In mid-March, Mareike returns to Spain and brings distinguished company with her. Her mother will be joining us for ten days. Their flight lands in Porto, where they stay for three nights before I pick them up with the hire car and bring them to Viveiro.

Porto impresses with its magnificent hillside setting.

The Douro, which a thousand years ago served as a border river between the Christian- and Muslim-controlled parts of the Iberian Peninsula, winds its way right through the city.

Surprisingly, many prime plots with the best views are unused or occupied by dilapidated buildings.

Graffiti – of the ugly, crude variety – dominates the cityscape in some areas. Even historic buildings are not spared.

At least one can be grateful that the mighty bridges are made of steel constructions, similar to the Eiffel Tower, and therefore offer little in the way of attractive spray surfaces.

These scribbles stand in stark contrast to the beautiful wall tiles that adorn many buildings and give the city its distinctive character.

We sample the local cuisine. Francesinha, a toast with beef, tomato sauce and a blanket of melted cheese, tastes good but is not exactly a culinary revelation. The pastel de nata – puff pastry tartlets with a creamy filling – are the real highlight for us. We have been big fans of these pastries for many years, and here they taste best – or at least that is what we like to believe.

Back on the boat, the week of visits flies by. The weather during this time is rather mixed.

In the last post I mentioned our new SUP board. Mareike gives the new craft a try as well, and things unfold exactly as one might expect. Standing on one leg is notoriously difficult. May I introduce: salmon and mackerel.

After my mother-in-law has returned to Germany, the start of the season is just around the corner. During the winter months we were not completely stationary (as we had been the year before in Scotland), but we did spend most of the time in harbour.

That is about to change. On 26 March we leave the shelter of the harbour basin and switch back into travel mode: few nights in marinas, plenty of time at anchor. We have no fixed destination for the season. Perhaps we will make it as far as the Mediterranean this year. Maybe we will spend another winter in southern Portugal or Spain. We will let ourselves be surprised.

The first day of the journey brings more excitement than hoped for. The propeller of our “companion boat”, the Antares, gets tangled in the line of a fishing buoy. After a short while they manage to cut themselves free. Fortunately, no further damage is done to the drive. Even though we are not directly affected, the situation causes a noticeable rise in pulse rate. Buoys are particularly difficult to spot in swell and unfavourable light conditions, and such mishaps can happen quickly. Apart from this incident, the start of the season goes smoothly.

During the winter months we had plenty of fun and enjoyment, ...

...but nevertheless we find it incredibly liberating to be on the move again.

Our next major intermediate destination is the bay of A Coruña. On the way there we make a stop in the spacious anchorage off Cedeira.

The Ría Condomiñas, which flows into the bay here, cannot be explored very far even with shallow-draught boards.

But those few hundred metres are truly something special. Lots of geese, dense reed beds, overhanging trees – even a kingfisher makes an appearance. Wonderful!

Almost in the bay of A Coruña, we turn off “one turn too early” and spend several nights in front of the San Felipe fortress. As the name already suggests, we like it there extraordinarily well.

Ship traffic to Ferrol and the associated waves are only rarely a nuisance. The view of the historic structure right next to the anchorage and the friendly neighbourhood more than make up for it.

Climbing very high on our list of favourite anchorages is this spot, aided by animal company. Manoliño, a large bottlenose dolphin that has lived alone in these waters for years, pays us a visit.

He chews on the lines of our boards and wants to play with them, but of course they are firmly secured to the boat.

He lifts his head out of the water and looks Mareike, who is kneeling on the bathing platform, deep in the eyes at close range. An experience she will not forget any time soon.

We have already visited A Coruña several times by hire car, but each stay was short and purely functional. There was never time for a leisurely stroll through the old town. Now we take advantage of a period with particularly little wind and even venture into the outer bay.

It is open to the Atlantic and usually not suitable for lingering. As an anchorage, it is marked neither on the nautical charts nor in the usual apps.

A small residual swell reaches the sandy beach even on this calm day. The waves are not high, but sufficient to give Mareike an extra round back to the boat to get new clothes.

In the second attempt, we make it dry to the tapas bar.

Actually, the hope was to be able to spend a night here, surrounded by the lights of the city.

Unfortunately, wind, rain and swell come up in the afternoon and we break up quickly, back to the fortress named after me .

It was at least enough for a few souvenir photos and the old town visit, so we don't want to complain.

It is quite enough for me to be the namesake for the fortress. So that this does not apply to the coming coastal section, we wait several days for suitable weather conditions, because what now follows is the Costa da Morte, so the Coast of Death.

It is quite enough for me to be the namesake of the fortress. To ensure this does not apply to the next stretch of coast, we wait several days for suitable weather conditions, because what follows now is the Costa da Morte – the Coast of Death.