2 Trips

Two days ago we did a river trip up the Rio Grande by dinghy. We got as far as the town & found a nice bar in th sun. On the way we stoppd at a beach on th river (photos). It took me 3 hrs to row upriver against the tide - Susi took less than two to row back (& I haven't heard the last of it!).

Still in Camariñas. Yesterday we took a rare inland trip by bus to Santiago de Compostella - a lovely old town full of bars, cafes & restaurants. Oh, there is a cathedral there too.

sag mal!

Pls re-read the sub-title to this blog.I think it says something about going where the skies are blue and the seas warm. Well that aint here!! I tell you, while sitting out our 2nd gale at anchor yesterday I almost missed my safe and warm offi¡ce back in Hamburg!

Anyway, feeling much more upbeat today after a few beers in the marina bar & some nice talky bits with some of the other yachties, one of whom we had met in La Coruña.

La Coruña - Camariñas

Thurs 17th was my birthday &, after a busy day (refuel, reprovision, passage plan, maintnance), we had planned a celebratory meal out. First we were invitd for a coffee aboard a Brit yacht belonging to Jo, Jane and Molly the one-eyed cat & askd if they could reccommend a decent restaurant. Molly wasn't much help but Jo & Jane gave a tip which turned out to be excellent: The rstaurant was nice enough, altyhough not posh, but the food was fantastic¡ We piggd out on squid, gambas, tortilla, salad, bread, chips and mushrooms washed down with a bottle of rd & dlicios cake to follow. Evrything tastd superb & th bill was less than 24 euro for th two of us¡ A really great birthday evening. (photo: B`day boy with all his presents!).

Next day we left later than plannd (0830) & thought we would probably anchor in Corme. Howeer, with a stiff breeze behind us we were blting along at 5 or 6 knots, running goose-wingd much of th time, som we dcided to push on to Camariñas. The entry was a bit gnarly as the nice tail wind was now on the nose. We droppd the hook around the corner from the marina and today we have walked around to th marina bar for internet and hot choccy.

Weather forecast is not good for the next few days so we will wait here a while before going around Finisterre.

Vivero to La Coruña

The day after arrival in Spain (Sunday), after pancakes, we headed out and anchored in the Ria de Vivero in a quiet spot just off a beach.

On Mon we left Vivero & headed for Puerto de Bares (photo, 1494 by my finger) only 8M away. A lovely anchorage with amazingly bright turquise water & a tiny village - the most Northerly port in Spain¡

Next day we sailed for Cariño. Another cracking sail, although the destination was not as pretty as our previous 2 anchorages. We decided to stay in Cariño the next day & chill out. This was a mistake as the 2nd night the wind increased to such an extent that we decided it would be foolish to leave. So, stuck in Cariño waiting for the weather.

On the night of the 12th we experienced gale force winds and we stood anchor watches. On Sunday 13th the wind further increased so that the sea was whipped up and swept along its' surface in sheets to mingle with the often heavy rain. I had 2 anchors out with 50m scope on each in a depth of only 5m water & I felt v vunerable. In fact I felt scared¡ The way the wind was violently gusting around us, the spray flying, the waves crashing against thje harbour wall. Susi even looked up from her sudoko and cocked an eyebrow¡¡

The anchor held though, and from Cariño we sailed to Cedeira and now La Coruña¡

BISCAY

"The Bay of Biscay". An area of the ocean with a fearsome reputation and the mental and physical barrier that lay between us and Spain while we overwintered in LR. Some of our friends had left in April: Suncat and Seaeff to Gijon and Spirit de Nord Est to Bilbao and we were also eager to leave the familiarity (and the fucking harbour staff at Minimes (another story) behind) and discover Spain¡

On Wed 2nd May at 0700 we slipped our lines and left what had been our home port for 7 months behind. Despite Susi losing her breakfast (and yesterdays' dinner) overboard it was a relief to be back on the open ocean. Within a few hours we were clear of Ile d'Oleron & we pointed Vega 1494s' eager bows toward Vivero, about 315 nautical miles away.

Until 1800 the first day we were able to sail at over 5 knots with a little fair tide to help us, but then the wind dropped and we had to hoist the spinnaker. With all that sail cloth we speeded up again but, unfortunately, the wind completely died within an hour or so & we were forced to motor (well, we could have just sat bobbing with sails slatting in the swell and waited, but that's no fun). We noticed in the morning that the exhaust had been leaking water in to the bilge - luckily though we noticed before the carpet started floating (that would be an "oh shit" moment for sure)¡ We pumped the bilge and carried on chugging along.

It was a pleasant day (our second) despite not being able to sail. Susi had stopped "calling for Huey" & we were chatting in the cockpit lazily looking around at the gently undulating ocean when I noticed an aircraft approaching.My 1st thought was that it was a sea plane landing as it was so low but in a second I could see that it was a smart-looking private twin-prop. As it banked around us at about mast-height we were shocked with thoughts of coastguard/smugglers/pirates. He must have just come for a look though as he flew back in the direction from which he had come. The pilot was wearing a red t-shirt and shades¡¡

Thankfully, during the second night the wind returned and we were able to switch the engine off. For the rest of the night and most of Friday 1494 cut thru the waves with "Jackie" the windvane doing all the steering. Dolphins paid us regular visits niught and day & amazed us with their playfull antics around the boat. I could go into all the familiar cliched descriptions of these wonderfull creatures but I shall simply state that they are fantastic and we were very happy to have their company for so much of our journey.

On Fri eve the wind built to a F5 from the North & there was an uncomfortable sea running. I was a little worried as Vivero is open to the North. We reefed sails in order to arrive in daylight but, as it happened, the wind eased off and with first light on Saturday we shook out the reefs and and headed in towards the Spanish coast.

Susi was first to see the steep coast come into view and at 1300, after 78 hours at sea, we tied up in Vivero and headed into town for a well-deserved pizza¡