It’s great to be back in the water and continuing our journey to Cartagena. (The Spanish Cartagena not the South American one. That’s a bit further away.) Fair Isle spent a month out of the water in Faro in an excellent place called “Bruce’s Yard” with plenty of people working on their boats, mostly British. Some had been living there for years! We made friends with Rachel and Sally who are completely re-rigging their ketch called “One last Adventure”. I raised my eyebrows at the potentially catastrophic nature of the name but Rachel assured me they were planning for this “last adventure” to continue for about 20 years. “Then we will probably get dementia” she added, smiling. “ The full name is: “One Last Adventure, Before Dementia.” Inspired.
Life on the yard is a bit hot and dusty so Steve and I took some time back in England in July to visit friends and family and fulfil a couple of work commitments. The best thing about the bi-annual overhaul and antifoul is that it doesn’t have to be done again for another couple of years. We usually do it in the winter months but this opportunity arose and after the Biscay crossing it seemed like a good idea to make sure everything was still in the right place. In most part it was, so we are good to go.
The only problem is that we hit Culatra at the weekend. Now it’s difficult to say this without sounding my age but I’ve never been that good at parties that go on until 0330. Like the one last night. We had a fantastic anchor spot, a short dingy ride to the beach, and Culatra is a beautiful island. It reminded me a bit of the Scilly Isles with no cars, just tractors and boats, and lots of resident fishing folk. There is a relaxed tourist industry, good food (fish mostly), and parties. Perfect if you are in your 20s.
Our next stop is Cadiz and we will get there tomorrow sometime, depending on the wind. At the moment we have around 15 knots so are sailing with the main and yankee at about 6 knots. We are due in around 0200 so will probably anchor outside and nip round in the morning.