Fw: Porto 41:08.7N 8:40.8W
Lotus
Sat 26 Sep 2009 10:35
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As I write this blog we are well on our way to
Peniche having done a night sail from Porto. The sky is blue, the sea is
calm and the cruising shoot is up. Unfortunately, the self steering gear
isn't doing much self steering! We left
Porto having spent a fabulous night moored up against the old town harbour - it
is not possible to get a more central location.  
^
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That's our boat!
Porto is a lovely old town full of historical
buildings and is the center for all the Port houses established in the 16th
century. We went on a free tour around 'Taylors' Port house (most of the
port houses were set up by British families but only 'Taylors' remains 100%
British owned). After the tour we did a litte bit of sampling and relaxed
in their garden terrace which had fluffy white chickens, a peacock and some
peahens running around. We helped ourselves to more than our allocated
share of tasters - well we didn't want to see it go to waste. After a
leisurely lunch and a sneaky post port nap we set out. From the off,
the self steering gear wasn't working properly and quickly drove us both
mad. As darkness fell the wind dropped and we had to motor for a
while. One benefit of this is that the sound of the motor seems to
encourage dolphins and sure enough we weren't disappointed when half a
dozen or so appeared around 5am. With it being a new moon the night
was dark and it was like being attacked by torpedos whose wake and trail through
the water shone with bio luminescence like rockets through the sky. An
awesome sight!
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