Greetings from Portugal!

Well, things have been quiet on here for the last number of months, but don’t think we’ve been sitting around, daydreaming. Quite the opposite, in fact. In a previous post I mentioned I had purchased a Hallberg Rassy 352 and she was berthed in Santo Stefano al Mare , on the beautiful Italian coast near Genoa. I also had to vacate the marina by the end of June. In the meantime, I had to close the sale, and transfer the boat from the Italian Ships Registry to the Irish one. I mentioned that the plan was to move her to Faro. This involved over 900 nautical miles of sailing and motoring through the western end of the Mediterranean, and through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Suffice to say, we managed to get all this done and she was lifted out of the water today and placed on dry land for the winter. For now, we’re just enjoying our wonderful memories of a summer spent sailing along the Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese coastlines. Next year, we need to complete the journey, and bring Into The Mystic to Kinsale. But that’s for next year!

Over the next few days and weeks, I will upload the missing blog posts describing our adventures from Italy to Portugal. These ranged from fabulous sunsets, being overtaken by very large cruise ships, engine problems just outside Valencia, and being becalmed with almost-empty fuel tanks about ten miles south of Torremolinos. To say nothing of the once-in-a-lifetime trip through the Strait of Gibraltar or indeed the rudder-eating Orcas from Gibraltar to Faro. I’ll probably spare you the gory details of getting a boat transferred from one registry to another. Unless of course, that “floats your boat” (I’m here all week!).

Anyway, lots to share. After we’ve had a chance to unwind after our summer of sailing, I’ll post the other updates.

Photo by Felipe Castilla on Unsplash