To the End of the World and then Four more Miles

Taking advantage of some excellent wind on the Portuguese coast we left Porto in the afternoon after stocking up on all our fresh fruit and vegetable essentials. Hoping to sail directly to Lisbon, we were very pleased to maintain just over a 6kt average on our 175nm journey through the night.  It was great fun navigating against the current up the river on our way into Lisbon passing many of the city's famous landmarks on its banks.

One of our top priorities in Lisbon was refilling our gas bottles which had lasted us since we left Germany and we were lucky to find a service doing just that.  With the kitchen once again fully equipped we ended our quick tour in Lisbon and rode the current out to head for the southwest corner of Portugal, Cabo San Vicente, through the night. We were once again able to maintain a 6kt average and enjoy the many shooting stars filling the sky on this very clear night.

Rounding the point in the late morning, we experienced the characteristic local effect of the wind for this area and saw 6kts of apparent wind quickly increase to above 30. Taking down the foresail and reefing the main twice we were still able to maintain a good speed on our way to anchor within the breakwater of Sagres.

We rested for a few hours expecting the wind to die down enough for us to take the dinghy to shore, but we didn't have such luck and instead spent a much needed afternoon of relaxation on board with the anchor holding strong in the strong wind.

Leaving Sagres in the early morning we saw the persistent wind quickly decrease as we moved farther away from the point. In the late morning it even lulled enough for us to swim from the boat, and we then put up the 80 percent spinnaker to continue towards Faro at around 8kts.

Just before entering the sandbanks along the Ria Formosa we reduced to just the number 3 foresail to enjoy navigating slowly through these winding channels to the fishing village of Olhão at sunset.

Lenny and Chiara joined the crew in the evening, and in the morning we enjoyed the excellent local market before moving to an anchorage within the dunes to enjoy some lunch and swimming. With a closer look at the weather forecast and feeling the increasing wind we decided our best option to cross into the Mediterranean would be to sail through the night once again.

So, we took up the anchor in the evening and sailed out of the channels experiencing the outgoing current meeting the incoming waves to make fun breakers as we left the river and headed toward the Strait of Gibraltar arriving late the following afternoon with the spinnaker.

Seeing the wind was a little stronger in the Alboran Sea we took down the spinnaker before passing Tarifa and rode on the current at more than 7kts through the strait where we were delighted by the views of the mountains in Spain and Morocco.  We celebrated the Goden Wind's arrival in the Mediterranean with another salty baptism of this very salty sea.

Arriving at La línea de la Concepción, we passed many large tankers refueling and dolphins swimming in the bay by Gibraltar, and spent a day to rest and explore this interesting monkey covered rock in the sea.