Faro Day

When we woke the wind had gone and there was condensation all on the day. It was still and no one else was awake in the other boats. It looked so inviting that it seemed fit the first time a good opportunity for a swim. Mark and Jon went in and I did eventually. It was quite cold and I did get used to it. It certainly does wake you up for the day. (tweezers and magnifying glass required!!)

Following breakfast we put on the sun hatch covers and raised the spinnaker (which we have not had out before) as there was no wind. It was in a good condition which was good and it will be very useful as a reaching sail.

One we had done our jobs we were off to Faro. Initially there was no wind and we kept close to shore which meant we saw the lovely cliffs, caves and grottos which were populated by kayaks, canoes and paddle boards together with the tourist boats. The sandstone colours are beautiful and you realise how dependent the locals are on tourism these few months of the summer. We shall return to enjoy for ourselves.

The wind came up and so did the sails and we were soon bombing along and keeping close inshore. There were not many other sailing boats around.

 After about 5 hours the wind dropped and we were back to the devil in the bilge. After about a further hour we entered the Faro lagoon entrance where the water was disturbed due to the tide. We now had to navigate and meander through narrow channels on a receding tide towards Faro town. Each buoy is numbered like green 10 or red 15 so we ticked off the buoys as we passed so we knew where we were. Eventually we could go no further due to the depth as we draw (i.e. Keel 2.5-2.7m) and we anchored in about 4 m so we had little underneath us. However it was calm and no issue.

We got the dinghy and outboard out and whizzed the mile through little channels in the marshes to the marina to drop Jon off

We are we’re now 2 and returned for a delicious supper of fresh mackerel. The calm before the others arrive.