Brindabella

We left the anchorage at Baleeira bound for Portimao. This was a short sail along the coast and there was just enough wind to sail.

We entered the harbour and went up the river to view the fishing village, marina, main fishing port and also the ferry terminal. We think the ferry runs to Madeira or the Canary Islands.

We came back to the entrance and anchored off the beach. There were many other yachts at anchor from all nationalities, including the US.

It was our anniversary so we had a bottle of champagne and a BBQ. There is nothing like an evening BBQ off the back of the boat, watching the activity on the river.

That night, a small amount of swell worked its way into the anchorage and made it unpleasant. When there is no wind, a yacht will often lie across the direction of the swell and roll. We were up early the next day and went ashore for a walk and coffee along the cliffs. There were some great views looking back over the river towards Portimao.

The second night we were determined to defeat the swell. Simon set a kedge anchor from the back of the boat which kept the boat pointing into the swell. This worked perfectly and we had a good night's sleep, although the yachts around us were slightly confused in the morning when we were pointing in a different direction to everyone else!

We had now been at anchor for 5 nights including the time at Sines, Baleeira and Portimao, so we decided to go into the marina for a couple of nights to go shopping and restock the boat.

On Tuesday evening we got a water taxi from the marina across to a fishing village for a fish supper. Simon tried a slice off a grouper and Fiona had some prawns. We knew the prawns were going to be large when the waiter asked if Fiona could manage two!

Time: 5:00 hours Miles: 24nm Total Time: 105:00 hours Total Miles: 614nm