Baiona to Porto

Altea
Sat 3 Aug 2013 21:47
41:11:14N 08:42:28W

We treated ourselves to another day in Baiona, dinghy in to the pontoons by the town quay this time and a walk round the walls of the castle, which is now a very nice looking Parador hotel. Lunch was on the castle wall overlooking the bay. There are loads of yachts on the water. We all say how impressed we are with the general ambience, the climate and the spectacular view - it would be worth revisiting one day.

The climate is worth a mention. It is very pleasant. Hot in the sun, but step into the shade and the Atlantic breeze is cool and refreshing.

An hour or two on the beach - L and J even go for a swim - and we have frozen yoghurt (pretty much like ice cream) on the way back to the dinghy...which is on a pontoon that is now closed and locked.

Led by Richard we climb round the fence and all is well. The crew of Silverbird, a Norwegian yacht had the better idea of mooring to the steps of the harbour wall, and we make a mental note to get some small fenders for the dinghy so that we can do the same in future.

We seem to be in the habit of leaving places in the evening, and off we go again. Learning from the previous trip and with a bit further to go we set off a bit earlier at 18:15 heading for Leixoes just north of Porto. We experiment with different ways of rigging a gybe preventer. None completely successful. As night falls we stick with genoa only, with wind behind us. We make an average of about 6 knots, which is fine for this trip.

We arrived at Leixioes, a marina just north of Porto, at first light. With an oil refinery next door, it is not quite the same as Baiona, but it is secure and very reasonably priced, so a good place to refill the water tank and recharge the batteries (ie the boat batteries...our personal ones seem fine). It is also a good place to leave the boat so that we can visit Porto, which is not really yacht friendly itself.

We get sorted and then take a walk and the Metro into Porto, and enjoy the town centre very much. On the North side the steep old streets have the same faded grandeur that I would expect to see in Cuba (not that I have ever been). The dramatic iron suspension bridge dominates one end of the water front, and the old port houses (Sandemans etc) line the South side of the river.
A good fish lunch on the walkway above the main strip, with some live music and a great view.

Boys leap from the suspension bridge into the fast running waters of the river Douro and then ride the current down to a pontoon further down.

Several drumming troops battle it out on the promenade, in an impressive and noisy display that we dont fully understand - with the head of Jesus being carried by one person, followed by a clown.

We take a freebie tour of the Krohn port house, and after tasting the four varieties - dry and sweet white, ruby and tawny - we toddle back through a circuitous route, mainly upwards, to the Metro and head home. We cheat and grab a taxi from the Metro station to the Marina. We all seem to be a bit tired and maybe those batteries need topping up too.

Next day, the 5th, we say goodbye to Richard. Richard had joined us in the Solent, to complete our crew, which had been beefed up for Biscay. James, an experienced round the world sailor had joined us at Ramsgate, and with Richard we were now five.

James left us at La Caruna and now it was time for Richard to return home. We are very grateful for their help with the night watches and their good company and counsel. And the occasional bad joke.

The excitement for today was rounded off by success in having the gas bottles refilled - although it was a shame that the taxi fare was more than the gas - and picking up some laundry. First time in a long time that my underpants have been ironed and folded.

Tomorrow we are off in the morning, bound for Cascais, north of Lisbon. It should be a 36 hour trip, and we fancy sailing in the daylight for a change. All being well we will pick up Stephen, whose flight is due into Lisbon on Thursday.

I will try to file some photos before too long.