We arrived with the rising tide, having motored from Baiona, and there is quite some tide in the river. We were followed for the last few miles by an Irish boat that was steadily gaining on us. However, we rounded the harbour entrance first and prepped fenders as we motor upstream. The harbour master was on the waiting pontoon indicating we should moor there, which we did. No sooner had the lines gone ashore, than he was admonishing us for not calling beforehand. "Portuguese marinas are small, man. You need to call in advance. We have no room inside, so you'll have to stay here". Suited us fine :) The Irish yacht came in moored ahead of us. We had a brief chat, but there were a bit disparaging about the town and planned to move on the next day. I didn't like the forecast for the next week, so we planned to stay a while longer.

After a few hours we went to check in and meet with the famed officialdom. Turned out to be simple. Passports and yachts papers - not even proof of insurance was asked for, which beats Spain! There was the usual pay for 5 nights, get 7 and they also said they'd not charge us the 50% extra for catamarans as we were outside. Great!

The town itself is actually very nice. Plenty of restaurants (O Pipo being our favourite), lots of boutique shops and some lovely buildings. The magnificent Basilica is definitely worth a visit, and we took the funicular railway up for the bargain price of €3 return each. Once there, we climbed to the very top to get some photos (and nearly got blown away as the storms had arrived!) The marina is behind a little swing bridge for pedestrians and though it's only supposed to open hourly, and was stuck open during our stay. There's also a bridge by Eiffel. Yes, same one. Southerly winds really churn up the entrance. In fact the swell was able to reach right down to the waiting pontoon we were on, and as the tide fell, it got quite bouncy. In the end we had to move into the marina for the last couple of nights. The harbour guys couldn't have been more helpful!

The only minor wrinkle was the 5 for 7 deal. Our stay spanned the change between peak and low rates, which were treated as two separate stays by the computer, so they couldn't apply the deal. The weren't charging us the catamaran rate though, so it wasn't a problem. €21/night off peak is pretty good :)

Our first stop in Portgual was great. A bit longer than anticipated, but next up is Porto. We're motoring there at the moment - we managed some motor sailing earlier, but then the wind died. So we're having to make do with sunbathing on the trampolines. Think of us, suffering in the sun... :)