Lagos, Algarve

Mmmmmmm... maybe Nick's verdict on Ginja was a tad hasty, and not a little inspired by a drop too much of the stuff. Having had copious samples ( we wanted to give it a chance) and having sought the opinion of other alcohol experts (thanks Mark and Nat) the jury has voted against having Ginja taking up space in the drinks locker. There is something distinctly medicinal about it. Hope we didn't encourage anyone to import large quantities of the stuff but if so, it'll work a treat as antifreeze!
Our passage here was mixed as usual - starting with no wind and then in the evening, when the wind picked up, having to reef the main. Once again, part of the journey was lost in a fug of seasicknes for me due to user error when taking the drugs (ie I forgot to take the second dose!) Happily though, we seem to have got the drug and dosage sorted and I'm confident of a better result on the next passage.
So, it's now October and we find ourselves in the Algarve, in the resort of Lagos. There are more Brits here than there were in Falmouth so no chance of getting homesick. We arrived on Wednesday lunchtime surprisingly punctual for our date. Before we left England, we met Mark and Nat and their boat, Free Spirit of Itchenor, and spent a couple of happy evenings swapping hopes and ideas. They left Uk shores before us and since then we have been playing catch-up. Their plans are different from ours, and there was a distinct possibility that our paths may not cross. Through brief (and sometimes frustratingly indistinct) contact over the radio we managed to co-ordinate a meeting. We have since spent a bit of time comparing experiences and quite alot of time testing Ginja and playing silly games!

Sampling the Ginja with Mark & Nat

Mark and Nick have also taken the opportunity to inspect each other's battery cases (!) and compare charging statistics (fascinating)!
Lagos is a smart resort with clean beaches and an interesting coastline, and despite it's dominance of tourism, much of the 'Portugueseness' seems to be intact.

Freestanding rocks just to the west of Lagos

I particularly like it as the marina has a large laundry with a choice of good quality washers and the option to handwash!