Merry Christmas!
Wow! what a month we have had. The sail across from Lagos was superb! The marina is quiet!
Praia De Rocha is the beach area for Portimão and that is where the marina is situated. At this time of the year the tourists have left and the shopkeepers are having their holiday before the Christmas season begins. Needless to say we have the beach to ourselves (almost) plenty of room to fly the kite!
Most of November was spent restoring the colour of the teak work and deck upstairs, the year in England had really done for the old girl. Now that she is sparkling again she's like a new girl I'm just wondering how long it will last...
After all the hard work, had a day out sailing in 'lightwinds' to try out the Multi Purpose Genoa (a pretty orange and yellow ) and in 6knots of wind we were doing 5knots of speed !!!! how about that for a 13 ton yacht! Lunch time was a gourmet salad with Smoked Salmon, a watercress dressing and freshly baked crusty bread. After lunch the wind died completely we almost reached for the engine... but along came small white horses and within 1/2 an hour we had 15knots and had to put a reef in - in case it was going to increase further! 'Piano' really loves the wind and Malcolm chirps Vroom Vroom.... when he is happy ! When we got back to the Marina we had to sit on the visitors pontoon until the wind dropped again.
Papa Jorges on the Marina front holds a Happy Hour on a Friday evening so it makes a great place to meet up with other inhabitants. We are getting lots of ideas for nice places to visit next year and further into the future. There are always yachts calling in on their way out or home.
Portimão is a large city easily as big as Reading or Canterbury and with all the shops you would find from Haute Couture to Chinese £ shops! Plenty of culture too 5 cinemas a huge theatre and plenty of free entertainment throughout the region put on by the Municipal Council.
Well, I'm off to do some shopping, just a 15 minute cycle to the supermarket but it will be busy today it being Saturday! ho hum..
I'll close now hoping that you all have a brilliant Christmas and wrap up warm if the weather gets cooler...still 19 degrees here!
Praia De Rocha is the beach area for Portimão and that is where the marina is situated. At this time of the year the tourists have left and the shopkeepers are having their holiday before the Christmas season begins. Needless to say we have the beach to ourselves (almost) plenty of room to fly the kite!
Most of November was spent restoring the colour of the teak work and deck upstairs, the year in England had really done for the old girl. Now that she is sparkling again she's like a new girl I'm just wondering how long it will last...
After all the hard work, had a day out sailing in 'lightwinds' to try out the Multi Purpose Genoa (a pretty orange and yellow ) and in 6knots of wind we were doing 5knots of speed !!!! how about that for a 13 ton yacht! Lunch time was a gourmet salad with Smoked Salmon, a watercress dressing and freshly baked crusty bread. After lunch the wind died completely we almost reached for the engine... but along came small white horses and within 1/2 an hour we had 15knots and had to put a reef in - in case it was going to increase further! 'Piano' really loves the wind and Malcolm chirps Vroom Vroom.... when he is happy ! When we got back to the Marina we had to sit on the visitors pontoon until the wind dropped again.
Papa Jorges on the Marina front holds a Happy Hour on a Friday evening so it makes a great place to meet up with other inhabitants. We are getting lots of ideas for nice places to visit next year and further into the future. There are always yachts calling in on their way out or home.
Portimão is a large city easily as big as Reading or Canterbury and with all the shops you would find from Haute Couture to Chinese £ shops! Plenty of culture too 5 cinemas a huge theatre and plenty of free entertainment throughout the region put on by the Municipal Council.
Well, I'm off to do some shopping, just a 15 minute cycle to the supermarket but it will be busy today it being Saturday! ho hum..
I'll close now hoping that you all have a brilliant Christmas and wrap up warm if the weather gets cooler...still 19 degrees here!
