Vilamoura - Portugal again!

Vilamoura from "Sundancer"

Our arrival at our allocated berth was delayed slightly by finding a tender moored there but it's owner had seen our approach and eventually removed it. We had forgotten that the pontoon fingers were probably the worse we had ever experienced - surprising in such a well managed marina. The fingers are rather short and severely tapered, very narrow at their outer end ,but, even worse, the single cleats at their outer end are shared by boats to each side and are very short with a single puny crossbar. Each one needs to take 2 sets of stern lines and 2 springs and when we entered our berth there was not enough space left to take our warps - nor are there any centre cleat. Pathetic! Our new neighbour with the tender had hidden below decks - on one of the few occasions when we might have appreciated a helping hand. Well, that's got that off my chest!!!

Other than that, we were soon settled and wandered ashore to test a local bar - stress works wonders on a thirst!

We had found the charges quite reasonable and we were thinking of changing our plans, especially as we had been offered a winter berth at less cost than Lagos. And it was handy for the airport at Faro - and we could fly in to Exeter, a real bonus as we normally have to fly to Luton or Stanstead.

We didn't need to make a decision yet so we got our bikes out -the first time since Torredembarra at the start of the season - and enjoyed a carefree few days exploring the area. We also took a bus trip to Faro, amazed to see several storks roosting in their colossal nests on top of the tallest buildings and chimneys and even on a lamp-post. We wandered round the old town and by the waters edge along the beautiful lagoon. We decided on the spot that it had been a mistake to sail past Faro and vowed to make a visit a must next Spring- another reason to make Vilamoura our winter berth.

And so it was, we spent the rest of the month playing tourists, visiting local markets and a bus trip to Albufeira.

We winterised the boat, took mainsail and genoa to the local sailmaker for a winter's TLC and valet and flew home on the 9th November.