Next stop going south was Sines. Distance about 70 miles,  so we left Lisbon early in the morning. A few hours to go sailing today! Around 8 o’clock we untied the lines. Goodbye Lisbon! And what a beautiful sighting when we sailing out of the marina! The colours of the sky were really amazing! When going east the sky is orange and yellow coloured and when we turned onto the river Tagus, going west, the sky is blue! Have a look at the photos. It’s all set in time so you can see the difference in the colours. Amazing! It was a perfect day. We set the main and gennaker, set the fishing rods, and off we were. We had a great sail and we arrived at Sines around 17.00. When you enter the sheltered marina area, there is a long sandy bay/beach area in front of you. On your port-hand side there is a small fishing port and on the star side, you find the marina of Sines. We decided to stay on anchor that night. Tried 3 times to drop the anchor but it did not hold properly so we tried again. It’s sort of soft grounds but finally, we managed to stay where we were. We stayed on board and made a nice dinner and we enjoyed the beautiful sunset. What a perfect day again. So good! We did not leave EIGHT to explore Sines. But there are a few things you can visit.

Sines
Sines is not touristic and you know immediately why. Sines is an industrial town dominated by its oil refinery with its towers and pipelines, and the deep sea port with its huge container ships and tankers. The water here is fairly polluted and the air, not a great deal better. Sines is originally a small fishing village, but due to the rise of tourism and industry this has changed a lot. The biggest attraction of the picturesque village is the medieval castle, which was built above the bay. According to stories, the son of Vasco Da Gama was born here. Nowadays you can still visit the ruins of the castle. In addition, the so-called monuments of Vasco Da Gama can be admired in the old town centre. The Festival Músicas do Mundo is the largest music spectacle in Portugal, which is organized annually in Sines in the last weekend of July. With the castle in the background and a great diversity of cultural expression, this festival is a true experience. Alas, we missed that!