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 unfortunately a lot of engines. What makes it good is that these are quiet trips over a relatively flat sea and that we see a lot of dolphins very often. Dolphins swim in large groups and cross our course. Some of the group temporarily swim with our boat just in front of the bow. They jump and play with the bow of our boat. A beautiful spectacle and a pleasure to watch. At night they are also good to see, they give light underwater. These two trips we sail together with the Barbarossa and that is very pleasant.

We have regular contact over the radio. The 2nd trip the Barbarossa's autopilot is broken and they have to steer themselves, but they can sail well behind our light and that's easier than steer themselves on compass. The nights are going well and we get used to the waiting and start to develop a rhythm that suits us well. Toine waits between 22.00 and 1.00 and between 4.00 and 7.00 hours. I take over between 1.00 and 4.00 and 7.00 and 10.00. So we both sleep about 5 to 6 hours and that's enough.

The first trip takes us from Porto to Cascais in 30 hours. The first part we grumble, on the wind that is not there and on the waves that push our boat from left to right. After a few hours we have a good sail lining (clovering) and the boat is quieter. But then Marinthe gets sick and has to vomit four times in a row. No seasickness (fortunately), but exactly the same stomach flu I had. To make matters worse the toilet gets clogged up in the evening and Toine spends an hour in that little booth on a moving boat to make it. Luckily he gets
that for each other, what a hero! We'll be treated to the first dolphin show right after. That makes up for a lot. The night continues well and in the early morning we sail along the islands in front of Peniche in the direction of Cabo Raco (land point just before Lisbon). The rest of the day we get about four dull lines around us. Just before Cascais, around Cabo da Raco we suddenly get wind force 6, while the whole day it has been maximum wind force 2. This is due to the quay effect (wind blows hard around the tip of the land) and then it is just as spectacular sailing.

Cascais is a nice luxury resort with a beautiful beach and a large bay where many 'fellow travellers' are anchored. We notice that we are coming more south; suddenly there is a warmer wind, we can sit outside until late in the evening and the boat is no longer humid in the morning. Wednesday the 23rd of September it is again a normal school day and we catch up the day before (we haven't done school yet, we will soon). We finally meet the Tangaroa we last saw in Veere. They come for coffee and that is nice. They have two little girls (2 and 0 years old); how happy I am that we have all those big independent girls, that's a lot easier. In the afternoon we go shopping in a huge supermarket. So big with so much choice, we've never experienced that before. The advantage is that they have Calvé peanut butter and Remia mayonnaise. So we buy 'big'. In the evening we also meet the Aquarius again and have a drink together. We do miss the Valentine!

The day after we go together with the Barbarossa by train to Lisbon. That is only 20 minutes and then we can stay at this anchorage instead of taking the boat to Lisbon ourselves. We take the gas cylinders with us, because they are empty and 'Carlo' can fill them from the harbour in Lisbon (we cook on gas). Very illegal. The gas bottles are well packed and we take them with us on the train. It goes very smoothly. First we drop off the gas cylinders and then we enter the city. First we walk a bit and then we take the bus and tram 28. This is a little tram that runs through the whole of Lisbon, up and down all the narrow streets. A very nice trip. We had understood that it is free and so we just sit down without paying. Afterwards we see people buying tickets, wouldn't it be free? Well, then we're out. We have a delicious lunch with fish, meat and a beer in a real Portuguese tent. Afterwards we climb to the castle and there we have a beautiful view over the city. Then it's time to pick up the gas cylinders again. Carlo is a bit worried that we want to go back by train and offers to take us back with his van. And so all of a sudden we're with 8 of us in a van in the busy rush hour traffic from Lisbon to Cascais. That's all going well too and it was a lovely and pleasant day.

On Friday we make it a long school day. Toine helps the kids and I go shopping with Ellen (some summer clothes on sale) and in the afternoon to the hairdresser. Yeah, that should do it too. An hour later and 45 euros poorer I'm outside again. Not entirely satisfied, but Toine thinks it is well cut. OK then. We get a text from Valentine that they're on their way to Cascais. And so at the beginning of the evening we have a drink together again, with the Barbarossa as well (the 3 musketeers).

We decide to celebrate Marinthe's birthday a day earlier so the Valentine can be there too. On Saturday morning Sept. 26 Marinthe gets her present from us; the castle of Harry Potter 5 of lego. That is very well appreciated. Two days later the castle has been built many times and demolished again. Toine bakes a delicious apple pie and at 11 o'clock we get the Valentine, the Barbarossa and the Tangaroa on our birthday visit. Eline and I had made garlands and the boat is nicely decorated. It is a cozy place. After lunch we leave for the 2nd long trip to Lagos. Unfortunately without the Valentine and they don't like that at all. Well, this trip also includes saying goodbye to people who have become dear to you (and meet again later).

We have a great trip with again a lot of dolphins. This time with windless weather so we can see them very well under water. A bit further on we see very calm big fish with rounded fins swimming in front of us. Those look like small whales. Also very special! In the night we quietly tuck in and during the watches we listen to music and Toine even watches a movie on the laptop. Rounding Cabo San Vincento is a breeze with this weather. We can sail very close to it with little seaway. The 1st anchor bay is not a success; there we roll too much, so we decide to sail on to Lagos. There we spend the whole afternoon anchored off a beautiful coast with high cliffs and caves. Ellen's parents are visiting. We sail in two dinghies (Koen van de Barbarossa with us) along the coast into the caves. A beautiful sight. Afterwards we go to the beach. Once on the boat the four of us have a drink on Marinthe's birthday. In between we call Inge, mom and the rest of the family celebrating Inge's birthday in the Netherlands. Both phones on the speakers and then we are just as close to each other. We eat homemade fries with a nice piece of meat. A real birthday meal. Because it is too open for the night we go together with the Barborassa at the waiting dock of the marina. We have another drink with each other and Marinthe and Eline are having a great time with Giel. Just before noon we go to bed, also the kids. And so we look back on a very successful birthday weekend.

The coming week we will make short day trips along the Algarve to the east.