The past few days have been busy with all the paraphernalia of leaving the boat and heading home for a couple of months. We have cleaned, laundered, tidied, and eaten all the perishables, not necessarily in that order. Naturally there had to be a visit to the nearest chandlers. We bought and fitted strange rubber snubbers to stop the ropes from jarring when Lyra moves, together with another huge fender for good measure. To cheer ourselves up we spread out the charts and sketched out possible passages for next year. It only made us wistful. In the evenings we explored and have found a pleasant restaurant, not far to walk, but out of the hubbub called Navagador. Now we are all packed ready to set off tomorrow.

Saturday though was job free. Saturday was our wedding anniversary and we spent the day at leisure. Well, we walked to Ponta da Piedade, which after a short while seemed like hard work , because we had to follow the main road in the heat. Once there it was beautiful. Ragged orange cliffs plunged down to an azure sea, from which rose remnants of previous cliffs, forming picturesque stacks and arches. In the arms of the cliffs were trapped sandy coves, and a substantially built wooden staircase descended from the cliff top to the sand. On the wooden decking leading to the staircase was a glass fronted wooden box of a beach bar. We decided to stop for a drink before going down for a swim. We sat on a veranda in the shade, the breeze was cool, the beer ice cold, the music jazz. We decided to linger, have an early lunch, a treat, we would share tiger prawns, salad and some bread. Portuguese tiger prawns turned out to be rather bigger critters than English ones.

Much later we made our way down the stairs and found a spot by the cliff to spread our towels and snooze. Later still we braved the sea. It was cold, but as hardened Atlantic bathers we could take it. Once in it was lovely and quite peaceful. Most folk stayed on the beach or paddled in the shallows. Further out to sea a big motor yacht was anchored, tripper boats plied their trade round the stacks and a host of canoeists paddled through the sea arch. We had the sea room in between. After drying off on the beach we headed back and managed to pick our way along the coastal path for most of it, so the walk back past the breathtaking views was a pure pleasure.