And here we are β pent up in a plane, wearing a mask, flying 3 hours down to Portugal. Travel in Corona-times is annoying and brings up even more all these things we do not like about modern travel like a burning glass: Crowded places like a plane, annoying body scents, undercutting of personal minimum distances β¦ it was a mess.
But in a way also kind of healthful because it taught me a lesson to enjoy and cherish much more what makes sailing in a boat so beautiful: Being off the grid, being literally cut off from humanity, alone outside. After the trouble β and I am still trying to get back the money β with my first ticket being cancelled by whizzair I arrived without problems with Lufthansa in Porto.
A nice coincidence: My fellow crew mate Markus happened to having booked the same flight so we travelled together and got to know each other fairly good. As it turned out, Markus was as well part of a crew delivering one of the six Dufour yachts to the Canaries three years ago, a trip, I was as well part of where I got to know our skipper, Wilfried.
The sailing world is small, indeed. It was a hot summer day but a fresh breeze vented the harbor. I know Portogal from a past trip by bike some years ago and I instantly acknowledged the ultra-clean atmosphere, the sharp colors and the quality of air being push inland by the winds bringing clean, salty, fresh and cool winds from the Atlantic Ocean.
Wilfried welcomed us wholeheartedly and waved us to come to the boat. One of the old crew members who helped bring the boat to Porto was still on board, clearing his cabin for the new complement. She is a 37 feet yacht, Down below her interior is classy, very ship-like. I loved to see that some 15 years ago even production companies like Bavaria, supplying the reasonably-priced market, were making boats with such a fine quality in interior fitting: Rounded edges, lots of real, massive wooden parts.
