Early morning mist on the Rio Guadiana.

Ayamonte had again captured me for a little longer than I planned but it is so easy let one day drift into another. I had one or two small jobs to do anyway. The day after ‘Salara’ arrived Gavin and Geraldine aboard ‘Bonny’ checked in so that was another reason to stay. They were on their way to Albufiera to lay up their yacht for the winter. I planned to haul ‘Salara’ ashore in Faro again at the end of October so until then I had time to spend enjoying the current very pleasant weather and where better to enjoy it than up the Rio Guadiana.
So after spending five days in Ayamonte I paid the mooring fees and left the marina during the afternoon to ride the flood tide up river to the twin towns of Alcoutim and Sanlucar. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky as ‘Salara’ made the three hour trip of twenty miles. I anchored her on the Spanish side of the river just below the town of Sanlucar then I opened a cold beer and sat in the cockpit to enjoy the evening.
‘Salara’ stayed at anchor there for almost two weeks while I read and dozed in the sun after taking my regular walk ashore. My walks were not strenuous, just an hour or so to stretch my legs and gossip with other yachties on the way.
Quite a number of cruisers winter up here and there is an active yachting community among those that are permanently moored in the river. It seems that people come here for a week and stay for a lifetime. However that is not for me.
While I was there I did meet two singlehanders that I had not seen for some years one being Nick Skeates and his ‘Wylo’ and the other Peter Buckle on ‘Vagrant’.
I find that one of the hazards of anchoring in a river is the amount of floating debris that you have to contend with especially during big tides, I was constantly having to clear stuff which had fouled the anchor cable, mostly large rafts of vegetation but one morning I had to contend with half a tree that had parked itself there over the night.
Autumn was approaching, there was mist over the river in the morning and the evenings were getting chilly, so I was aware that I needed to once again make a move while the tides were suitable to return down river to Ayamonte and after a couple of nights there leave for Culatra and thence to the boatyard at Faro where I had now arranged a firm date for haul out on the 31 October.
Early one morning I lifted the anchor thinking as I worked the manual windlass that this will be it’s last season in use as I have ordered a new Lofrans Tigres electric windlass for next season, a sign of my advancing years I suppose. ‘Salara’ made good time riding the ebb downstream and she arrived at Ayamonte a little before low water. The marina has recently been dredged, I had checked the depths when I left to go up river and I reckoned that there would be well over two metres of depth at the entrance, so in we went my tongue in my cheek as we reached the point of total commitment but I need not have worried ‘Salara’ had two and a half metres depth all the way to her allocated berth.
I spent two nights in the marina but bad weather was approaching from the Atlantic so I made up my mind to head along the coast to the Culatra Anchorage in the Ria Formosa before it arrived, I would also be close to the boatyard at Faro for ‘Salara’ to be hauled out.
When ‘Salara’ crossed the bar at the mouth of the river the sea was calm, there was hardly a breath of wind and she motored for the whole of the six hour trip. She arrived at the Faro/Olhau entrance nicely at just after half flood and entered the area of creeks and saltings which comprise the Ria Formosa National Park.
I was surprised to see that there were still quite a few yachts in the anchorage this late in the season but maybe like me they were here to avoid the coming bad weather. The following morning I went ashore to have a walk across the island to the Atlantic coast for some exercise as I knew that after today I would probably be trapped on board ‘Salara’ by the weather. When I returned to ‘Salara’ I prepared for the rough weather by removing the outboard from the dinghy as well as the oars and the clip in seat. I put extra ties on the mainsail and veered ten metres more anchor chain.
Over the next few days the wind increased from the southwest and a succession of thunder storms lashed the anchorage with heavy rain and winds gusting to 30 knots. At times like this I just drink tea, read a book and watch the weather. My main concern is a lightning strike as this would destroy all the electronic equipment on board. I have considered fitting lightning protection but it is easier said than done and is not an exact science anyway.
The wind eventually backed through the south and southeast to settle down into a light easterly, all was calm again and I looked forward to resuming my daily walks. The weather had other ideas of course as the next day the easterly breeze strengthened and the anchorage became very choppy, any dinghy work would have been a very wet affair so apart from one shopping trip I stayed on board for the next few days.
Monday 31 October at 1500 hours was the time that I had arranged for ‘Salara’ to be lifted out of the water for the winter months. I was pleased that morning to see that the weather was kind, the sun was shining and there was a light breeze from the east. I lifted the anchor at half flood tide and steered ‘Salara’ to the top of the Faro Channel where I anchored again for an hour or so to have some lunch. Soon she was on her way again to meet the pilot boat from the boatyard which I then followed up the very narrow, twisting and shallow channel to the hoist bay. She was soon lifted ashore and installed in a steel cradle. I connected the electricity and put the kettle on for a mug of tea. It is always a relief when this operation is over and ‘Salara’ can slumber safely until next summer.