Bolero - Sines

The spinnaker was brought up on deck the night before departure in preparation for a down wind leg the next morning……….. well that was the plan, the elements had different intentions.
We left the the marina for the 10am start. The current was pretty strong as we left the shelter of the harbour wall and some boats found themselves on the wrong side of the line.
The start horn blasted and we were off …….. beating to windward. No one minded the up wind sailing as the sun was shining and it was beautifully warm. Every inch of flesh had been slathered in sun screen as we thought it was going to be a real scorcher. So that’s two assumptions incorrect!
As we made our way along the coast, a haze developed which transformed into low cloud and we were looking at the many shades of grey from the paint charts once again. The temperature dropped and layers of clothing were called for. We were making steady progress and tacked to round Cabo Espichel, then tacked again, and again, and again. We were cross tacked with Grey Goose a good few times until they finally had the kegs in us and broke away. It was a relief to finally round the cape and we made steady, if slow progress.
We decided that dinner in the move was the order of the day which was fortunate because as we approached the finish, the wind moved further aft and slowed the boat with the danger that we would not make the finish line before the time limit of 21:00. Nick called for the spinnaker to be hoisted and we made it over the line with 4 minutes to spare.
Nick and Maz went off to find a baker on Monday morning, but came back empty handed having found none of the bakeries in the internet open.
We met our fellow ralliers outside Vasco de Gama House and museum which had been opened especially for us. We were officially welcomed by the Chief Advisor to the mayor who also presented the prizes, this time for 6th, 4th and 2nd places. We were then free to look at the exhibits in the museum before a delicious buffet lunch which we all thoroughly enjoyed in the glorious sunshine.
A walk to Lidl was followed by a relax in the afternoon sun in the cockpit. Gwyn from Sea Crusader swam by and was joined by Maz. They swam in the harbour and were joined by 5 other ladies all of whom swam to the beach and enjoyed a natter. The water certainly felt cooler after sitting in the sun in the beach!
It was an early night in preparation for the 6:00 to 6:30 am start for the final leg to Lagos
Fair winds
Nick, Maz, Steve, Judith and Willy