October 9th, at around 09:00 UTC we crossed the border with Portugal and changed the courtesy flag. We were welcomed by 15 kts of wind and a pack of dolphins that came playing at our bow. We had all sails out including the stay sail and doing 8 kts over ground.

Crossing the border also meant we had to change our watch. Portugal is an hour behind Spain. It then struck me how much my life had changed since we had left. Time was of no importance anymore. It really didn’t matter what time it was and actually it didn’t matter what day it was too! I remembered telling someone leaving Brighton that we weren’t coming back again. He too was a sailor and obviously a bit jealous, but the realization that I was leaving Brighton now and not to come back was striking. Whenever I set sail before, I always knew that I had to return at some point rather soon. Eventually we’d be back but that would be sometime next year. To me, time and days was of no importance any more, had lost all meaning. That gave me an indescribable feeling of freedom. I really did step into another world and it changed my life.

Soon after we crossed the border the wind dropped to 3 kts and we motor sailed for a while. Then the wind picked up a bit but from the East. It was a broad to beam reach so we set the gennaker. By the time we had it set, the wind had backed to North-West so we set it on the pole. That didn’t last too long either…. and we were back to motor sailing. Sometime later we could sail again with the spinnaker this time. This time the wind stayed steady for about the rest of the afternoon and we really enjoyed the sail. After some 70 or so Nm we arrived in Leixoes and moored up, finding the office to be closed till next morning.