Journey from Bayona to Leixoes
At 12pm Portuguese time we saw Viana do Castelo, but also the wind came up from the north. Following some discussion we decided to take advantage of the wind and carry on to Porto (Leixoes) which we could still reach before dark. The wind steadily increased, and the spinnaker we had put up was creaking a bit by the time we reached our destination as the wind had reached a F6 and Spinalonga was making over 8 knots! On the way we also saw a tanker from some distance away which was making repeated large course changes across our bow which was very worrying. After a little time we were able to see what looked like a tug behind it. Its course eventually settled down and it passed us offshore being towed by the tug. As we passed it the tug left the tanker at anchor, I don’t know what was to become of it next!
We reached Leixoes at teatime, and went into the marina. Welcome to Portugal!
To celebrate our arrival and Nigel’s birthday the following day, we went to a posh restaurant for dinner. We were impressed by the standard of English of the staff, a change from Galicia. We had a good 3 course meal and a good bottle of wine and coffee for 50 Euros, which isn’t out of the way for us back home but apparently by Portuguese standards it is expensive!The next day 1st June (Nigel’s birthday) we stayed on the boat and tidied up.