After a 3 day drive south we made it back to the boatyard and frantically painted, polished and put bits back together again so that we can go back into the water and finally leave Lagos
I thought the day would never come - Leaving Lagos Marina at last! We never intended to spend quite so much time here. For our first trip on the boat we had a very pleasant flat calm, which enabled us to remember which bits of rope do what!
First stop - Island of Culatra just off Faro (where all the planes land). The island itself consists of a sleepy fishing village. No roads just paths, dogs and fishing gear.
From Faro, we diverted up the Rio Guadiana - the river that divides Portugal and Spain. There is a rather unnerving suspension bridge that we made it under with about 1m to spare.
The river is beautiful, peaceful and with lots of wild places to explore. We spent days just throwing stones into the river, walking and playing with sticks.
Turtles seen on the riverbank
Thankfully there was some civilisation 10miles upstream where we could fill up with water, do laundry, check emails and buy some food. Confused us no end with the time difference between Spain and Portugal. Thankfully, the hours difference meant that an ice cream shop was usually open somewhere.
The bane of family cruising life - trying to do the washing with no washing machine.
View from the castle upriver.
We met a lovely English family and spent a wonderful day at their almond farm. Here is Silas and is new friend Francesco riding the donkey
However, the ute is much more practical way of seeing the area!
Another quiet anchorage on the river...
We have never slept so much or so deeply since we had children. The Guadiana was magic - soporific, peaceful and with the sound of nightjars providing an evocative soundtrack. The perfect place to get ourselves into cruising mode again.
