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 There was an atmosphere of relaxation and reflection amongst the fleet today, as they wandered about the pretty seaside town of Sines taking in the sunshine. The penultimate stopover on Rally Portugal, Sines marina had cleared space on the docks so that the entire fleet of sixteen boats could be berthed together on one pontoon. It wasn’t long after arriving that boats started to ‘dress overall’, raising their multi-coloured code flags to create a wonderful spectacle in port.
After one of the best sailing legs of the whole trip yesterday, the fleet were all in good spirits, having really enjoyed a fast 50-mile sail down the coast from Oeiras. Once again, only minutes of engine hours were logged by most of the fleet as constant winds from behind pushed them along in the warm sunshine.
With the fleet only a few miles apart during their day sails down the coast, and with little if no other sailing traffic, the vhf radio takes on a new importance between the 50 or so participants, really becoming the social network of choice! The crews had had great fun chatting along the way on the radio waves, discussing where the wind was and their progress, as well as winding each other up about performance and sharing jokes along the way.
 One of the traditions on Rally Portugal is the mural painting competition in Oeiras marina, and the crews had certainly left their mark there before they departed yesterday. Some giant pictures were created by the rally crews, courtesy of the paints and brushes supplied by the ever-enthusiastic marina staff.
Barry, Tina & Mark from Karma Wins painted their boat’s ‘mascot’ symbol of an intricate galactic butterfly of mayan significance, whilst Steve from Firedrake impressed everyone by free-drawing a huge 3-D cartoon cat in no time at all, whilst John & Cilla from Miss Charlotte also joined in the painting with their colourful mural. Despite all the paint being used up, Terje & Ingvild from Coral IV were not to be stopped, and headed into town to buy some more equipment, returning later with bags fulls of paint and brushes. Not even starting until 7pm, they carried on into darkness and eventually finished their masterpiece at 2.30 in the morning… now that’s dedication!
This morning in Sines everyone set off together from the marina on a very leisurely stroll along the seafront and into town, guided by knowledgeable local guide Ricardo. They visited the age-old Chapel, which Ricardo explained had been reconstructed by the town’s famous resident explorer Vasco de Gama many centuries ago.
From the Chapel the group headed along the top part of town, stopping to overlook the Rally Portugal boats, berthed together in the marina just off the pristine whit e Vasco de Gama beach. From here it was on to the Fort, where crews stopped for a pleasant break in the sunshine, and the Rally team handed out local pastries and chilled white port, before presenting some prizes for Leg 6 down from Oeiras. The crews then met up with Ricardo again for a short tour of the museum at the fort, before heading into town to explore for the afternoon.
Tonight is a free evening for the Rally participants, and Ian & Sally from Seraphina have taken the initiative to suggest a ‘bring a bottle’ communal dock party from 5.30pm in the marina to round the day off. Most crews will be getting a relatively early night however, in anticipation of a long day’s final sail down to Lagos tomorrow.
Don't forget to click on the gallery pages for more pictures of the start in Oeiras, the other painted murals and all the other action from the past few days!
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