And then came Oeiras.......
A wall painting competition- Paul found a very faded 2008 BM painting which I touched up whilst Paul did a new one for 2017.
A tour of a poets park with sculptures, statues and poems set in lovely tree landscape; a very interesting palace and fortified wine cellar tour and tasting with very enthusiastic guide talking us through their three varieties.
A chance to visit Lisbon and Cascais and several parties as we near the end of the rally. BM hosted twenty to celebrate a wedding anniversary and friends 65th birthday. Colin brought his guitar - no one wanted to break the magic, so we cooked pasta and sun dried tomato pesto for everyone and we all sang along until nearly midnight.
Then a very fast downwind sail to Sines (7 hours) with a long spinnaker run and then poles out headsail when the wind got above 20 knots. Dolphins joined us off and on which was entertaining.
Sines has a really interesting castle and history from the Roman period. It has a natural harbour and is the last port for shelter before going round Cape St Vincent to Lagos and the end of the rally.
BM won the last leg in class A and we also won third prize for our wall painting in Oeiras (only three boats took part!)
Off at 6am tomorrow for the long leg round the corner.........lots of wind forecast!