'Fig Foz' appears to be a lovely town but we've decided to have a day off from sightseeing and instead catch up on some of the important chores like food shopping and washing clothes :-(

Since leaving Rochefort we've shopped 'little and often' when the opportunity allowed but recently we've become a bit lax and lived off our onboard stores. A visit to the local 'Pingo Doce' supermarket resulted in two trolleys full of food, milk, soft drinks and booze! The return trip back was really hard work - It's amazing how the weight soon adds up and pulling trolleys over the small uneven cobbled paving didn't do us any good in the heat of the mid-morning sun.

The afternoon was far more relaxing. We cooked fresh mackerel on our 'Abu-smoker'. The 'smoked' effect is truly delicious especially when served with a chilled bottle of local Portuguese wine 'Vino Verte' (thanks, Simon and Jenny) - it was certainly a lazy afternoon :-).



As coincidence would have it we were moored next door to Nigel of 'Sea Brigand' a Bowman 45. We first met Nigel in Kingswear Marina, Dartmouth 2-3 years ago where he was spending the winter before heading off to Scotland. Now he's here in Portugal about to return back to Southampton - it's a small world. It was lovely to catch up with him albeit all too briefly. Thanks again Nigel for the Mediterranean charts you gave us, they will prove most useful.

The evening was spent aboard 'Pala' chatting with Ken & Elizabeth (they too are travelling South towards Gibraltar and the Med), Gordon & Valerie off 'Celtic Warrior' and Danielle & Graham off 'Nutcracker'. 'Celtic Warrior' and 'Nutcracker' provided us with some excellent advice given that they've cruised Portugal, the Algarve and Western Med extensively for many years - thanks again all!