Vilamoura - of Booze and Barbecues

Following a beautiful sunset and a meal with our new friends we decided the time was right to move on.  The day dawned still, clear and calm but with enough hint of a breeze that we readied ourselves to go.  Relieved in the knowledge that Mike and Ann had got their connection to the internet sorted out we set off to Vilamoura, wondering whether we would encounter Roxi, Zephyrus or Lycka there.

We weighed anchor at 1145 and the nervous feeling I get when we first set off after an enjoyable stop somewhere, was soon dispelled as the sails went up and the engine went off.  It was a southwesterly force 3 and we trickled along happily, unsure of our speed since the log must have grown a few barnacles during our stop in Ferragudo!  It was only a short hop though, about 20 miles and so we knew we would arrive in Vilamoura in daylight before the office shut.  We guessed our speed and then Chris checked using the GPS.  At about four knots the journey would take five hours.  We eyeballed our way along the coast, past cliffs and caves carved by thousands of years of wave action.  We overtook "Mallard" which had left Portimao a little while before us, giggling at the name of their wind-generator - "Turbulator".  The rocky cliffs turned a darker red colour as we approached our destination and it took us a while to pick out the moles at the entrance.  It looked very "Hotelville" but we needed to catch up with the chores so we headed in.  A harbour official of some sort greeted us on the reception pontoon and he appeared to ask us if we had "Come for the chicken?"  We looked at each other, somewhat bemused by the question until he indicated the "Check In" area!  The receptionist was less welcoming and a bit officious but got the job done.  We were disappointed to find that if we wanted to plug into the electrics we would have to wire up a plug which they charge for!  So, we opted to go without, thankful that the solar panel was going to be adequately fed by the hot Algarve sunshine.  One advantage of staying on the anchorage those few extra days was the fact that we have reached October and the start of the low season rates in the Marina!

In the past we have found marinas to be, on the whole, less sociable places than anchorages.  Half a dozen ‘yotties’ anchored in close proximity in a beautiful anchorage get to know each other quite quickly, but the same bunch of boats spread at random amongst local yachts in a six hundred berth marina have as much chance of bumping into each other as finding yourself berthed next door to the Queen.  So, we were very pleasantly surprised to find ourselves on the same pontoon as two other British yachts, one heading for the Med’ and the other about to cross the Atlantic.  A barbeque with the crew of ‘Fai of Arne’ and a rather boozy games evening on La Premiere, with the crews of ‘Fai of Arne’ and ‘Kasara’ followed.