Varying winds took me to Portimao on Tuesday. First two hours for the engine, then a gentle breeze from northwest, that let me hold a course almost straight to Portimao, albeit rather slow. In the afternoon the wind increased and backed to become more westerly and I had to start beating, which of course made my progress much slower. But the sailing was fun in the increasing wind, gusting up to 20 knots while the sea was still pretty much flat. Then followed half an hour of very little or no wind, before the mandatory evening race started, with gusts up to 25 knots and the seas building up quickly. I furled in two reefs in the genoa, but the boat healed too much and the stays on the lee side was all slack. Having tightened the backstay so much the other day, I got a bit scared and decided that it was enough for today, and took down the sails and went the last 5 miles for the engine. There were three anchorages in the Arade river on the Navionics map. I opted for the one closest to town, since I was really hungry and not in the mood to start cocking so late. No other boats were anchored there, and I understood it was a pretty good chance that Navionics was wrong.

I kind of expected the harbour police to show up in the morning. But that day, that sorrow. I took the dinghy the 20 meters or so to the quay and found a really good and very cheap restaurant close to my landing.

Not long after I woke up on Wednesday I heard knocking on the boat. Guess who - it was the harbour police. They thought that I should have understood Navionics was wrong, and I agreed aboout that, but told them I was a bit desperate for food and was aiming to move out at once. They were fine with that, though still a bit grouchy. I ended up in a big pool inside the breakwaters at the river mouth, with about twenty other boats. Here I am waiting for the Portuguese northerly to settle down a bit. Having rounded the southwestern tip of Portugal, Cabo de Sao Vicente, there is 55 miles to next safe haven, the town Sines, and it is not possible to do that in one day beating against the Nordata, that regulary gets very strong in the afternoons. Going singlehanded in the dark along this coast, with a lot of fishing nets and lobster pots I can do without. The only alternative is to stear out towards the open sea, maybe as much as ten miles.

But Monday looks like an opening, with a much weaker northerly, with some west in it that maybe can let me hold a straight course under sail against Sines. Otherwise I am prepared to motor, but hopefully not all the way. The Nordata normally blows from April to the end of October and I have more than 400 miles up to the bay of Biscay. A lengthy stopover in Lisbon is an alternative I consider.