Our buddies Maggie and Bill Rose were the next crew to navigate international travel rules and join us aboard Ithaka. We were super happy to see them, and they gave us a great excuse to tour our favorite spots along the Algarve coast one last time before we head offshore to Madeira. They were going to travel for an extra week after our sail, so they had a little more baggage than we are used to...
... but we managed to fit it all in! It's amazing what you can cram into a 41 foot sailboat.

We spent our first night anchored behind Isla Culatra, where we had been several times before. This time was our favorite... the summertime crowds had dissipated and it felt like we had miles of beach to ourselves.

After a swim and a "lazy river" float with the ebbing tide, we headed back to the boat for an amazing sunset, and a beer.
Our next stop was Ayamonte Spain, where Maggie jumped about 2 feet in the air after one of the local statues turned out to be alive...

...Then up the Rio Guadiana one last time. Once again we made it under the bridge with our mast intact and had a wonderful early morning cruise up the river.
We explored the forts on both sides of the river. This part of the Portuguese/Spanish border was a contested lawless area from the Moorish times through numerous Spanish/Portuguese conflicts.


In the 1800s and early 1900s it was an area where bootleggers operated outside of the watchful eye of the authorities. The locals have adopted this as part of their identity, with statues celebrating the outlaws and an annual Festival do Contrabando (Smuggler's Festival).


After a day in Alcoutim and Sanlucar, we headed back down the river on the ebbing tide and anchored for a quiet night near the bridge. We assembled our spare fortress anchor and set it out with a stern line to keep the keel from wrapping around the anchor in the changing currents.

This was another adventure in anchoring... it took some serious tugging and a dose of backache medicine to get the stern anchor off the bottom in the morning. But up it came eventually, and we were off to a last night in Culatra and a cruise along the coastal caves the following day.


On our last night at dinner in Lagos we realized that we have been adventuring together for 40 years, since meeting in Denver in 1981. Thanks for joining us M&B! We are looking forward to lots more adventures together.

Note: the luggage came out of the boat a lot easier than it went in :)