The Algarve, Portugal

1st - 17th Sept 2019

Wow!  Portugal's Algarve coastline is beautiful.  We stop off in Portimao for a couple of days on route to Faro.  The anchorage is just inside the entrance to Portimao.  Here we bump into Float On, Amy & Martin who have recently purchased a Beneteau name Olli and have a Youtube channel, but most importantly they have a lovely dog called BamBam.

We had a wonder around the town and visited the marina to find out the price of a berth for the winter.  The town had an amazing collection of sculptures along the waters-edge but the town did not have a lot going for it.

We decide after a couple of nights to head for Faro but know we are going to have to do an overnight stop.  This had to be the worst night we have ever had on board.  We had a swell that swung the boat so hard over that we had a job to stand up.  We hardly slept and our stomaches ached from clenching each time the boat rolled again so firs thing the following morning we set off for Culartra.

We arrived in Liha Da Culartra early Sept and celebrated Steve's 56th birthday in style at a restaurant.  This is not something we normally do.  We may have a coffee during the day and maybe a snack for lunch but we never go out in the evening.  It was a real treat haha!
Culartra is beautiful.  Its like stepping back in time where there are no cars or roads, only single rise houses, lagoons, sand dunes and stunning beaches where the sand is like icing sugar.

There are a couple of small shops, an ATM and about 6 bars/restaurants.  The men hang around the harbour either readying themselves to go out and fish or sit and gossip in the shade.  The women are nowhere to be seen apart from first thing in the morning when they all catch the early ferry to Olhao with their shopping trolleys to bring back the fruit, veg & provisions they need.

You can achieve your dream ❤

Annette's thoughts..............

We arrive in this world as equals and leave this world as equals. My resting place will be no better or worse than yours when my times comes but I know I will have a memory box of dreams that I can take with me.  

I had a dream and tried very hard to fulfil that dream and whilst doing so was a part of and witnessed the most wondrous breath-taking things and most of all I was fortunate to share my dreams with Steve.

We weren't lucky to live our dream, we'd worked hard for 40yrs laying down the foundation that would hold us up when we finally left to live our dream of sailing as liveaboards to wherever the wind took us.

Yes we've had to compromise, we can't physically hold our children or hug our grandchildren. We still have parents that are with us. We left very good jobs 12yrs before official retirement time and the remuneration from our private pensions will not be as good.  But......we can video talk to all our children, grandchildren & parents. We have a small private pension and we have a home we own. We have a yacht we love and that we know is capable of taking us wherever we want and we know the budget we have to live on.....WE CAN LIVE OUR DREAM.

Our families grow up and create their own circle of friends & gradually slowly their need for you is less and less. We'd bought up our children to be independent in a loving but working home. They all know the importance of being able to set a goal in life and each of them have started achieving these.  This had been our biggest dream, for our children to be happy & healthy and bring their children up to love & live their dreams.

What we do now in living aboard our boat full-time sailing from port to port visiting places we didn't know existed, being fascinated by the different cultures, adapting to a different cultural way of living, seeing magical ocean life and being able to do this without restrictions in our own time is what our life is about and we love it and cherish every day of it.

Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. All dreams are achievable in some form.  They have to be worked for otherwise you'll never appreciate them. You need to be able to look back and say you lived a part of your dream. You may have to make compromises in order to reach and maintain your dream but remember these are your dreams that you can take with you wherever forever.

A dream or goal doesn't have to be a forever thing it can be anything. What you need to be able to say is 'I have my memory box of dreams' 💙💚.