Travel Diary #3 – From Porto to Tenerife

 - 15 April 2019 - Travel Diary

“Wait !? This is it : we are gone!”

We are sitting on the deck, a glass of Port wine in our hand, the sun is setting, the colors in the sky are amazing, we cannot see the land anymore. A wave of happiness flows through me and I smile. There is nowhere else I want to be.

It’s our first sailing trip. We were stuck in Porto for 10 days because of the weather and we were really looking forward to go. We still don’t know anything about sailing but there is one thing we understood really well: we will have to be patients! Plans change, there are always small things to fix, too much or not enough wind, an uncertain weather …

After only 2 days at sea, we already have to stop because of the engine: it does not want to start! And let’s go for another week waiting in Cascais, near Lisbon.

We leave again, hopefully this time it is for good… The wind is weak, but the boat is moving forward, swinging with the waves. Our body discovers what it is to be constantly challenged to maintain its balance. We sleep a lot and it’s quite hard to wake up for our night shifts. But once outside, we quickly forget our pillow. There is no moon, the night is black, and we can see thousands of stars all around us. It’s fantastic !

The days are passing by quickly, we rest a lot, we read, we knit, we study spanish, we play music and of course we laugh and talk a lot. Meals are becoming the key moments of the day, we almost argue to prepare them and each of us makes it a priority to demonstrate his or her talents. We never eat the same dishes and we enjoy every day a little more !

This trip is also an occasion for Edouard to experience the joys of seasickness… During almost 4 days he is really tired, he feels weak… and he is starting to wonder what the hell he is doing here ?

Luckily, dolphins are coming almost every day to remind him ! There are all around the boat, playing, jumping, racing with it… It’s the first time we see some : we are fascinated !

To remind us that sailing is not cruising, we still have the opportunity to experience a 48 hours storm. 3 to 4 meters waves, 40 knots gusts, an unexpected shower…We are cold, we are wet, but we laugh and we ask for more !

In the morning of day 8, we finally discover the amazing landforms of Tenerife island. Arriving by the sea and seeing land after more than a week surrounded by water is truly amazing.

This first overview confirms that we took the right decision: sailing is wonderful and we are even more impatients to embark for the big crossing !

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