The Final Passage

We made it across and are now enjoying the sun in the Algarve, which is known as the Portuguese Riviera. We are anchored off the beach here, which Charles loves becasue it is free and we can see Gertrude everywhere we go. She has become the other woman in Charles´life!

;-)

Our trip from Sao Miguel was uneventful. The wind was hiding until the final 300 miles. With no wind comes beautiful weather. The ocean was glass at times. So serreal to see your reflection in the water when you are hundreds of miles from land and the water miles deep. I must admit we used our engine alot. 5 weeks ago we were content going 2 knots on the open ocean. Our final passage to mainland Europe found us pushing the throttle to 1500 RPMs and praying we had enough deisel to get us through the duldrums. We made it with no problems at all. We never saw a shark on the entire trip. We saw a whale, a turtle, a manta-ray, and a few pods of dolphins. Now we never swam in the open ocean. We saw it as an unnecessary risk. We have spent far too many hours watching Shark Week on Discovery. With out a doubt one of us would be the target of a Great White who just happened by Gertrude as we jumped in the water.

Now we are living La vida loca in Lagos. Its like Spring Break with a refined European feel. Although we did see a young Australian walk out of a bar and puke. We will spend another day here so we can do laundry, research Morroco, and visit a castle that is supposed to remind one of the fairytale castles. I have seen many midevil castles in my day but they look more like forts or churchs than the castles of my imagination. I will take pictures for you!

Well, we are off to go explore Lagos and do some grocery shopping. Its so nice to be back on land!!!! We are not sure where we are going next. We have several days before we meet Tim and Katie in Girbraltar (July 18th). From there we will say goodbye to Gertrude for a few days and head to Morocco. Then we will sail up the coast of Spain. Of course I will keep you posted. Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers along the way! We love you!!!

So long to Sao Miguel, and The Azores!

A pod of dolphins near Sao Miguel wishing us a safe journey. It is very hard to take pictures of dolphins. The fact that I was able to get these shots speaks to how many were following us.

This is the most southwestern point of the European continent. Before they found America this was the end of the world.

Looks like an aircraft carrier. Our final 20 miles was spent crossing a traffic separation zone on the sw tip of Portugal. I was nervous as we were surrounded by gigantic ships. About 15 around us at any given moment. ugh.

In the center is Gertrude spending some time alone in Lagos. She needed it.