41:22.28N 08:45.90W

Bayona turned out to be a really good place to stop after a long passage.  It’s a large marina with good facilities, and close to the interesting parts of town (where the bars and restaurants are!)

We ended up staying 3 nights, with the weather getting steadily hotter – up to 28^oC.  I gather this was part of a Europe-wide heatwave, also in UK?

We managed some provisioning – enough for the next few days as we expect to be coast-hopping now for a while and enjoyed beers and tapas in the town.

The Castle ‘Monte Real’ which gives its name to the marina, being right next door, was duly explored – amazing views from the ramparts….

As the weather was so hot, we decided to decamp from Bayona a few hours ahead of plan and opted for a night sail some 55 miles down the coast to Povoa de Varzim in Portugal.  We ended up leaving at about 7pm and going as slowly as possible so we could arrive in daylight. Mission accomplished, but strangely not as relaxing as being offshore as more stuff to hit....

Having dolphins surface alongside unannounced in the dark was a whole new experience!

Now we are well in to cruising mode; just a very short hop to Porto on Tuesday, and then mostly day sailing onwards down the coast although the ARC felt a little more real on arrival here, as in order to get the ARC negotiated marina discount, we are required to fly the ARC flag.

Portugal already seems a lot cheaper than Spain, we visited the Saturday market, stocked up on some Veg, and excellent patisserie before getting into beers and a spot of lunch. 

Interesting architecture….

This morning dawned dull and cloudy.  A welcome relief from the heat, but not inspiring us to more exploring.  We are off out to see if we can find some dinner, but being Sunday, who knows??!!!

That’s it for now.  Next update ‘soon’!