Olhâo – Ilha Culatra 3,3 nm
After checking out of Olhâo, we travel just a few miles through the Ría Formosa and drop anchor. We anchored again off Culatra, but this time a little further east than during our last visit in May. In the meantime, an anchorage prohibition zone had been established, so there wasn’t much space left in front of the village. No matter, we have a large dinghy and can quickly cover the distance to shore. Today, however, we are staying on board for the time being, as the wind is blowing strongly and creating unpleasant waves. Fortunately, it calms down again towards evening and we are treated to another unique natural spectacle. The sun sinks dramatically, glowing red behind vanilla-purple clouds, only to make way for a still very full moon on the other side.
The next morning starts off just as beautifully as the last day ended. The sun creeps over the horizon, glowing red, waking not only Lucky and me, but also numerous seabirds, which fly across the sky, chattering loudly. As usual, I sit in the cockpit in the morning with a glass of water and coffee, enjoying the moment. However, today it’s freezing cold! After months of wearing shorts and a top, I feel compelled to throw on a cardigan. How unpleasant! Well, maybe I’m just getting soft? At 7:30 a.m., the thermometer still reads 18.5 °C. And luckily, it’s supposed to warm up to around 30° again in the next few days. So there’s hope that autumn in Portugal will be a little late in coming. Around noon, it’s warm enough for us and we get our rubber boat ready for a trip to the beach. First, we try the sandbank behind our stern, but get stuck far before reaching the beach. So, on our second attempt, we go around the sandbank and the seahorse sanctuary. We quickly refuel and are ready to land. We walk a little along the deserted beach and discover a folding chair and a sea urchin shell. Numerous mini fish are swimming in the shallow water. Unfortunately, we don’t see any seahorses. On our return, the rubber dinghy, which we had pulled as far up the beach as possible, is already floating again. On the way back to La Ola, we stop at the German yachts Alkyone and Gondwana and have a quick chat with each of them. We are back on board just in time for siesta. The rest of the day passes leisurely with reading, practicing the ukulele, and cooking delicious food. We have a lovely Greek bowl with lots of salad and pork fillet gyros. Mmmhhh!
After another peaceful night, we start the day with light cloud cover. We decide to stay off Culatra for another day and just laze around. Fortunately, no one is rushing us. What a luxury to just lie there and enjoy the anchorage. Meanwhile, a huge school of fish has made itself comfortable under our hulls. We probably offer the fish good protection from birds and fishermen. Well, at least as long as we don’t get an appetite for fish! Or a dolphin comes by!!! As we sit in the front cockpit in the late afternoon and enjoy the perfect early evening atmosphere, I spontaneously remark that the only thing missing now is dolphins. Five minutes later, they are there. As if on cue. A large school of bottlenose dolphins approaches our bow. Once again, we are thrilled and glad that we stayed anchored here for another day. The group swims around the boats and passes us by. In the end, they even jump acrobatically out of the water and thrill us even more. After such a perfect end to the day, even a miserable dinner can’t dampen our spirits. Unfortunately, our attempt to eat ready-made pulled pork fails completely in terms of taste. Oh well…
Ihla Culatra – Canal do Faro 5,1 nm
The next day, we spontaneously postpone our onward journey because we have unexpectedly arranged to meet up with friends from our old home town. Although it’s not until the following afternoon, we are of course happy to take the time! To make sure the meeting goes ahead, we quickly move from our anchorage off Ilha Culatra around the corner to the Canal do Faro. Fortunately, „our“ anchorage from last time is still free. Before we weigh anchor, however, we first have to do some thorough cleaning. The anchor chain comes up covered in a thick layer of mud and has to be laboriously hosed down before it can be stowed in the anchor locker. The mud is very reminiscent of the mud pack that Svea and I enjoyed a few days ago. The anchorage off Faro is still affected by loud aircraft noise, but otherwise it is very sheltered and „quiet.“ After our much tastier dinner today (tortellini salad), we take part in the usual evening event, „sunset,“ and enjoy a glass of wine. As soon as the sun goes down, however, it gets noticeably chilly. A mere 23°C prompts us to sit in the cockpit with a blanket. Personally, I’ve even thought about where I actually stowed my down jacket on the boat last year! Joking aside, we are too used to warm temperatures and first have to get used to cooler evenings again. Hopefully we will succeed, because we already found the current temperatures in northern Germany to be summery hot.
Is it the weekend already?! The days at anchor pass so pleasantly that you actually forget to look at the calendar and the days of the week no longer matter. Of course, we know that today is Friday! But it doesn’t really matter to us anymore. We are also aware that we are enjoying a real luxury. It’s good to be brought back to real life and meet up with friends and former colleagues. Sanni and Ulf are on a tour of Portugal and have a free afternoon in Faro today. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet up. Axel founded his company together with Sanni’s father almost forty years ago. He has known Sanni for much longer, and we are delighted to see them both here in Portugal so unexpectedly. So at noon, we set off for Faro in the dinghy. We park at the jetty and walk into the pedestrian zone. We sit down at the agreed meeting point in the Mãe Violante restaurant and pass the waiting time with a delicious octopus salad. Then Sanni and Ulf come around the corner and we have an hour to chat. All too soon, the time is up and the two of them have to return to their bus and tour group. Axel and I go to buy some fresh groceries and then it’s back on board. We enjoy the evening sunset with a sundowner on the upper deck, accompanied by loud live music from Faro. Taste is a matter of opinion, and we wonder how anyone can stand the volume – after all, we can still hear every word a few kilometers away. Add to that a little aircraft noise. Of course, I only mention this so you don’t get too jealous of us!
The morning begins for Lucky and me at 6:30 a.m. and starts once again with a spectacular sunrise. It’s actually amazing. When you have to get up at 6:30 a.m. because you have to go to work, it’s usually very difficult. At least for me, anyway. But for a beautiful sunrise, it’s easy. And right now, every sunrise here is simply beautiful, and the colors keep you in a good mood all day long. Axel, on the other hand, stays in bed for two to three hours longer and unfortunately misses the morning colors. But there are usually photos. Today, however, I was too lazy to take one. Since the weather has now decided that we shouldn’t sail any further, we’re staying anchored in Canal do Faro for another day. We’re using the day to get the sewing machine out again. Axel would like UV protection for our water filters. Currently, we are using the filter housing’s packaging box for this purpose, which, firstly, does not look very stylish and, secondly, is now quite soggy and dilapidated. So, the sewing machine emerges from the depths of the guest cabin. I brought the drive belt, which had completely crumbled during the last attempt, with me as a spare part from my visit to Germany. Now, however, I’m struggling with the bobbin for the lower thread. It’s not working properly and it takes a while before I finally persuade the sewing machine to make a decent seam. In the meantime, Axel measures the cardboard box, which will serve as a template for a bag. While we are still thinking about how to deal with seam allowances, etc., I remember that we still have a bag from our sewing days on Hello World on board. We quickly find it and are amazed to discover that it actually fits perfectly as a cover for the filter housing. The only thing missing is a matching lid. We quickly measure it and I sew a more or less stylish lid for the bag. After some consideration, we decide against another sewing project, shading for our deck hatches. The hatches are too thin and too tightly fitted for us to attach a cover with elastic. So our to-do list for the day is quickly completed and we can once again listen to the noise of the planes and, later, the live music from shore.
Canal do Faro – Ihla Deserta 3,5 nm
I know I’m repeating myself. But what can I say? Sunday morning starts with another beautiful sunrise. I just love getting up early in the morning with the first light of day and enjoying the spectacle of colors. The morning tranquility is only interrupted by birds chirping and the occasional roar of an outboard motor from an early angler. Hours later, we have breakfast in the cockpit. Then it’s time to „get to work.“ The sewing machine and all the accessories have to be stowed away again. Today is also laundry day. Thanks to solar power and lithium batteries, the washing machine works perfectly even when we’re at anchor. However, we still try not to run it too often when we’re anchored. At the moment, we manage one load in a week and a half. In the past, when we lived in the country, we easily managed three times that amount. Of course, this is also because we mostly walk around in bikinis and swimsuits and don’t wear thick, bulky clothes. After hanging the laundry up to dry in the cockpit, we raise the anchor again and sail around the corner. We haven’t visited Ilha Deserta yet, and the anchorage is strategically well located for tomorrow’s planned continuation of the journey. No sooner said than done, we drop anchor again with a view of the entrance to the Ría Formosa between Ihla Farol and Ilha Deserta. A little later, we take the dinghy to Ihla Deserta, where we take a short walk to the beach. We pass old fishermen’s huts, which look quite dilapidated but are being used by a group for a cheerful barbecue and relaxation. We continue to the ferry terminal and the Estamine restaurant. We saw a report about the restaurant on TV a few years ago. After the original restaurant burned down, it was rebuilt as a completely self-sufficient establishment and designed in a very modern crab shape. We’re not hungry at the moment, but we want to go back there for a meal sometime. We continue along the channel between the islands to the port light and the beach. The latter is characterized by beautiful, clear water and a manageable number of bathers. We turn around and walk back along a wooden plank path through the dunes to the dinghy. Then we’re back on board and enjoy the afternoon sun in the front cockpit. In the evening, we grill another steak and then, after a long time without TV, we treat ourselves to the new Tatort from Nuremberg on ARD.
After exploring the Ria Formosa extensively, we now continue towards the western Algarve.