Faro to Rio Guardiana

Sunday 6th August 2006

Fliss……………….

Yesterday we left Ila Da Cultra bound for Tariva which only around 17 miles absolutely no wind at all but we decided not to put the engine on and to just gently bob.

Around 5 miles off Ilha Da Cultra we “bobbed” into beautiful clear water (about 2.5mtrs). We decided to drop anchor and go for a swim. It was the 1st time we could clearly see how the anchor worked as it slowly twisted round and one of it’s flukes dug into the sand.

There was some tide so we tied a line and a fender to the boat and laid it out behind to give peace of mind to not so strong swimmers (me).

The water was lovely clear and warm but there wasn’t really that much to see apart from a few shells.

Pete dived down to the keel and I think was concerned that the water was getting shallower. I checked the depth and it had gone down to 2.4mtrs so up anchor, we were off again.

During the passage I decided to try my hand at making bread, I followed the instructions, clearly (I don’t usually do this) and for an hour nothing happened, it didn’t rise! I kept scrutinising it through the glass bowl willing it to bring forth great bounties and hey presto it eventually worked!!!!!! I stuffed the bread with Chorizo (like salami) olives, sun dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese. I made Bobby rolls stuffed with sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan. They were instantly scoffed and declared an all round success, the meat, olives & tomatoes seeped into the bread, they were delicious. I must admit I was a amazed as normally I’m a bit of a failure at bread making…. Who knows with this new skill, I could be a master baker when I get home.

I also made the St Lucia curtsey flag, really labour intensive! Cut out the flag, hem all the way round, draw in the detail (really just three triangles symbolising the volcanic island amid a blue sea with three central mountains) and colour in with blue, black and yellow. The flag was chosen 1979 after a local held competition.

We arrived at Tariva at around 5:30pm.

Out went the hammock. I spent a good hour and a half gently swinging as our dinner was left over Shepherd’s pie so Robyn & Pete prepared the rest, it was my night off! Mind you I still had to wash up.







Robyn in the hammock







Later on (around 9ish) Pete decided it was his turn. I don’t think life could have got any better for him as he was served vodka & orange juice (with a cocktail umbrella for effect) soft relaxing music & just gently swinging. The expression “The cat who got the cream” springs to mind!!

Bobby has just been for a swim and saw a flat fish with spots on it’s back.

Later on this morning we’ll venture into Tariva.

Anyway enough from me, hope all are well!

Pete……………..

Not a lot to add. I took the snorkelling-break as an opportunity to scrape more grass off the propeller. It’s amazing how much it grows and how it manages to hang-on when the prop is turning.

I also prepared the oar that split the other day and glued and clamped it. We shall see if it holds together today. Unfortunately, the wood is saturated in salt and I think that this reduces the adhesion.

The fresh-water pump gave-up the ghost last night. It sounds like the belt that drives it has broken. A little job for today. Unfortunately I don’t think we have a spare so it’s down to the foot-pump now.

It’s very hot again. Both yesterday and today are shade-hunting days with no breeze to relieve the sultriness. I hope this does not last since I really don’t want to resort to motoring again.

Tuesday 8th August 2006

Fliss………

Tavira was quite nice, lovely little squares and side streets but not really that much you can say about it apart from a big supermarket which sold super large cans of Tuna, I was amazed at the size of them.






Church at Tavira








The fish here are great same as the fish in the Hamble, thousands all swimming together and they propel themselves out of the water some even making 3 foot in the air we love to watch them. We have a theory that they want to be dolphins when they grow up.

We left Tavira yesterday at around 10ish on our way to Ayamonte with no wind at all, where has it gone?

We motored down the river and Pete spotted a guy with a surf board and thought totally pointless as there was no wind or swell, he couldn’t have been more wrong the surf was magnificent, big high rollers, there must have been some wind somewhere but not where we were.

This proved to be a pain for us as we rolled all the way to Ayamonte. It wasn’t fun for Robyn but she did really well and we have a new cure for seasickness, bad jokes (they are bad) and just keep her talking to take her mind off it, poor thing! She wasn’t sick but just didn’t feel that good, from now on if there’s no wind we’ll go late afternoon & evening that way if she feels sick she can go to bed and sleep it off.

We decided to go into a marina as we were very low on water, not bad but no facilities to speak off.

Ayamonte is delightful sitting on the Spanish side of the River Guardiana, Lovely little town with markets, very pretty squares and back streets, loads of people just promenading and the town has a real feel good factor.

Last night at 10:30 (were usually in bed at this time) we donned our finest and headed off to the town to people watch, very nice but a late night! Pete and I are too old for late nights and feel shattered today.

It’s unbearably hot today and again no wind, the thermometer is reading 30.6 in the shade.

We’ll leave the marina later on today and drop anchor in the River Guardiana

Pete………………..

I spent the morning the day before yesterday with my arm inside a very small space trying to get nuts off bolts and coax the water pump out. The belt-drive was ok and the problem with the pump was that the belt-gear was slipping on the drive spindle – easy fix by tightening the Allen screw. We now have running water again in the toilet sinks.

One of the oars split down the middle the other day and having glued it back together, I spent part of the rolly, hot passage sanding it down. Eventually, the dust produced was sticking to my sweat and making me feel even more hot and bothered and so gave it up. A job for another day!

This afternoon, we left the marina. This was an easy manoeuvre that did not go according to plan. We dropped the lines and started reversing, the prop-kick took the stern into the pontoon and the wind blew the nose off. There was no room really to go forward to rectify the situation and we jiggled and jaggled backwards and forwards trying to coax the rear-end off the end of the pontoon with Fliss pushing against the pile that supported it. A few attempts and we were free with just a rubber-mark as forfeit. Funny how, what appeared to be such a commonplace, simple manoeuvre can go wrong.

We had the wind behind us up the river and we set the headsail only. There is a bridge about a mile up with a documented height of 23 metres. As we approached, it looked very low. I slowed down by letting the jib fly loose but we still approached too fast to do anything if the mast hit. We went under with what appeared to be only a couple of feet to spare. I was certain we were going to hit, so much so that I was physically trembling afterwards. Anyway, we proceeded with no further issues and life was again comfortable after I had changed my shorts.

Fliss….

P.s I would like to mention that I usually do the washing so we’ll go back under at low tide.

Pete again….

The river is nice with olive groves on the hummocky hills and bamboo lining the banks. We arrived at our destination (20 Miles upstream) in late afternoon between the villages of Alcoutim on the Portuguese side of the river and Sanlucar on the Spanish side. Each side has its own fort and we can imagine in the past that there has been a lot of sabre-rattling across the water.



Alcoutim












Sanlucar









Sanlucar





One of the good things about this place is that you can go to the Spanish side and have lunch at midday. Then, you can row across to the Portuguese side, set your watch back an hour and have it all over again.

Bobby:

I love it here. I really love it. Living on the boat, snorkelling, the sun shining every day… it’s a hard life! As Fliss said, the sail was not good from my perspective. I was a rather ominous shade of green for the whole trip, the boat rocking furiously side to side. To take my mind off it, Fliss told me some very, very bad jokes i.e. What’s white and blue and swings through the trees? A fridge with a denim jacket on… I still can’t figure out why fridges with denim jackets on swing through the trees but I laughed and we therefore have decided that my sickness is mostly psycho-somatic.

Anyway, yesterday didn’t go off to the best of starts. We had to leave the marina at 1 o clock Spanish time as we had paid for 1 night. I had just got back from shopping (my favourite past time) in Ayamonte and we decided to head off up the river. Nadezhda would not behave and dad and Fliss had an interesting time exiting the marina whilst I sat below reading my book.

It wasn’t long after we set off up the river that we saw a bridge. We weren’t sure whether it was high enough for the mast to go under without touching. Fliss and I ran to the front of the boat and dad stood at the back helming, all trying to make the decision whether to turn round or whether we could make it under without damage.

We left it too late though and so even if we had decided to turn around we didn’t have time to stick the engine into reverse. We went through with just a couple of foot to spare… dad was shaking after this so I, being a very nice daughter, fetched him his ciggies and he seemed to calm down after that. We watched another boat, with a slightly longer mast sail through after us. It seems that they waited to see if we would make it before attempting it themselves!

9th August 2006

Fliss:

Last night was unbearably sticky, no breeze at all, Robyn & I struggled at bedtime, I think after a couple of hours she drifted off but I didn’t.

The Spanish dogs were calling the Portuguese dogs and they went on all night, the church bells on both sides chimed every thirty minutes & our resident walrus snored! Teem this with the heat it wasn’t a restful night. In the early hours Pete being a gentleman offered me his side of the bed, which was cooler. Tonight we’ll move slightly down the river otherwise I’m in the dinghy with a Stanley knife to give the dogs an emergency tracheotomy and the bells are going to get it too.

Pete……..

We awoke to find the anchor chain had collected all the river jetsam. We had a complete floating island of bamboo at the front of the boat and another hanging off the outboard of the dinghy.

We got up early to climb to the fort on the Spanish side before the sun rose too much. This gave us great views across the countryside but the fort itself was a bit of a nonentity. This afternoon, we will visit the Portuguese fort that is actually in the village itself and will not be a sweaty climb.