We are 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 sailing boat to Porto. the river entrance can be dangerous, waves and shallow and full of fishing boats, and there is no good opportunity to moor. in addition, the water is very polluted and the pilot reports that people have become ill by holding lines that have been lying in the water. in any case, we have ignored all these warnings and rely on a travel report of three other dutch boats that have also been lying here two years ago. we are more than rewarded for this. it is a wonderful place to lie down and sailing on the Duoro was 'peanuts' and a wonderful experience with the calm weather we had. we lie with the three boats 'serenely' next to each other; the Barbarossa as the largest and heaviest is first

The last few days in Spain are quietly passing by. The weather is a bit less and at one point even cold and we also have rain for the first time in weeks. Just when the children are skyping with the class. That skyping with the class is fantastic. We can see and hear the class very well and the class can hear and see us very well on the digital blackboard. First with Marinthe's class and teacher Fieke. Marinthe is completely impressed by seeing her classmates. Then Eline's class with a new master. Eline is very talkative and chats a hundred times. Yes, a nice experience thanks to the new techniques at the school and our boat.

With the ladies we are going to run again, along the fortress a nice round through the town. Toine has also been persuaded and buys sports shoes to run with the men, but that hasn't happened yet. The last evening in Baiona we all eat home-baked fries. Toine provides two large fries peeled and Ellen fries them in her frying pan under the hood on the Barbarossa. They taste delicious!

On Friday morning Sept. 18 we leave very early (4.30 a.m.) for the trip to Porto. It takes about 12 hours and so we are in Porto at high tide, which is good for sailing up the river and mooring at the quay. The first few hours the cock is dark and occasionally quite foggy. There is also little wind and we tussle on the engine with a small sail against rolling. We sail with the three boats at about the same speed and have each other constantly in the polling. In the afternoon the wind picks up a bit and we can sail for a couple of hours. I don't feel well all day and throw it on seasickness (which I normally never have). But later on in Porto I seem to have stomach flu and that bothers me especially the first evening and night and then fortunately not anymore. At the end of the afternoon we are in Porto. Everyone is tired from the trip and we all go to bed early.

The next day (yesterday) we all walk into town after breakfast. Porto is a beautiful old town with many small alleys and lots of ups and downs. The highlight is the beautiful high bridge over the Duoro from where we see our boats lying next to each other. In the afternoon Monica, Ellen, Koen and I go shopping and at the end of the afternoon all the adults go to Sandeman to taste port and the kids stay together on the boat to watch a movie. The 'port tasting rooms' are right across the street and are within walking distance. We've been away for about two hours, have tasted four kinds of port, had a tour in Portuguese and of course bought some bottles of port.

Both yesterday evening and this morning the church on the quay next to our boat holds a mass of about two hours which can be followed loud and clear from the boat. In the evening there is cozy party music from a tent on the other side until deep into the night. But luckily that doesn't stop us from getting a good night's sleep. There is also a lot of rowing and we see many skiffs, celebrations and even an eight rowing right by our side. All in all, a lot of fun!

This will be the last day together with these three boats for the time being. Tomorrow we and the Barbarossa will leave for Cascais (near Lisbon) for a 24 hour trip. The Valentine has more time and takes it easy. We will probably not see each other again on the Canary Islands until early November. We will certainly miss the fun.