from astern, makes for boom swinging and sails flapping. At night that is alarming - can be dangerous! We therefore opted to set only the genoa and let the Hydrovane (Noddy) do the steering.
This worked very well. At one stage we gybed the genoa but as the wind shifted from NW to NE "Noddy" steered a curved course but maintained boat speed throughout and therefore comfort.
We had the most wonderful display of stars and a nearly full moon in a clear sky; never really dark at all. A classic night sail, the unnerving water noises and shadows of bigger waves stalking, assuaged by the confident progress of the boat.....just tucking them under her stern as the steering vane nodded and paddled incessantly.
The seas built as we approached Cape St Vincent - a significant milestone for seafarers as we now turned East toward the Mediterranean.
As light broke the wind died and we motored the last few miles round the headland into an entirely different realm. The flat seas below the high red cliffs of the Algarve and the dolphins welcomed us as the sun climbed to toast us in more ways than one!
On their way into Lagos our German friends on Pilgrim with Freda the dog came alongside. We had been unaware that they were doing the same overnight route, amazing that after meeting in La Coruna months before now 400 miles South we arrived in the Algarve within minutes.
As we motored the last few miles along the coast we could see the lovely beaches, cliffs and caves that we hoped would provide day sail destinations during our stay. Portimao put on its sunniest face to receive us and we celebrated the arrival and a constant address for the winter months.
Malibu is now 1,100 miles South of Troon, we have logged 1,927 nautical miles.