Yesterday was another busy day at Mayflower Marina with yachts making use of the shuttle busses provided by our partner charity horizons who took rally participants to local supermarkets for provisioning and received generation donations from all yachts. The rally welcomed A'r môr dirion the fleet’s only catamaran and Khaleesi was the last of the nineteen yachts to arrive today.
Last night’s rally Introduction & Briefing took place at the Albion rugby club in Plymouth and was followed by dinner and drinks overlooking the stadium. At the Rally briefing yesterday, Andrew Bishop explained that the idea for ARC Portugal came from a cruise he took down the coast of Portugal in the late eighties. The friendliness of the Portuguese, the fine wine, unlimited sardines and the beauty of the countryside & towns along this rarely visited coast, inspired the idea for a cruise-in-company. ARC Portugal is now in its 23rd year. While the itinerary has changed over the years, the ethos of a safe social cruise with exploring ashore and afloat has remained strong. The weather had been the talk of the day as a low pressure system seems to be making its way across the Atlantic. Simon the meteorologist will be giving a detailed overview of the weather for the following week at the skippers briefing tonight and a contingency plan is in place if we need to delay the start.
Following on from the briefing and a complimentary glass of wine, crews were asked to take a seat at one of the circular tables as dinner was ready to be served. Participants continued to mingle after dinner and ambled back to the marina in their own time. It was fantastic to witness so many participants making such strong bonds so early in the rally.
