Oeiras to Sines

The start to today's leg was another 55nm but a later start at 10am, so we had a bit of a lie in which was nice. 
We started off with just the genoa up but later got out our whisker pole to 'pole out' the genoa. Sadly the wind was a bit fluky and we had to give up on the whisker pole after only a short time. 

Whisker Pole

The wind eventually reached 19 knots and we had a great downwind sail. On approach to Sines, we were greated by three flames, which were the flares from the oil storage facilities surrounding the harbour. We were the last ones to finish and as it was quite late when we arrived, we had dinner onboard straight away and called it a day.

The next day we walked up to the fort to attend a Rally prizegiving, nothing for us but the port and nibbles were great!

Sines is an interesting place and has a monument to Vasco da Gama who was reputedly born in the fort and christened in the parish church.
Vasco da Gama was a famous Portuguese explorer and was one of the first to sail from Europe to India.

Vasco da Gama

In the afternoon we had a pontoon party and Steve made some bread, to which we cut up and added smoked salmon on some, and Parma ham to the remainder. It soon went but we held some bread back for toast in the morning, a rare treat.

Pontoon party in Sines

In the evening we went for a lovely meal in town but had an early night as the next day was a long 75nm leg to Lagos, our final destination for the 2012 Rally
Portugal.

Steve and Lynne x

Peniche to Oieras

As soon as we left the harbour, the wind was right behind us, meaning we had a downwind sail nearly all the way to Oeiras. We only had our genoa out for the entire journey. 
Going downwind is not the best point of sail for the autohelm so we gave 'Fred' the day off and took it in turn to hand steer.
It is certainly one of the more exhilarating points of sail made just about perfect with the warm weather.

Usqubae

Just before reaching Cabo da Roca, a rougue wave the height of a double decker bus, picked us up from behind and we surfed over it at an amazing 10.8 knots!!
       
Once we rounded the headland of Cabo da Roca, the wind speed increased considerably and we recorded a gust of over 35 knots. We had to very quickly reef in our genoa and hold on tight until conditions calmed down. The entrance to Oeiras is very tight with strong cross currents and in the high winds it made for a difficult approach. It was a relief when we finally made it on to our berth. This leg was the best sailing leg of the rally so far and for all of us the best downwind sail ever.

In the evening, we were treated to a superb welcome drinks and buffet reception by the commodore of the yacht club.

In Oieras, it has become a tradition for Rally particpants to paint the harbour wall. As none of us are in anyway artistic, we decided to pass on this but some did partake with great results.

Wall art from previous years

Firedrake

Karma Wins

Miss Charlotte

Apologies to the team from Coral IV as we did not realise that they stayed up into the early hours of the morning to paint theirs. All won prizes which was very fair.

Oeiras marina is very posh. We don't know how much the mooring fees would have been here as they are included in the Rally entrance price. The marina is spotless and a good stepping stone to go and explore nearby Lisbon. Instead we opted to rest up, clean the boat and go on a local tour.

Oeiras marina

Our tour took us to a place called Poets Park, a vast free to all park with marble statues of famous Portuguese poets, past and present.

Statue in Poets park

On the way back the coach dropped us off at a nearby supermarket for last minute provisions before the next leg to Sines

Lynne and Steve x