Live Update!: November 1, 2022 (Patreon)

Hi guys!

We made it to Porto! We left our anchorage at the top of Ria Vigo on Saturday, anchored in Baiona for the night, then headed out early Sunday. It was about 60nm. We planned it so we would get in before dark, but we were hit with a time change double whammy that we had no idea about. Daylight saving ended Sunday, and there is an hour time difference between Spain and Portugal. The funny and sad thing is we didn’t even notice until Sunday evening when the sun started going down way earlier than we expected 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♂️😝Since the Portuguese coast is littered with fishing nets, we decided to pull into the Marina just north of Porto. It was not the greatest marina. Very rolly and not so clean. But any port a storm, right?! We woke up early this morning and headed to Marina Douro, where we are now 😊 We will stay here until Friday, it looks like, and then make the three-leg journey down to Lisbon 👍

Also, a free Port tasting is included with this Marina! What?! I love a good deal 💪 Can’t wait to share how it goes with you guys.

See you! (Imitating Mads 😉),

Ava

Captain Nemo! In one of Mads' favorite books, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, they come to the top of Ria De Vigo to look for treasure from the Battle of Rand in 1702. This was a very cool statute to commemorate that. The scuba diver is fully submerged under water at high tide. 

This was a plaque to honor the book on the island.

One of the reasons why I was excited to go to San Simon Island was because it is very small but filled with a ton of history. There was a monastery on the Island for hundreds of years. Then, it was used to quarantine maritime travelers. During the Spanish Civil War, it held prisoners of war fighting for democracy. After, Francisco Franco used it as a vacation hostel for his guards. Then, in the 1950's it was an orphanage for children of sailors and families with low resources. For such a tiny place, it packs a big historical punch. This building above was used to house officers and some prisoners during the civial war. Later, it would be used by the orphanage. 

This bridge connects the larger (I use that term loosely) island of San Simon to the small island of San Anton. 

This is the Larzetto or Pest house on San Anton island. This was built in 1842 when the island quarantined maritime travelers. 

At each end of the island, there are these buildings that look like greenhouses. They are gazebo-like places that were great for waiting out the rain. 

These are Galicia boxwood trees (buxus sempervirens). They are estimated to be around a hundred years old. 

This building was built by, I believe, on of the ministries. 

Here is a shot of the San Anton side across the bridge from the dinghy.