We had the good fortune to have our paths cross with Overlord whilst still in Lisbon. On the day our repaired sails were delivered, the last of the Portugal guests left and the Overlord crew were in town. We met up and had a meal with Steph, Hilary, Judith and John Scatchard, accompanied by a couple of experienced salty sea dogs and shared experiences of our sail down. With three Overlord skippers on board there were lots of good suggestions and advice coming to us, which we are very grateful for. The following day we fitted our sails and made the short passage west to the new marina and small town of Oeiras. It was a real breath of fresh air after the other Portuguese marinas. The manager didn’t seem to be able to do enough ... read more

So now having got ourselves here, it all felt a bit underwhelming at first having left Viana da Castello and all that it had to offer. We find ourselves in Leixoes marina close to Porto feeling and sounding quite industrious, the city itself being a bus ride away. It is impossible to be in Porto and not taste the Port wine. We found the most idyllic location to taste their varieties, in the grounds of a stately home looking out over the city, the river Douro and out to sea. Ah, this is the life. That was all after a rather unexpected encounter with a blind man in the park. He was looking for his bus stop and couldn’t find his way out of the park with his stick alone and was looking for help. The ... read more

On arriving in Bayona we finally got the Bimini up with Pete’s craft and John’s logic a great team working together. The bimini created welcome shade from the continual intense heat. Bayona itself is steeped in nautical history. It was part of what must have been a race in the 15th century when boats were returning across the Atlantic with news from the Americas. The first of these boats to make it back from the new world was a boat called La Pinta which returned to Bayona. We toured round one of the replica. It’s something that Bayona appears to be incredibly proud of and rightfully so. We spent time wandering round the town itself to soak up its atmosphere. Ate well and savoured the local wine (wouldn’t it be rude not to!). A spot of ... read more

In honour of our achievement and the country that had just won the world cup, we spent a full day in La Coruna. This felt all very well deserved. We spent time wandering around the town soaking up the atmosphere exploring its different facades of city and beaches. There was an amazing moon rise of the moon looking blood red. I’m afraid I didn’t manage to take a photo of it, so you’ll have to take our word for it. We also just happened to be there on the Galicean festival weekend, so after a hearty meal we went to check out the folk bands of bagpipes and north African drums playing. It was plain to see the Arabic influence at the fayre and the dress of the drummers and dancers. On the Sunday morning we ... read more

Pete and Eamonn arrived on Friday evening we all went for something to eat with Elaine. Saying goodbye to Elaine felt a bit emotional. It feels like we’ve been spending months saying farewell to people, since we left work and gradual doing the rounds to see people before we head off between getting things done. Saying goodbye to Elaine was the last of these and it all felt a bit poignant. The morning after, following the safety brief, there was our momentous departure from Shamrock Quay. We filmed the departure to try to capture some of the sentiment felt in the significance of the occasion, but I’m sure it would really be able to do it justice. It was a steady sail to Calshot spit before the weather turned into a force 6 on the nose ... read more