Chillin' in Culatra
12 November 2018
Hm. To Chill: to relax … and … to cool down. Well, Culatra provided both.
There is a huge anchoring area off the island of Culatra, in the Ria Formosa lagoon. The island has a lot of fisherfolk and is also a busy destination for day trippers wanting to enjoy the beautiful beaches on the Atlantic side. There are a few bars/restaurants with very reasonably priced drinks and food.
The weather was mixed and we experienced the fringes of Hurricane Leslie which brought us sustained wind of >35kts while central and northern Portugal experienced loss of electrical power, uprooted trees and extensive flooding. We were anchored in just over 4 metres at HW with 40 metres of chain out. All was well.
Friends Donal and Anne from Northern Ireland were having a week’s break at a nearby resort and we met them for a very nice Portuguese lunch in Olhau. The trip in is short at HW (straight over the drying marsh) and long (>3nm via the channels around the drying marsh). However, it was a fine day and we could enjoy sitting out.
We also joined some 50 people from the Culatra community for an afternoon trip to Faro and the fair where we bought much needed replacement slippers … really, really chillin’.
The hull needed a bit of a clean before we headed for our winter berth at Albufeira, so we donned our wet suits to give the hull a bit of a scrub. With the scuba gear the anode at the end of the propeller shaft was also changed. An hour in the water was enough.