28/09/2009 by admin.

The run from Lagos round to Portimao on the 23rd September was very short, less than 8 miles, but we took some time out to do some fishing and sightseeing along the coast, sailing into Portimao just after2 .
Portimao sits at the entrance to the river Arade, and is surrounded by plenty of sandy beaches, some of them within the harbour walls. Having tied up in the marina, John and I took the tender over to the east side of the river to Ferraguda where there is a little restaurant that specialises in sardines cooked on a BBQ on the quayside. The sardines were the tastiest fish I have eaten in a long time. John then decided we should check out the adjacent beach which we duly did. We eventually stumbled across a bar just up the beach, reminiscent of the soggy dollar bar in the BVI’s, only this was the soggy euro bar. John had thoughtfully come equipped with a soggy 10 euro note which we managed to stretch into 3 rounds of beer while we sat in cane chairs and put the world to right.
On Thursday, we dusted off the golf clubs, and headed over to Lagos for a warm-up game of golf . The course was a big building site as they were building another 18 hole course alongside the existing one, but we still managed to get a good game in. On Thursday night we drove over to Faro airport to pick up Nick, our eldest son, who was taking a well-earned rest to join us for the weekend.
Friday was the highlight of the trip so far, so far as I can remember it. We started with another game of golf at Morgado , followed by some sunbathing and swimming at the seawater pool in the marina. After a few tequila sunrises at the pool bar, we headed off for dinner to the fish restaurant in Ferraguda for another session of sardines and vino blanco. Nick then decided we should sample the delights of the Praia de Rocha, a strip of bars, restaurants and nightclubs next door to the marina. Without going into too much detail, there was some karaoke, a visit to a casino and several hours drinking in an Irish bar . We ended up sitting right next to the entertainment, an Irish folk singer who seemed to have an uncanny ability to sink a pint of Guinness in one, followed by a shot, several times throughout the night. His singing was not quite so good, but I’m sure he appreciated the words of encouragement from the 3 of us at various stages of the night. The walk back to the boat in the early hours of the morning was eventful, with each of us managing to get separated although we all met up back at the entrance to the marina. I was first at the gate, and had thoughtfully ensured that the gate was open for my crew, by falling asleep leaning against the gate. 
The following day, Saturday , we were off for another game of golf. The 9 o’clock tee off time had seemed a great idea when booked the day before, but there were grave misgivings in the car as we drove out to the course . My first drive off the first tee, sending the ball whistling off a good, oh, 8 yards in the general direction of the green was another sign that it was going to be a long and painful game of golf. John retired to the clubhouse after the 5th hole having lost the will to live, leaving Nick and I to complete the front 9 before calling it a day and returning with John to the marina. More sunbathing and swimming followed on Sunday before I drove John and Nick back to Faro airport for their flight back to the UK. A great weekend had by all.
Chris

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28/09/2009 by admin.

Tuesday 22nd September saw us heading down the Portuguese coast and round Cape Sao Vicente to Lagos in the Algarve. It was a hot sunny day, with not a breath of wind, so we motor-sailed all the way round. It was a 76 mile run, so we didn’t get in to Lagos until 6 that evening. We were well chilled out by the time we tied up to the reception pontoon in Lagos marina, about 0.5 km up the river Bensafrim. I left John on board and went in to the marina reception to complete the paperwork and get a berth assigned. The lady at the desk asked me which yacht we were, and I turned around and pointed back at Fizz, and then saw with a horrible sinking feeling that we had left the mainsail up. For those who are not familiar with sailing etiquette, it is , to say the least, very unusual to bring a yacht in to a marina and moor her with the mainsail still up. I nonchalantly completed the formalities as quickly as possible, and legged it back to the boat. We furled the main, and motored round to the berth at the far end of the marina. As we came alongside, we were greeted by helping hands from the boat next door. It turned out it was one of the crew’s birthday, and we had barely finished tying up when we were given a large piece of birthday cake and a glass of vino blanco.
We had an uneventful run ashore in Lagos that night and headed off for the short trip to Portimao on Wednesday 23rd.

Chris

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28/09/2009 by admin.

Fizz in Sines
John Absalom and I sailed from Cascais down to Sines , pronounced ‘Cinch’ on the 21st September. It’s about 56 miles south of Lisbon and is a large commercial port with a small marina tucked into a corner. The sail down was good, with 20-25 knots of breeze from the north, so we had a good run gull-winged with the main and genoa. As we got in quite late, after 7, we secured the boat and went ashore for something to eat. We had met up with Steve, the Welsh skipper from Neath while in Cascais, and he had recommended a restaurant called the Castelaria in Sines as being a great simple restaurant with great local food, including a local speciality called black pork steak. We eventually found the restaurant after climbing a hill on top of which was a castle with the Castelaria restaurant right next door. It was a great little place, a bit like someone’s front room, and all the tables were full. However, the waitress managed to squeeze us in sharing a table with a lady who we decided was called Lola. No-one in the restaurant spoke English, so everything was done with sign language. We weren’t sure if the proprietor was trying to fix one of us up with Lola, but he kept coming over, pointing at her and giving the thumbs up. We ordered the locally caught Dorade, (we decided not to try the black pork) which was really good, simply cooked and very tasty. This was followed up with a local version of crème caramel and washed down with a cheap bottle of vino blanco. We finished off with a large slug of ruby port. We paid the bill, less than 20 euros each, and then the proprietor came over and filled up our glasses with another healthy slug of port on the house. Maybe he thought this would make Lola look more attractive. She was now waiting outside the restaurant at the entrance, so it was with some trepidation that we beat a hasty retreat and scuttled back to the marina. I was tempted to send Taffy up to the restaurant to try his luck with Lola, but thought that might be a little unfair on Lola. She was certainly lonely but she wasn’t desperate.
The following day we made an early start for the long run round Cape Sao Viscente and into Lagos in the Algarve.
Chris

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