Monte Real Club de Yates

We had a very gentle and pleasant motor up to Bayona from Povoa de Varzim. Sunshine and flat seas all the way. Very nice, except for the fact that the Iron sail was slaving away once again.

Moored up on the fuel/reception pontoon, and then filled up with diesel (310 litres). That is 761 litres of diesel to get from Lagos to here. Ouch, this is a sailing boat!!

We moored stern too, on berth A13, which is quite near to the Club house. (Position 42 degrees 07 mins North, 8 degrees 50 mins West.) We did “pop in” for a night cap. Just as before they have Lagavullin single malt whisky, and they use brandy balloons for them. They also do their best to fill them. Must have been a quadruple measure for which we were charged Euro 8. Unlike the last visit (remember Lou?), we were sensible this time, and just had the one.

Bayona is a thriving tourist centre and much busier now than it was in June. It is also famous as the first place that Christopher Columbus stopped at in 1493 upon his return from the New World. So there is a replica of the Pinta next to the marina. The place has a very “safe” feel to it and this marina is more like a gentleman’s club.

Trotted off to the open market, this morning, got a kilo of prawns with French sticks to cook for lunch. Then to the supermarket to reprovision the boat. This is a painless business here as the supermarket delivers the provisions directly onto your boat, providing you spend more than 50 Euros.

Relaxing day today, checking all boaty things, and still ploughing through Jane Fonda’s autobiography. What an amazing lady she is.

A planning day tomorrow, for the next 10 days in the Spanish Rias. We have been given some fantastic guidance by Graham & Meredith from The Grateful Parrot , who have been here for the last few weeks. Final stop in Spain will be La Coruna, where we hope do meet up with Chris & Sally Longstaff from Moondance, who are on their way south to join Rally Antigua (Oh what lucky people).

Now for dinner………….