Yesterday we arrived in Gibraltar. We were lucky to have a peaceful passage with no problems passing through the straight, but unlucky in that we had to motor 95% of the way due to there being no wind. The forecast had promised a F3-4 westerly, which would have been great, but after departing Cadiz at 0700 we encountered nothing more than 5-7 knots from the south.

Our passage planning must have worked well, as we were assisted nicely by the tides past Tarifa and into the straight, which at its best added over 2 knots to our boat speed over ground.

After 11 hours we finally entered Gibraltar bay with Africa clearly visible on our right, UK territory straight ahead and Spain to the left. The bay was quite busy with ferries, tankers, large container vessels and sailing yachts.

As we had feared, all the marinas said they were full, so we diverted to our fallback plan, which was to anchor north of the city in La Ligne (in Spanish territory, north of “the line”). The anchorage is peaceful enough and offers good shelter and holding.

It was 7pm by the time we arrived, so we weighted the anchor, checked it had set correctly and settled down to beans on toast, a quick drink and a game of backgammon.

Today was a very long day; we anchored last night outside of the Olhao estuary near Faro in Portugal so that we could make a 3am start without worrying about the tidal streams on the ebb of the river. When we arrived yesterday evening the anchorage was deserted but had a nice and clear sandy bottom. We calculated the fall of tide, chose our position, found transits and finally anchored in 5m of water. Adrian had a swim around the boat and dived down to check that the anchor was set correctly. It was, and we were being held firm.

After a few hours sleep we both got up at 3am and were underway by 3.30. We had 80 miles to do to Cadiz across the bay, so we needed plenty of time just in case the winds were light and to give us some other time at the other end.

In the darkness we threaded ourselves out past another boat that had joined us and numerous lobster pot markers. It was quite a dark night with a new moon, but by starlight we sailed heading across the bay. Fortunately we encountered little fishing traffic, apart from one trawler that seemed to be going the same direction as us – which we eventually caught and passed.

Breakfast was a nice bacon sandwich – lovely!

During darkness the winds were variable so we motored and sailed until the morning where the winds rose to 20 knots and we had to reef to maintain boat balance. Later on the wind calmed to a nice 10-12 knots, which saw us making 5.5 knots on a nice steady beam reach. It was a bit strange doing an offshore passage again after so long pottering around the coast. At the middle of the Bay of Cadiz we were about 50 miles from land.

Despite taking turns to catch up on missed or fitful sleep, we were both still quite tired by the time we reached Cadiz harbour 15 hours later. After eventually mooring up (using Alan’s new technique) we had a bit of a snack then both collapsed into bed.

Well, here we are back in Spain, next step is Gibralter, after a rest day tomorrow.

After a very slow start by the crew (due to hangover and problems getting up) we eventually left Lagos at 2pm for a brief sail around the bay and up to Portimao.

This was Steve and Karin’s first proper sail so we took it easy and had a smooth relaxing ride. Everyone seemed to enjoy it but we all felt tired as evidenced by the early supper and early night.

Today was a sad day, as after over a month with us on board our long standing crew member Amanda left us to return to the UK. We all had a great time sailing with her and thoroughly valued her sailing experience, conscientiousness, attention to detail, and drinking ability. We hope she enjoyed the trip as much as we did and we thoroughly enjoyed her friendship and company. Good luck with the summer work, your NZ trip and winter season. We hope to catch up with you back in the UK soon and don’t forget you’re welcome on our boat or house anytime.

We’re not saying Amanda did all the hard work, but after sailing today Jax was shocked to find blisters on her hands!

Today we spent a quiet morning looking around Lagos town then met Steve and Karin at the marina. After a bit of food we settled into a bar in the centre to watch the England Portugal quarter final match. Unfortunately England failed again on penalties so we spent the rest of the night in a general melee and continual party of celebrating Portuguese. We have noticed previously that the Portuguese celebrate every win as if they had already won the world cup and today was no exception. Cars sped around the town with bunches of people with flags and horns hanging out of windows shouting and celebrating. It was good to see, despite the cost. I wonder what it would have been like if England had won.

The evening meal was pleasant, followed by one last trip to the legendary South bar at the marina for drinks. Fortunately everyone was pretty tired so we staggered home at 2.30am. Special mention must go to Karin for literally falling over whilst upright and stationary at the bar. Fortunately the bottle of coconut liqueur she was holding was saved and no damage was done.

Early morning tomorrow to see Amanda off.