On Saturday morning (Oct 24th) we say goodbye to Mom, Inge and Luc at 6.15 a.m. when they are picked up by a taxi to go to the airport. We look back on a very nice and valuable week. As well as...
Family reunion on Madeira
For a change, an (uncensored) travel report by a guest author. I (Inge) went on a week visit with mum and Luc, with a suitcase full of presents, herbs, malaria pills, books about Gambia and technical gadgets for the boat. Saturday October 17th...
Porto Santo
Porto Santo is a beautiful island, not so big, with volcanic peaks (700 meters), rough landscape full of cacti and a beautiful yellow sandy beach on the south side. There we are all alone at anchor just in front of the village. We bring a...
Crossing to Madeira
We leave Vila Real de San Antonio at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday morning for the crossing to Madeira of about 505 nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1.8 km), where we expect to cross 4 to 4.5 miles; the longest crossing...
The Algarve
Last week we explored the Algarve, which is very different from Spain or the west coast of Portugal. First of all it is warmer (25+ degrees) and also the seawater has a more comfortable temperature so...
The Portuguese west coast - little wind and lots of dolphins
From Porto we sail in two long stages of 30 and 24 hours to the Algarve (south coast of Portugal). These trips are characterized by little wind (where is the Portuguese North of 4-6 Bft. that is supposed to blow here?) and...
In the middle of Porto on the quay
We are located right in the centre of Porto on the quay wall which is not really intended for sailing boats. The Reeds and our other pilot advise against taking a sailboat to Porto. The river entrance can be dangerous,....
The last piece of Spain
At the moment we are in Baiona; the last Spanish place we visit before we go to Portugal. Last week we made very quiet and short sailing trips on sheltered water, which will be different soon, because....
Ria de Arosa
Ria de Arosa is a very beautiful Ria. We have had wonderful days here last week, together with the Valentine, the Barbarossa and the Nebulea. The Ria is a bit more to the south again than the previous Ria and that's just...
Portosin - Ria de Muros
We've been in Portosin for over 5 days now and that's a long time for us to do so, so it's starting to tickle to move on and it looks like we'll be going to Portosin tomorrow afternoon....
The Northern Ria's
We are in the marina of Portosin in Ria de Muros with good facilities such as a good internet connection and good washing machines. Today we are busy with all kinds of jobs. The girls do school first and Mira helps them....
La Coruna - Northern Spain
We have four wonderful days in La Coruna that for the first time feel like the real 'departing' life: messing around on our own boat, swimming in the harbour, hanging out with other departing boats and children going back and forth to each other...
In Spain
We arrived safe and sound in Spain after a trip of 57 hours. The last 28 hours we only sailed with in the beginning wind force 3 to 4 and the last few hours wind force 6 to 7 with gusts...
On the Bay of Biscay
We are currently sailing on the Bay of Biscay and are already well over half. The weather is fine. The wind is coming from behind and was very weak at first so we motored. But now such a wind force...
South Brittany
The south coast of Brittany is a beautiful sailing area. For a summer holiday already at a reasonable distance from the Netherlands, so we don't see many Dutch boats anymore. The area we actually wanted to do last year, so it's nice to see that after...