We finally got re-launched on Monday morning after a last minute rush to sort out the broken screw on the anode. The guy from Bluewater Algarve was still drilling it out for us as the slings were put around Splice. All our efforts to twist it out had failed and we didn’t have the kit to drill and recreate the thread (another tool to purchase!!) We held the lift up for about 15 minutes but we are fully ‘anoded’ (if that’s a word).
We spent a comfortable night in the bay at Portimao and then set off early for Tavira as it’s around 53 miles. We had a great sail for most of the day, starting with 12knots of wind from the port quarter. With the big genniker out we were doing 7.5knots as Splice revelled in having a clean bottom and un-furred props. During the morning the wind gradually dropped until we were often only making 2 knots and Chris was getting twitchy as there was still a long way to go. We put the fishing lines out at this speed, but as normal nothing decided to bite. We just relaxed for a few hours as the wind came and went, giving us short bursts of speed. In the end we started the engines for the last hour or so as time was getting on. The entry into Tavira was fine though inside there are sand-banks and lots of craft to watch for. We squeezed Splice into the last space in the main anchorage, there was just enough space to swing clear of the next boat. It’s a busy place and local craft came past at high speed all the time with the fishing boats adding to the wash at night.
The next day we went ashore and walked the 2 kilometres to the town. Carolyn talked the yacht Club into letting us use their pontoon but they weren’t keen and would have preferred us to pull the dinghy all the way up their slip but it’s too heavy for the two of us to do that. The causeway to Tavira is being repaired so there’s lots of dust and single file traffic roaring past, not much fun but you do walk past the old salt pans where there is a lot of bird life and we did see some flamingos on our way into town. The town was nice enough and we wandered round and had a coffee before returning to the boat. We chatted to Alan aboard another UK boat and had our meal on board.
We waited until 2.00pm the next day for the right time to leave so as to arrive in Ayamonte in Spain with the right depth of water in the river. Only two hours away a quick motor-sail brought us to the River Guadiana. The entrance was fine and the approach up the river to the marina straightforward. The marina entry is tricky, there is a green buoy marking a shoal to starboard, the tide runs strongly across the entrance and there is limited depth in the marina. Always call on Ch 09 before entering, we heard lots of stories of people running aground. The marina is fine though the facilities are a bit basic, though there is a laundry. At E55 per night it was not the most expensive place we have been and the entry formalities from Portugal were simple.

The town of Ayamonte is very nice, lots of bars and restaurants many serving tapas and a relaxed very family oriented feel to the place. We wandered the streets and bars for a while, had a drink in a cafe on the main square and settled for tapas in a place backing onto the church steps.
On Friday we were busy shopping and stocking up from the supermarket nearby and trying again to find someone to alter our outboard davit. Another failure but the chandlery by the port were very helpful and everyone recommends them. We did manage to get a SIM for the iPad from the Orange shop, 2 gig for 10 Euros.
That evening Bruce and Caroline from ‘Flirtie’ came onboard for a drink at 6.30pm. As is often the case, when sailors get talking, we were still drinking beer/wine and putting the’ boaty world’ to rights at 9.30pm that night. Strangely, when we looked at their blog later, there was Splice in the background of a shot of them launching at Portimao whilst we were back in England recently. The evening finished with a quick barbeque of lamb kebabs... very tasty.
We had planned to take a trip up the Guadiana River but there is a bridge just above the marina. The height in the pilot books is given as 20 meters which would be fine for us at low water as another couple of metres clearance would be available. Later notes however say only 18m with both measured from different water heights, the potential for confusion is high and as we are 18.95m ‘air draft’ it’s all a bit tight – we decided to pass on this and will move on down the coast to the east.
Saturday brought more shopping and we acquired some canvass to make a sunshade. Whilst we have a bimini over the top, the sun can be very strong later in the day and a moveable side sunshade will be a great addition. Caroline had let slip the previous night that she had a sewing machine on board so she was commissioned to provide the stitching expertise. Work is ongoing in the cockpit as I type this. Shade and cold beer – what more could a sailor want!
We plan to relax tomorrow as some stronger winds go through and then head off towards Chipiona on Monday.

Photo of Caroline and Carolyn working on the sunshade in Splice’s cockpit.