July 13 – 15, 2014 –
Time to move on again. We motored west 6.5 miles – our shortest day at sea since leaving Newport last year – to an anchorage off Portimao where we enjoyed some boat made sangria and grilled tuna we had caught. We are now fully in the middle of the Algarve, an area along the southern coast of Portugal. 
The Algarve is known for fishing villages and fish; we are looking forward to checking it all out.
On Monday we never got off the boat at Portimao, but did launch the dinghy, which had been on the foredeck since the Turks and Caicos. We will now use it as our car and major transportation throughout the next few years. Bob took it out for a spin to make sure everything was working OK. Launching the dinghy also freed up the boat deck so we could finally open the hatches in the forward cabin and gets some better air flowing through the boat. This area is HOT, and all moving air is welcome.
We had a wonderful sail on to Albufeira, where we anchored off the very busy beach with a great view of the city. In the last fifteen years the Algarve has been heavily developed. It is the summer vacation spot not only for Portugal, but also for northern Europe.
A walk through the town showed a combination of wonderful narrow alleys and plazas with outdoor cafes and ice cream shops. The Europeans do like ice cream in the summer. Signs are in both Portuguese and English. Menus have the same items on every page, but with the flag of a country at the top to quickly show the language of that page. Most menus are in Portuguese, English, German, Danish, French, and Spanish. They know their market.
On Tuesday, on to Vilamoura and one of the largest marinas along the Algarve. With mostly power boats, Vilamoura is also a major tourist area. The marina is surrounded by hotels, retail and restaurants and the evening does not get started until after 9 pm. Just to walk around the perimeter of the marina takes 30 minutes at a good clip. To do errands we found it easier to take the dinghy. We enjoyed our last evening with Ken at one of the waterside restaurants in the marina. We were all in the mood for fresh seafood from the Algarve until we learned that the restaurant specializes in Argentinian beef. Ken left before light at 3:30 am! We are going to miss his sailing and cooking skills along with his good humor.