We are moored in the marina of Portosin in Ria de Muros, which has excellent facilities such as a good internet connection and excellent washing machines. So today we are busy with all kinds of chores. The girls first go to school and Mira helps them and in between she does the laundry. At some point, the boat is filled with laundry from three machines to dry; a colourful sight. Well, it dries so fast here in the sun.

Toine examines the mainsail. The smallest batten has broken off at the top and made a hole in the sail. A sailmaker is not to be found here, only 40 km away. But when we remove the sail, it turns out that we can fix it ourselves. Mira sews a new piece on it by hand. The batten is beyond repair. The question is what we are going to do with it. But it gives a good feeling to repair our sail ourselves!

We have spent the last six days with the Valentine in the anchor bays of the northern Ria. Thanks to the wind generator and the water maker we are completely self-supporting and we can keep anchoring for a long time. We even manage to pick up a net regularly thanks to our strong WIFI antenna. This has become a sport for Toine and is often his first activity when we are moored somewhere.

From Lage we leave for Ria de Camarinas. A trip of about 4 hours with very little wind but big waves, at least 4 m we estimate. Sailing is good but it rolls a lot. Once we arrive in Camarinas we anchor in the harbour and the Barbarossa turns out to be there as well. That's another good reason for a drink, this time with all of us at the Waterman.

The next day the four of us take a long walk to the tip of the island, Cabo Vilanno with the Villano lighthouse on top. A beautiful walk along rough coastlines. Not for nothing this coast is called Costa del Mortes (the coast of death). It is a notorious piece of sea where many ships have sunk in bad weather. Once back in the village we grab a nice Spanish lunch. The girls like the Spanish food too, especially the big shrimps you have to peel yourself. Then we go out to buy some extra gas supplies. After 5 weeks we already used the first half of our stock. Back on the boat we anchor at a nice beach a bit further down the Ria, just like the Valentine did. That is a lot quieter than the harbour where the fishing boats pass by at full speed with big waves.

The next day we do a trial day at school on request of the girls. Mira reviews all the material together with them and together we make a planning until the autumn holidays. And the first math tasks are made. In the afternoon we go to the beach with Valentine. The wind has started to blow (5/6) but we don't notice anything on the sheltered beach. All the more so when Monica and I take the dinghy to the town to do some shopping. We manage to go there with the wind behind us, but on the way back with the wind blowing, we take on a lot of water and we arrive at the boat soaking wet but laughing. Will we be able to go out to dinner together in the evening, as planned? Yes, and that is very cosy and delicious. It just clicks, even between the children! A small problem after dinner: the dinghies are hanging in the rocks. The water has sunk a little more than we had expected. Daniel and Toine save the boats from the mud while the ladies are laughing their heads off. A great finale to a wonderful evening together!

The next day is Sunday. First we have breakfast with an egg and then we leave for a quiet trip around cape de Finisterre to the bay of Finisterre. The first part of the trip we can sail, but then the wind drops and we have to use the engine for the last stretch along this impressive coast. At the beginning of the evening we drop anchor in a bay where we are all alone with Valentine. What a peace and quiet around us. We are all ready for a quiet day and we stay on our own boat. In the evening we spend a long time reading in the cockpit. This is really a wonderful life!

The next day (which is yesterday) we really started school. It is raining anyway and the girls like it. For our planning it also works out well. We start a week earlier than the Sporckt because Mom, Inge and Luc come to visit in the autumn holidays of the middle of the Netherlands. And now we have lovely quiet days in the Ria and later in Portugal. Short pieces of sailing of about 20-30 miles and then 2 or 3 days in the same area. Then it's nice to do school in the morning and in the afternoon go to the beach, walk or sail a bay further. Later on, there will probably be sailing days with a sea swell that makes it not nice to do school.

We're already getting into a nice 'departures'-rhythm and we can imagine how that will be in the coming year. Yes, we enjoy it very much and realize how special it is what we can and may do on this journey. Especially now that many people in the Netherlands are back from their holidays and are fully occupied with their work.