We left Cadiz and set off for the Guadiana River – which separates Spain and Portugal with the hope of picking up our new electric outboard and also meeting our friends Stefan and Anne on Mokendeist. Winds were reasonable to start with but quickly settled down until we were in light air, flying a spinnaker – but that didn’t last long and unfortunately we ended up motoring.

At about the halfway mark, I realized that our timing was such that we were going to approach the very shallow river entrance at low tide and since there was a bit of a swell running, feared the chance of bottoming out was too great, so we opted to divert to Mazagon – and listened to the poor engine drone on for another couple of hours.

Supposedly there’s an anchorage just outside the marina at Mazagon – but it was not obvious and would have been very shallow – and the dredging work being carried out there made it completely untenable anyway so we opted for the marina.

The marina is very large and appears a bit like: “If you build it, they will come” – except they didn’t! Capable of accommodating 650 boats, probably half the slips were empty.

We stayed a couple of nights in this sleepy marina so that we could investigate Mazagon – a small town with not a lot to offer – though we struck gold for lunch when we followed a recommendation to the restaurant ‘Cilantro’… The young man that owns it speaks great English – having lived in England while working with famous TV chef Jamie Oliver. We did our usual and ordered 4 tapas of his choosing and they were fabulous! He came out with each one and explained fully what we were about to eat – really spectacular and lunch including a bottle of nice red was just €40!

The following day we made our way to the Guadiana in light winds on a close reach. Unfortunately we were a little close to the wind to use the Code Zero, so switched to Genoa and were able to sail right up to the mouth of the river – this time arriving at high tide and without any depth issues. We opted to anchor for a couple of nights, but unfortunately the wind picked up resulting in very choppy waters – making the ride across to Villa Real in Toodle-pip! a very damp proposition, so we were stuck aboard.

Mokendeist joined us a couple of days later having come down the river from Alcoutim but with the continuing wind and sometimes counter currents setting up a very choppy sea, we both opted to make our way into Ayamonte marina.

We toured the small town and had a nice Tapas dinner with Stefan and Anne and then the following day, OCC Port Officer Peter Whitby and his wife Irene met us for lunch and drinks aboard Toodle-oo! What a delightful couple. All this socializing was making things feel rather more normal! I had arranged to have our new outboard sent to Peter’s house, but sadly its still stuck in customs, so we’ll have to wait until arriving in Lagos to receive it. However, Stefan was planning to head to Lagos imminently and lent us his new 6HP outboard – so that we could get around. How nice this cruising community is!

 

 

 

We visited Villa Real over on the Portuguese side via the frequently running ferry – it’s a 10 minute ride and you arrive 50 minutes before you left! Despite being so close, Villa Real has a very different feel to Ayamonte and in rather better repair. The Portuguese really are a tidy lot!

To get up the Guadiana, first you must pass under a bridge – marked at 18M at mean tide. Our mast is 20M… So we’d waited for Springs and planned to go through at low water – which was conveniently timed at 10:30am! However, in true Toodle-oo! form and even though we’d planned to stay up the Guadiana for a couple or more weeks – we changed plan and instead of turning right out of the marina to head up the river, we turned left and out to sea! We left the Guadiana at low water Springs – gently ploughing the bottom a few times(!) and made our way to Culatra in Portugal – which is where we are currently, enjoying a very relaxing anchorage.

We have quite a few boat chores to attend to on Toodle-oo! this winter – so we’re making a start on some of them while we’re here in Culatra…

Unfortunately, our batteries are at the end of their life so we are planning on taking the opportunity to update to Lithium which will allow us to take advantage of it’s rapid charging capacity – and also reduce weight and free up some locker space. It’s a significant project that is taking quite a lot of planning.

 

 

 

Our engine – which has seen altogether far too much activity this year has sprung a leak! Salt water is escaping from the exhaust elbow – leaving an interesting stalactite of salt! Hopefully she’ll get us to Lagos before a complete repair is required!

 

 

 

 

 

Laurie has started varnishing the interior woodwork – so it’s chaos inside now!

She also managed to complete her second knitted hat – the orange one is mine!

We’ll complete what we can while we’re here and then really get to them all in earnest when we arrive in Lagos in a few weeks time.