Faro Tuesday 6th October to Thursday 8th October

Went to Olhao, had a look at the boatyard and decided that we would come out there after all. It looks secure, will probably do the boat good to dry out a bit and it will allow us to do things like change prop anodes,etc. Details later.

As we had a few days before the lift we went over to Faro. Both Olhao and Faro are in an area called the Ria da Formosa, a national park of estuaries, lagoons, dunes and sandy low lying islands. We followed the winding estuary out and then back in, missing the shallow bits for the most part and ending up picking up a buoy (mooring) in an anchorage just off Faro old town and marina. The waterways are so shallow and winding that going ashore in the dinghy even needed a circuitous route. There were a few foreign boats here who have obviously made it their temporary homes, as well as local boats. One next to us looked more like a tiny shack, with piled up rubble, ropes, fishing pots, plastic bags and bottles, rubbish and 10 feral cats, along with two old chaps and a dog.

Faro itself is a mixture of old and elegant, new and stylish and then, as with most large towns, old and new decrepit and ugly. It has its share of azulejos tiles, parks and cafes as well. We trawled the shops, checked out the routes to airport and with Geoff's help (R's brother) booked a flight home. Not having wifi makes things like that a challenge so his help invaluable for online booking.

Good couple of days, but with rain (for the first time in ages) overnight and Wednesday. morning. Keen now to get the boat sorted.