Position:  41:11.15N 08:42.30W

Leixos, Portugal

We hauled the anchor at daybreak (0800) on 18^th in a light drizzle which soon cleared.  Within 30 mins of Westing we were heading due South, straight down the coast.  The sun soon came out and we had a long day’s motorsail with very little wind down to Leixos, 62 miles from Bayona.  Luckily we were kept well entertained by numerous dolphins and for the first time we were able to get the girls up in the bow whilst the dolphins played – really magical as you are so close to them and the girls all loved it.

Who is watching who?  Dolphins off Portugal

After 11.5 hrs we arrived in Leixos where Zita from “Tyche” waved us into a berth.  This is a dirty marina at the side of a large commercial port with fishing, oil/gas and a large container port right next door.  There was a mish-mash of boats including some which had clearly been there for a few years and weren’t going anywhere soon.  Writing this a bit further down the coast, Portuguese marinas seem to be more like add-ons to fishing ports than the shiny purpose-built jobbies of France or the more solid ones in Spain.  I expect it is only a matter of time – I quite like it!

We had a drink in a bar close to the marina then fell in with the “Dutch village” for a large feast at a local restaurant.  The food was excellent – sardines & sea bass – and the kids all feasted on freshly-cooked crisps.  English seems more widely-spoken in Portugal than in Spain, which is nice for us, and the people are incredibly friendly and helpful.

With hangovers, we got up the next day and I took our gas bottles off to the nearby gas refinery and managed to get them filled for €16 for 3 (plus €18 for the taxi) – a bargain and a relief as we were close to running out on our last gas bottle.  3 bottles have lasted the 2 & a half months since leaving England.  This should now last us to the Canaries, which is good.

Leixos is just outside Porto, Portugal’s 2^nd city and the home of Port wine, my favourite.  All the Port producers still have lodges on the south side of the river where the port is warehoused in barrels before being shipped around the world.  It is funny to see Taylors, Grahams, Sandemans and other brands here.  Most of them do tours and tastings so we headed on the bus into Porto.

Unfortunately travelling with small children in a big city is tough and Porto especially so because it is very hilly and very dirty.  By the time we had walked from the bus stop down to the river the girls were on their last legs and it was obvious we weren’t going to be able to drag them round a port lodge tour as well, so reluctantly we headed home but resolved to return the next day.

The other boats all pushed on the next day but we stayed and headed into Porto again and made a beeline for Taylors.  Despite the fact that it was Saturday and therefore the tour was not open, there is a superb restaurant on their site and we had a wonderful lunch looking out over Porto.  Our waiter was good enough to give us a private lesson on port and a tasting of the “Chip white” (sherry as far as I was concerned – Sarah loved it), LBV (love it) and Tawny 20yr (also love it) and we rolled back down the hill in a very mellow state!  Getting home was a bit of a struggle after getting on the wrong bus, then Jemima needing a wee halfway home – all jolly good fun (afterwards)

River Douro, Porto