LISBON TO LAGOS

We made it to Lagos on the Algarve! The leg from Lisbon to Sines (birth place of Vasco de Gama who discovered the Cape Hope route to India) was even windier than previous legs with gusts up to 30 knots. Perversely the last leg had hardly any wind most of the way and we had to motor for 7 hours – the first lengthy period of motoring we’ve done. But as we rounded Cape St Vincent (the most SW point of Europe and at one time, before the Americas were discovered by Europeans, thought to be the end of the world) the breeze came, the skies cleared and dolphins joined us for a lovely gennaker reach along the coast to Lagos – and for the first time in 3 weeks and 1,000 miles we had flat seas – superb sailing.

Sadly the Rally ended in Lagos and after a few farewell parties some boats left for the Med, some to go to the UK immediately and some are cruising the Algarve/Spain. After a few days rest, cleaning the boat and sightseeing in Lagos (famous as a base for the Portuguese exploration of West Africa inspired by Henry the Navigator and as a slave market), we’ve left ALMA in Lagos while we spend a week in Malta catching up with admin and having a good rest! Its been quite a hard few weeks between strong winds/rough seas, sightseeing and lots of parties! We plan to cruise along the Algarve coast (slowly and quietly) when we get back to Lagos from 4th July until 22nd July. Then we’ll head for the Alps to escape the mid summer heat in southern Spain/Portugal. We plan to return to the boat late August and then head into the Med and spend a few weeks in the Balearics before hopefully finally getting to Malta late Sept/early Oct. Beginning to appreciate just how long a journey it is – we’re still not even half way!

Hope you’re enjoying the summer and hope we’ll catch up soon.
All the best
Iain and Helen.