Culatra & Olhão ⚓ Part I: De Dorpsstraat

Our presence in the anchorage inbetween Ilha de Culatra and Olhão had been requested for a while by Beautje. Now that we had upgraded our electrical system on board, we also could no longer contain our excitement to continue our journey East. We said goodbye to Jo and Flip, some of our Dorpsstraat crew, after a little birthday celebration for Flip at the local Spar and left Marina de Albufeira after a long 10 days.

The trip started off a bit slow as the wind gods didn't seem to feel like putting a lot of work in yet. However, since we knew that after a siësta they would come back to work later in the day we accepted to move towards Ilha de Culatra slow but steady. We had a good sail all the way up to the river entrance. We did have a tiny orca scare the few minutes we had to go through deeper water, but we both think we saw a big dolphin.

We had been warned that it can get quite uckly at the river entrance. So we took down our sails and continued on the engine. The entrance did look a bit dearing indeed. The current and the wind were creating quite a lot of eddies and a bunch of small fishing boats had positioned themselves right in the middle of it all, which left us to zigzag not just around the current but also the local fishermen. With a little extra rpm's we however smoothly sailed into the Ria Formosa.

We were greeted by Beautje as we were nearing the anchorage. We had caught some mackerel on our way again so we invited them over for dinner, fish tacos this time. The next morning Bart decided to throw out his fishing rod for fun and somehow, still in his pajamas, caught a sea bream! Hilda was trying to get the same result over at Beautje. At some point did they got hold of something, a seagull... We quickly tried to get our dinghy into the water to help them out, but by the time we finally go to them the bird had spread its wings again. We decided to stay on board for a bit to see if together we would catch some more fish and then afterwards we would go get some groceries. We didn't end up getting groceries nor any fish, but stayed the full day at Beautje and had a great time. At some point Lajla and I took the dinghy to the sandbars where we saw a lot of local fisherman digging for something. Turns out they were looking for clams in the sand. We thought we can do that too. It took us a full hour, some very dirty hands but in the end we had about 12 clams that still looked alive and weren't secretly filled with sand. In other words, a lot of work, not a lot of reward you might think. But the dinner of our self caught sea bream and clams was very tasty!

If only we had done those groceries... The next morning Lajla and I decided to go get the groceries and let Bart and Hilda try out their fishing luck again. Since the main grocery stores are in Olhão which can be about a 10 to 20 minutes dinghy ride, depending on the tide, this is quite the adventure. Compared to the day before there were a lot of waves between us and Olhão. To come prepared to battle, we both put on our sailing gear. That turned out to be a great decision. Pretty wet, but only our sailing gear, we arrived in Olhão. We walked straight into my heaven: a fruit, veggies, dried beans, olives and churros Valhalla, the weekly market. There is a daily fish and veggie market in the market halls, but these stalls outside are absolutely amazing. The most adorable grandma's and grandpa's sell, or so it seems at least, their home grown produce. Some only have a couple of tangerines and onions. Others have all kinds of fruits of veggies. Lajla and I both loved it and took all of the time in the world to walk around and spot the stalls we wanted to buy from, mostly based on the people behind the stalls and a little bit based on what they sell. We bought a lot of fruits we have never or barely eaten before, delicious.

After the market we sat down at the local pastelaria to enjoy some breakfast before we went to the grocery store. Fully packed and most importantly, hours later than anticipated, we returned to the dinghy. By now it is getting too close to low tide to take the short route back home. With a fully loaded dinghy we started our journey. Within minutes the first wave splashes in our faces, into the dinghy and all over the groceries. This is going to be an interesting ride home. We try to take another shortcut until we see some local fishermen who have lifted up their outboards, that doesn't look good. We decide to turn around and take the long way back, which also means that instead of going with the current and the waves we now will have to go against both. Wave after wave splashes in our faces, into the dinghy and over all of our groceries. I am very impressed how Lajla is still able to steer with a wave coming right at her about every 5 seconds.

Meanwhile Bart and Hilda see a little dinghy struggling in the distance against the waves and current. They feel sorry for them and are happy that's not Isabel and Lajla. Right? Because Bart doesn't recognize my hair, right? Completely soaked, and completely unrecognizable as I have tried to make myself dissappear into my sailing gear, water up until our ankles in the dinghy, Lajla and I arrive back at Beautje. The pastel de nata, Bart's tosti and most of the groceries have survived our splash zone adventure surprisingly well. The paper towels, hot dog bread and tortillas weren't so lucky. After a shower on the aft deck and Hilda's spare clothes I started to warm up again. That was quite the trip.

The next day Harmen and Kiki (Square One) complete our Dorpsstraat by dropping their anchor behind us. With the three of us and in some cases the Surf Song, we enjoy a couple of fun borrels, cups of tea, dinners and games together. We also attempt to go surfing again, but since we didn't check the tides or the swell beforehand, we don't have any waves, oh well. Together we make a Happy Bday card on the beach for Herman (Kolibri) instead. On one our last days together as Dorpsstraat, before Beautje and Square One continue on, Bart gets all the boys and Hilda together to go fishing.

From the local baker and fishermen Bart has learned that to catch dorade they need to go to the wreck a couple minutes per dinghy away around low tide. So far our fish luck, and Hilda's, hasn't been great and it seems to be going to end the same way this tim. Because the sun starts to set, which means that it will get colder soon. Twilight however also means that you can start fishing for squid and octopus, so Bart decides to put on the cephalopod bait. After a while Bart has got hold of something. It's an octopus!! It's got its tentacles around the line. Together with Edwin, Bart tries to get Octo into a bucket. Meanwhile he is getting sprayed with, surprisingly no ink, but a lot of water. They almost manage to get the octopus into the bucket, but at that moment it gets loose. Leaving only a single sucker behind. The next day is our last evening together so instead of going out on the dinghy again, we have a final delicious dinner by Kiki together. Bart cannot get Octo out of his head, but the score remains Octopus 1 - 0 Bart.Read more