A fountain square in La Linea.

Gibraltar and La Linea

Having looked at the chart of Gibraltar and seeing that the marinas are open to the W and therefore surge, we decided to see if there was a Marina in La Linea which has a better protected harbour. To our delight they had opened a marina there last year, and what’s more it was a lot less expensive than the other marinas in the area.

This marina was also a victim of the unscrupulous greedy bankers that caused so much misery in the world. It is sad to see half completed pontoons but as the price is good, it has been good for us, but very sad for the developers and Spain.

Being a small boat we are tucked us away in the back end of the marina which is even more protected. The safety of the boat comes first.

Only downer is that it is a long trot for the morning necessities and the showers have the push button operating system which was invented by some Machiavellian EU bureaucrat with a vendetta against yachts people, thinking his invention will save water. The button keeps switching off the water after 20seconds, so you are forever doing the shower dance. Wash right arm, push button, wash left arm, push button etc and if you miss it, watch out as when you do hit it again, as it is once more freezing cold.

Fortunately I have found some of the showers have been doctored by some enterprising person.

Sunday we did a quick walk around La Linea, found a lot of restaurants but all the shops were closed. We noticed that there was often a waft of rather dubious smelling material, even in the street with all the restaurants. The sewer is obviously in need of attention. This does have it positive side of course, should one be struck by a bout of Zeppelin inflating, no one would notice.

la Linea, church square.

Main street, all paved with restaurant tables in the middle. 

Monday we went to Gibraltar, half an hour walk to the town, provided you do not get held up at the runway as a plane takes off or lands, and then the rest exploring. Our way is to walk and get lost, much more fun than having a map. It would be difficult to loose yourself totally here though, as the Rock is a good orientation tool.

We found a “Morrison’s”, one of the British supermarket chains and bought our favourite, parsnips. We had run out and thought we would not be having any more, but to our joy we can now have them again.

They have Glass Blowers here that make crystal objects and I immediately thought of my niece, Colz, who loves crystal. She would love to come and watch them make it but would probably bankrupt the bank balance buying all the gorgeous crystal. Beautiful as it is, it does not fit in with a yachting lifestyle; a smashing time would be had. http://www.gibraltar-crystal.com/glass.html

On the way back there was a plane supposed to take off, but it went back to the apron, but in waiting we sat down on a bench and Mike got up to watch the plane. Two Englishmen, with tog bags, sat down beside me and the one was showing the other how to flash his passport going through immigration. I thought nothing of it until they got up and separated, pretending they did not know each other. Alarm bells flashed in my mind, “they are smuggling something” I told Mike. We watched and as they continued their walk across the runway and my suspicions grew. We got to the other side and guess what, they were both hauled out. The one in front was hauled out with an incredulous face and then the one behind us, the new guy, was not happy as he could not get out of the queue and was also caught. I guess if the alarm bells rang with me the cops must have had them clanging. They were definitely amateurs.

At the gate, waiting for a plane before walking across the runway.

Gibraltar is duty free, so every Saturday and some week days there is a traffic jam of people going into Gib, we hear them hooting and can see the queue from the boat. The fuel is less, as are cigarettes and alcohol, to some the weekly trip into Gib for a “visit” must be a necessity.

We continued to do the laundry in stages, as by this stage it had piled up a bit, and to do work on the boat, in between applying for jobs for Mike. I did most of the filling in of websites as he would rather be fixing things. The internet was a disaster and in the end we ended up moving the boat to get better reception. To spend 1 hour filling in all the info and then have it crash is sole destroying. In the end, even moving the boat did not help, the internet company promised to send a technician, but could not promise one for a week. After England where it is cheap and efficient to where it is double the price and does not work well was a rude awakening on how fortunate we were there with a lot of things.

 The Marina gave us a refund which is a pity as it would be great if it worked. We found out that all the live a-boards here use dongles through one of the cell phone providers rather than Wi-Fi. So off we are to get one, much more expensive than UK but one has to have internet when looking for jobs nowadays.

To our happiness there is a market and 5 supermarkets within walking distance. We bought the biggest strawberries we have ever seen and the peppers are enormous.   Mike is happy as you can get large prawns at 7Euro a kg so we had a prawn pig out and he can get cheaper mussels etc.

Sainbury’s in Gib does free range chicken and egg at least, but no organic meats are to be found as yet.

At least I found a good dentist on the Gib side, good looking, and with a sense of humour. Which solved the problem of a tooth ache and a crown fallen off. Not all that cheap but worth the price.

When waiting for the dentist, we saw all the Jewish community celebrating the feast of “Purim”. Commemorating when Queen Ester delivered them from Haman, who wanted to exterminate them. The children were all dressed up and running around collecting for the poor and having fun.

These poor people are camping out in front of the building, trying to get their salaries paid. 

For two weeks it was sunny here and is warming up event more, on the windless days it is positively tropical and I have been able to shed the layers and even getting to wear a T shirt.

The best news was the mould monster has been unable to send his horrible claws clawing at the paintwork and anything it can grasp to destroy. The green algae that was fast taking over our ropes and awnings on the outside has also been halted in its tracks. No rain since we got here. Ok so they are in the middle of a drought which I commiserate with, but when you have been as wet as we have been and watched all you own growing noxious plant life you can only appreciate the sun, warmth and lack of humidity. Mike has now finished painting the heads and scullery, it is so fantastic to have a clean, bright, mould free area. Now just the rest of the boat to do.

So far forecasting the weather here is easy, Cloud on the west side of the rock, E wind.

Cloud on E side of Rock, W wind. No cloud =no wind. Lots of cloud, lots of wind.

Lots of cloud can equal rain, it has to happen sometimes. And now it is cloudy, rainy and windy. It had to happen some time. Hope the sun comes back soon.

The Cloud hanging over Gibraltar from the Marina.

The cloud hanging over Gibraltar city on an East wind makes it a couple of degrees colder than where we are on the Spanish side. Another good reason to have chosen this side, it is a bit deserted and a good walk to anywhere but at least we are getting exercise, me that is, Mike still goes for his morning jog and feels so much better for it. I am afraid as the sun does not come up before 8 and it is not light before 7, being a sun bird I find it difficult to get out of bed in the dark.

Geographically we should be on the same time zone as the UK but we are on European time which is one hour ahead, this means it gets light late and stays light late, up to 2000. This of course plays havoc with our eating/sleeping habits but I am sure we will adapt. Now it is even worse, they have gone to summer time, so it only starts to get light at 0800 and dark at 2100.

Slowly we are getting to know where to go and where to shop and getting to know the other people at the marina. We ran into someone who knew me yesterday. As Mike says, “cannot go anywhere without his wife finding someone who knows her”.

We now have found a good church and look forward to many more profitable Sundays and some weekdays sharing with them.

One last piece to the puzzle, a job for Mike, or we will be on the move again.

Cruising Portugal

Bayona was our last stop in Spain; the next would be in Portugal. We know from when Pat did the trip that the marinas would be expensive and would charge us double, even if on a hammerhead.

Not everyone is as honest as those in the UK, Isle of Mann and Ireland where they would purposely put us on the end of a hammerhead or in a marina where they could put another boat next to us, we went round all of the UK, IOM and Ireland on monohull fees, some here would be the same as were the Marina in Camarinas and in Bayona but it was the exception rather than the rule.

We decided to do an overnight and the wind picked up in the afternoon we were dodging the fishing buoys and so decided to head out deep to avoid them, by now we had the Genaker up and were doing 6 to 8 knots, picking one of them up at that speed would do our poor boat a severe injury, if not a mortal one. 

Gennaker up, running to the sun

We reached the 100 meter line as it was getting dark at 1900, there was a shallower point to seaward, 91 meters and sure enough, there was a buoy on that one too, Mike saw it whizzing past in the dark. The best part was the Dolphins, they came and stayed and played for most of the trip making it very special. How can anyone harm such gentle creatures?

Dolphins playing at the bow.

It was such a beautiful starlit night and the water was chortling along the hull, the sail was full pulling us effortlessly along with help from the undulating swells. The dolphins shot past, startling me with the first “hello” blow nest to the helm seat; to let you know they had come to play. They looked like meteorites in the water, lit by the phosphorescence, then shooting star of some fish trying to get away, a truly fantastic underwater display. They played with us for most of the night, on and off, always announcing their return with a blow near the helm seat. The night was warmer than it had been crossing Biscay, it was good to be alive on such a beautiful night. All the storms of life are worth just on night like this.

The wind died at midnight and the Genniker came down. The water calmed to a glassy calm with the stars reflected so that it looked like you were part of he milky way. The meteorite dolphins and shooting star fish completing the illusion.

We kept deep and hoped to reach an anchorage at Peniche before dark but it was not to be, the wind failed us. Once more we had a choice, dodge the buoys in the dark or bypass and go to Cascais. We drifted for 5 hours off of the Berlenga islands which have a ship exclusions zone round them as the waters are too deep for buoys. There is supposed to be a S flowing current down the coast but every time we drifted we drifted N.

At 0520 the Dolphins came again, time to get going they seemed to say “get on your way again”, no wind once more, on to Cascais which is at the mouth of the Tagus river and not far from Lisbon.

Rounding the point to Cascais, the breakers on the marina wall are spectacular, you wonder how there can be an anchorage round the other side. There is a bit of a surge but we were there in calm weather, a storm must be something else.

We anchored and got internet, nothing happening so we decided to stay for a rest, get a bit of fuel and water and some victuals, we still had a couple of days left but who knows what is available further down the line, besides I had spotted a Jumbo supermarket,(using binoculars) good prices compared to the smaller supermarkets, and within walking distance.

We went ashore; it was either the beach with a long dinghy haul up beyond the high tide mark, or two pontoons we saw on the shore. We went to the one, saw it was used by the fishermen who promptly ignored us and refused to greet us, what a difference from the friendly Spanish. We went to the yacht club dock, it was being cleaned of the guano, so we went to their slipway, and youngsters were rigging their boats so we hauled it clear but near the crane. I went to ask permission to use their slip on the strength of our RNYC membership. The lady behind reception was from Durban and she asked the manager and he very kindly let us tie to their dock, being Saturday, the slipway was too busy as was he crane.

Cascais is a pretty town with the patterned cobbled stones so reminiscent of the old LM. The fuel station was a 20 minute walk so Mike went off there while I reconnoitred the shopping facilities. Everyone we asked directions of spoke English, some people would not speak to us and just walked away. I guess they did not speak English but as opposed to the Spanish where they would at least reply to your greeting here they were positively rude.

Streets of Cascais

I met Mike coming down the road with the fuel trolly as I was returning. We filled our two water containers at the Yacht Club and went back to the boat for lunch and to fetch the trolley bag for the shopping. We do not like to get Gorilla arms and so use our travel bags with the trolley wheels for shopping.

Back to the dock and off to the shop. I had found a health shop in the one shopping centre so I showed Mike, next door was a place that give you a pedicure using fish, apparently they have digestive enzymes that eat away the hard skin. It was interesting, but not at the moment, nor at the price. The pet shop had a British Bulldog puppy, only € 2,000. Some chinchillas that looked very cute and a kitten, beautiful and fluffy sleeping curled up. It nearly stole our hearts.

The supermarket was good, more costly than England, especially the organic produce.

We stocked up the case with all the heavy stuff, packed the rucksack and still had to carry a couple of packets of the lighter and more squishy stuff.

We had to find some more gram flour, Mike loved my Pizzas, bread and Baji’s too much. We had discovered a small supermarket run by Indians that had internet on the way back to the boat, sure enough, they had some. I got chatting to the owner and mentioned not being able to take hot food. He had the same problem and we got onto the food intolerance problem. I told him briefly how it worked and what to do, he was most grateful to find someone who understood the problem and could help.

We had a bit of a lie in and left a 0830 to go to Sesimbra, 25 miles away around the far headland of the Tagus River. Rounding the high point I heard what sounded like a cannon shot. Looking towards the shore, I noticed a rock with a cave nearby then saw a wave blow through the rock up into the cave with the sound of cannon.

Blow hole just starting

Blow hole rocketing into cave

Sesimbra was a bad anchorage, the anchor would not hold, Rock, and flat too by the feel of it and anchored between two pipelines, if you drag and damage one of them, it could be a problem. We continued as there were 2 marked anchorages further up. The first one was right against a cliff in a sea plane landing area so we continued to Arrabida. Beautiful anchorage and the water was so clear we could see the bottom for the first time since the Caribbean. We dropped anchor and went ashore, on the way we saw the anchor was well dug in. We had a quick walk ashore, not much to see, a couple of restaurants, a dive school, just come ashore and hanging up gear and some closed holiday homes.

Arrabida

The Calm before the storm., we are the furthest white dot.

We had just got back to the boat when the Katabactic wind started. Gusting through, at least 25 knots. Were we glad we had seen the anchor had dug in. we checked our marks and she did not move but we still took the hand held GPS to bed with us with the anchor alarm switched on.

By morning it was calm, the temperature gauge was in double figures for the first time since the previous summer about August. That was a good feeling.

The high tide was at 0544 so we got going when it was light enough to see those fishing buoys at 0630. We motored to Sines, Vasco Da Gama’s birthplace, with no wind an anchored in the bay by the marina. Took the Dinghy to the beach and found someone to direct us the nearest place that had internet. It was the library again, up the hill, past the fort, up the roads which they were digging up to the monolithic marble block that was the library. The free half hour allowed us the check the weather and catch up with news from home, and of course to let them know we were still floating.

Sad to see them destroying the old part of the town and replacing the interesting old houses with featureless blocks of marble.

Anchored at Sines

The weather was going to change for the worse on Thursday, it was now Monday, but he weather round Cabo Sao Vincente was changing against us on Wednesday, with no wind on Tuesday. Our choice was to motor to Cape de San Vincente and find an anchorage for when the E wind blew from Wednesday lunchtime or to stay in Sines until Friday when the wind turned back to the W and the N. Sines in a S wind was not a good place to be at anchor which meant going into the marina. The cost of motoring to the next anchorage would be about the same.

We left at 0540 the next morning as there would be no fishing floats in the harbour or big ship anchorage and by the time we were through those it would be light enough to see the buoys.

We had to take avoiding action for a fishing boat on the way out and putting our motors on the upper economical rev mark we could round Cabo de San Vincente and be in the anchorage still in the light.

We passed fishing buoys in 110 meters of water. No wonder there are no fish.

On the way Mike got stuck in and make a cover for the galley extraction fan and then watched a movie on watch while I decided to bake some bread.

Mike's sea workshop

Mike's sea movie house

I line the bread pan with grease proof paper to make it easier to get the bread out and so Mike does not have to struggle with washing it up. To hold the paper there I peg it to the side of the pan while I pour the mix in, having already had a mishap with the mix getting on the wrong side of the paper.

I thought I smelt something strange, like hot plastic. When I went to check on the bread and hour later I thought it had risen so much it had come over the side then I realised I had left the plastic pegs in place, we now had peg flavoured bread.

Meme's Plastic bread

Meme's plastic free, gluten free, dairy free and egg free bread.

Fortunately the plastic peeled off of the bread but it took some work getting out of the oven. Talk about the brain of a gnat in a buffalo skull.

We rounded the Cape  St Vincent in a calm with a bit of a swell running, to see the blow holes is spectacular I can only imagine what they must be like in a storm. The whole cliff must reverberate with the impact.

Cape St Vincent

Guess what, no buoys, well just a couple once we had rounded and were going into the bay, tiny ones, barely visible.

Sagres Bay was a bit rolly but looked like a nice quite anchorage for us away from the fishing boats of the next anchorage at Baleeira. We dropped anchor in 6 Meters off the beach and made sure the anchor had dug in. The weather report was right, no wind for the night so it was a peaceful night.

We left at 0630 for Alvor, what looked like a nice place in the almanac, it was that or Portemao, big city with a river anchorage. The weather had said the wind would be turning east so we would possibly have to hole up for a couple of days and we would rather have the peace and quiet of a quiet bay off a river that a commercial one.

 We managed to sail a bit in the offshore breeze, albeit a bit off course, it was still good to get all the sails up again. Of course it then decided to die on us as they are prone to do.

Sailing to the sunrise

We entered an hour before low and saw the sand banks clearly and a poor Monohull that was careened over, scrubbing his hull as we all do when caught and pretend we intended it.

Sandbank of the Alvor river, entrance in the background

There was no anchorage where the almanac said it was, just plenty of boats on moorings, so we had to anchor in the river, never a favourite as with tide over wind Theraputix can do some real fancy dancing but as it was neaps and only a 1 m tidal range,  She did not dance at all and behaved herself.

Mike went ashore to see if he could get fuel and water and of course check the weather while I watched to see if the boat would behave in the incoming tide and the onshore wind that was now blowing.

No water, no one will even sell you water. Apparently the Gypsy’s had come to town and the public water tap had been shut down to encourage them to leave. Mike walked to the fuel station 2 km out of town and found the internet at a 50% higher cost, the locals ashore seem to have lost their smiles and are as miserable as they can possibly be.

After a peaceful night and listening to the cocks Crowing and birds on the banks singing, we were thinking of going but thought we would check the weather again before leaving. It was raining and we do not like to sail in the rain if we do not have to and besides there was no wind.

Going ashore we saw the poor feral cats and of course went to speak to them. The man at the Information bureau in town was most helpful and explained that it had not rained since October, not even a drop, they were in the midst of a drought. That coupled with the economic crisis is enough to make anyone miserable. There was free internet at the library, that was a bonus, a local fresh produce market and a large super market. It is a quaint town with its old narrow cobbled streets but has a modern buildings and roads in the new quarter. Property prices were good not that we were buying but it is still interesting.

On the way back to the boat a fish Kebab caught Mikes eye, too expensive we thought but the restaurateur at the place next door started chatting to us, they had a special on, €8.50 for either Sea Bass or Golden Bream with veg and potato. We weakened; we opted for the Golden Bream as Mike had caught Sea Bass in The Helford River. It was a good treat and a break from cooking for me and washing up for Mike and the cats of course got the skin and the heads. A good time was had by all.

Our supper out, the cats were happy.

Our Peaceful Anchorage in the Alvor River

It was still not quite light when we left the anchorage but by the time we reached the entrance the sun was up, I nearly hit the bank, I thought I would follow the channel on the chart rather than my course in, then I remembered that a bank had built up and that is why I deviated on the way in. We did not go aground thanks to our echo sounders but even if we had it would not have been a problem as there were still two hours of rising tide.

The wind came up from the N and we put up the screecher, off we frolicked, then we thought we would put up the genaker, well the wind took one look at this cat flying this coloured sail and ran away. Back to the iron topsl’s.

The wind came back from the W, up went the Genaker and off we were again, this time the wind did not get scared and lasted right through the night. The moon was in the first quarter and so only set at 0310, we had a beautiful moonlit light and 15 knots of wind, ideal sailing, even the wind was warmer than what it had been and although we wore our thermals and freezer suit, I did not need my Teddy bear suit and our hand did not freeze the moment we took our gloves off.

The Dolphins visited me in the moonlight, just a short one, to say hallo, but no meteorites this time as the Phosphorescence is not visible in the moon light. One came shortly after the moon had set, a brief meteorite giving a gentle puff next to my helm and then shooting off to the bow to play a little while the shooting off on its next adventure.

The wind dropped us off of Cape Trafalgar as the sun was rising, We had done well and covered a lot of ground. There was only 34 miles to go to Tarifa, the southern most tip of Spain where we had decided to anchor for the night and to get to Gibraltar the next day, in daylight with time to sort our selves out. We only had another 17 miles to go to Gibraltar.

Once more we were the bulls eye in the dart board as metal leviathans thundered past all through the Straits of Gibraltar..

We motored and it was so warm we managed to get some vitamin D on some exposed flesh; it felt so good to feel the warm sun with out getting Goosebumps from the cold wind.

The anchor was dropped in the peaceful anchorage out side the harbour and behind the causeway to the Island. There was another Cat in the anchorage so we anchored a behind away from them and hoping we had given the Ferries enough room. They were happy and thundered passed us a couple of hundred meters away.

Terifa with Rapunzil's castle

We had booked ourselves a berth at the new Marina at La Linea, on the Spanish side of the boarder as it was a lot less expensive and we needed a good shower and our poor little kitten needed to get rid of the mould and algae that had grown on her while in England. All three of us needed a good Spring Clean..

We slept for 10 hours, must have been tired, woke up to a beautiful sunny day and peaceful anchorage, a leisurely breakfast,  as it was Sunday, a sermon downloaded from www.sermonindex.net.

We caught the east flowing tide, 1 knot with us, and the Rock of Gibraltar not yet in sight. The other Pillar of Hercules was clearly visible on the other side of the straight, with all the floating islands (ships) passing through in both directions.

The wind came up from the W and we put the Genaker up and screamed into Gibraltar bay doing 7.5 knots, So many vessels, ships and high speed ferries, thank goodness for AIS, tells you who is doing what and whether you are going to hit each other or not.

The Rock

The Marina is very new, not all the pontoons have been completed. The Showers are hot but you have to keep pushing the button to keep the water going, a real pain.

We were given a berth where the internet connection is too weak to pick up, will have to ask to change tomorrow or ask them to do something as Mike needs to look for a job.

The shops are quite a way a way but that will get us fit. We will walk to Gib tomorrow.

Having Roast leg of Nancarrow  farm lamb for supper as a celebration, mmm, wonder if they will deliver here….

Cruising the N W coast of Spain.

We woke up at daybreak as we always do, and surveyed our surroundings, a peaceful bay with no other boats or fishing buoys and plenty of room. We gave a quite and very grateful thanks to God and Jesus for our amazing trip. It was truly a gift from God. To have a six day window from Uk all the way across the Bay of Biscay is a rare occurrence even in Summer, let alone in the depths of Winter.

Our quiet anchorage.

Breakfast was eaten while deciding on what to do next, go ashore in the dinghy in a building wind and get wet on the way back. This would also mean leaving the boat on its own, which is never a comfortable feeling in an increasing wind. Go and see if the free marina at the next port Lexia was a reality, or go and see if the Camarinas Yacht club had place for us and at a reasonable charge.

Yacht club marina at Camerinas

We opted for the Yacht Club and it turned out the best. It was virtually empty; something to do with winter I guess, and the Marina manager was there to take our lines. He did not speak much English but we got by. € 10 is all it cost us for the night, lovely hot showers, water on the dock and WI FI to tell friends and family we were safe. We had landed in the best place ever. We stretched our legs in the pleasant town, found enormous strawberries and good fruit and veg, but we had enough for the moment and they were more expensive. The sun shone all day, even though the wind was cold having the sun was infinitely better than the grey skies we had become accustomed to. Our celebratory supper was steak, and then we slept like the dead.

We set off from Camarinas the next morning after filling the water tanks, cleaning the boat, another shower,  Mike grabbing a bucket load of mussels and we decided to head across the bay to Lexia to see if it was true that they had a marina that was free. It was a short trip of just over a nautical mile, noticing as we crossed how many fishing buoys we had thankfully missed, as we rounded the breakwater we were greeted by the sight of a very empty marina. There were small local fishing boats on the first two pontoons and 1 yacht on the last pontoon, all the rest were empty. We tied up and went ashore, there was no marina office to report to and no water on the dock, although the lights worked and the safety gear was there.

The marina at Lexia, with guano.

We walked into town and were greeted by loud music coming from a back street, we crossed over to see where it was coming from, and surely a small town like this could not be having a rave at about 11 in the morning?

From around the back of a building a police van appeared followed by a van making the music and behind that the children and parents in a carnival parade escorted by the Police and electricity van with loudspeakers.

The Kids procession

We seemed to be the only tourists in the town that day and the only ones watching the parade on the sea front.

Walking through the town we came across a Market with fruit and veg, fish and clothes, in the middle of the narrow streets. We found the library by accident and found they had free internet. We could check the weather and messages from home if needed. We climbed up the hill behind the town, on the point and overlooked the quaint narrow streets and cute houses of the town and of course the sad sight of an empty marina. That afternoon Michael went musseling and came back with a bucket load and a large grin. They are one of his favourite snacks and so much tastier for being fresh.

Lexia from the top of the hill

It seemed as if they were stopped from completing the marina because of the economic crisis and so it was just left partially finished. It is a real shame to have come that far to making it earn money for the town only to become an expensive white elephant. We were happy, alongside a berth in a picturesque setting and no money to pay, even though we did have to dodge the guano on the pontoons.

The wind had died down by the time we left the next morning and we played the light land and sea breezes, running the motor when there was no wind to charge the batteries and run the fridge and freezer.

Along an interesting and indented coastline with plenty of fishing buoys littering the area, a good watch was needed if we were not to fall trap to the law of fishing buoys “whatever course you plot there will be at least one right in front of you”. Then of course there are the “flying buoys” The little white buoys that when you see them from afar they look like the fishing buoys but when you get closer the fly away, Also known as gullbuoys.

Round Finistere in a dead flat calm, and is daylight, much better than a dark night and a howling gale with tons of shipping to contend with.

Cape Finistere, the end of the ancient world

Muros was the next stop on our way down,  We approached in the evening and decided to have a look inside the harbour to see what facilities they had before anchoring off. In the harbour we found the same sad situation, only here they had not completed all the pontoons. Small local fishing boats were occupying some of the berths but the others were empty. We tied up in one and went to see about offices, again nothing. Being Saturday even the fisheries were closed. We continued on our way to find a WiFi spot which we found in a bar, not really our scene and I am not sure they appreciated us buying fruit juice and water.

Off again early the next morning on the land breeze which ran out about 1000, and we drifted a bit waiting for the wind to turn to a sea breeze but it was late and we were not sure we would make Bayona, so we looked at the chart and there was a possible place. Piedras Negras, We altered course and headed that way. The bay was very protected from the N wind and very calm with golden beaches. We went into the marina and were met by the manager in a dinghy and directed to a berth. € 25 for the night on the marina and 15 for a buoy, a monohull would have been 13 for the marina, normally it is a 50% surcharge for a cat, here is was double, and also a buoy at double that of a monohull was a rip off, so we left and anchored in the pleasant bay, clear of the fishing buoys, for free and had a wash on board.

The next morning at daybreak we wandered down to Bayona and stopped at the Iles Fargo on the way, while the wind swopped from a land to a sea breeze, going ashore in the Dinghy and finding that we were only supposed to walk on the wooden paths, we scuttled back to the boat.

Ilha Fargo anchorages.

Ilha Fargo nature reserve

We anchored behind the breakwater at Bayona, in the calm water and went ashore to the fishing dock where we were greeted by everyone and assured our dinghy would be safe where we moored it. We asked for internet and a fuel station and understood the gestures and Spanish enough to find our way, the internet was only across the road, the fuel station down the road a couple of blocks.

Having got a drum of fuel, we checked the internet, not bad, €1 for half an hour. The weather looked good so we decided to stay another day to rest and get some more fuel and water. Having done a fuel run the next morning we asked at the fishing co-op about water, they directed us to the hoses they used to wash the floors with and we filled our drums with no charge. We watched as the fishermen brought crates of sea urchins and goose neck barnacles to be weighed and sold, then walking across the street we saw them in the restaurant windows along with other sea foods.

Bayona Castle

We took a walk round the castle, very pleasant but we did not have our camera, not having intended to go for a walk. We visited the Yacht Club but as we did not have reciprocity we could not use the facilities, there went the shower again, but we were allowed to walk through the club. They would charge us 1 and 1/2 times for our boat where as the commercial marina would not.

 

That afternoon we came ashore for another fuel run, and noticed all kinds of people in fancy dress heading down to a spot beyond the fuel station, and others gathering along the street. We thought we would stick around and see what happened. We found a supermarket and bought something to sustain ourselves and settled in for what was to be a long wait.

Had we known what to expect we would have gone back to the boat for the camera, we have learned now, rule of blogging, always carry camera.

The Parade was really fantastic and we were very happy we had stayed for the spectacle.

The drummers came first, in red and black with top hats, mad hatters by the look of it, and in spite of a dog getting excited and trying to bite them, they did not miss a beat or a dance step. It was really excellent lots of energy and fun.

The Pirates were next, dancing girls and all, with a chest of treasure and boat, Mike and I thought it would be rather fun to snatch some treasure and run off with it shouting Viva Britania, but we thought it diplomatic to restrain ourselves.

The best float was the fire fighters (Bombadieros), with a house on fire, lady with baby hanging out of the window, first aiders and ambulance in attendance. I was given the Baby and a fireman snatched it from me and ran in front of the float to do CPR, stopping the whole procession. They then resuscitated one of the kidlet fire fighters on a gurney rushing down the street to the ambulance. Every one was having fun.

Mike really enjoyed the motorbikes, real vintage ones, even before his time. World war one veterans zooming round the road, sidecars full of dubious ladies, one was made up as a scaryplane and zig zaged its way down the road threatening to wipe out spectators, followed by a tank with a lizard on the end of the cannon.

Aladdin and his lady throwing sweets to the crowd followed by the dancing girls and the Genie coming out of the lamp, looking really realistic and bobbing around as he was twirled and danced down the road.   

Another really good one was the Lion king, two kids on stilts dressed very realistically as giraffes, I admired them, to walk all that way like that was an admirable feat, leading a massive lion on the truck which reared up and roared with mouth coming open, Rafiki on the front of the truck, followed by African animals and of course Pumba and Timone bringing up the rear. It was getting cold by now so we walked to the end of the Parade to make sure we saw all of it. It was the best we had seen, kids and adults and lots of good fun had by all. Then we went home before we froze.

Bayona will always have fond memories for us, friendly people, good festival and good atmosphere, Thank you for a great time.

Bayona Harbour

 

Leaving Falmouth was traumatic for us, we had felt so safe there and had made many good friend, had a good church,  with a great pastor who really cares for his flock and people who care for each other. It was the first time I had experienced this in 25 years of being a Christian. The church is called the Harbour Church and held in the Maritime Museum, which is the obvious reason for us first having gone there.

We motored past Black Rock for the last time as far as we could tell, very sadly and motored till we were off the Helford, reminiscing about the great anchorages, the good mussling and foraging and happy times we had had.

Off the Helford the Dolphins came to say goodbye, and the wind came up to 6 knots form the NW, just enough to put up the main and screecher in the calm seas behind the protection of the Lizard.  The Iron topsails (motors) were switched off and with the water churtling round the hulls we were on our way.

Our last glimpse of England, The Lizard.  

I realised that I had not got the sleeping bag out from its vacuum bag in the locker so as to set up our sea berth. We take the back cushions of the saloon away and sleep in the saloon fully clothed so as to be ready for emergencies.

The Vacuum bag had managed to get a hole in it, all the contents were sopping wet with condensation, fortunately not salt water or they would never have dried. They were hung out on the line under the Bimini and were dry by nightfall.

Mike in our sea berth

Scrabbling around in the lockers had, of course made me feel seasick. I popped a Valoid and took it easy until it took effect, fortunately the Balletje sop (thick vegetable soup with nutmeg spiced meatballs), I had made meant I did not have to cook,

The wind increased and we had to furl the screecher, unfortunately when the wind is up we cannot furl it properly and we have to lower the whole sail. The Genoa went out and we set off heading S by W playing the wind. The idea was that we head far enough W to keep out of the shipping lanes that go from Ushant to Cabo Vilano and should the weather report change we would be far enough W to use a SW wind to get to a port in N Spain. Weather reports are reasonable for 3 days after that it is just a chance, this time the chances were right.

It was cold, freezing cold and my “Teddy Bear Suit”, (thermal underwear) and freezer suit plus all the other layers did not make a difference. I was shivering inside of half an hour. How Mike had done 3 hours out there I do not know. As the wind was from the starboard beam and the helm is on the starboard side I decided to lower the awning on that side. What a difference. Amazing what a piece of cloth can do. I only put down part of it so we did not restrict our access to the sails.

Me dressed for the cold.

Mike with the awning down.

For the cold I was wearing my teddy bear suit, (a Helly Hanson polarfleece bought in 1986 and still going strong), thermal underwear, trousers and shirt, body warmer, fleece and freezer suit, two pairs of foot warmer socks balaclava, woolly hat, gloves. (I tried to put on two pairs but did not have another pair big enough. We did not run the Webasto central heating system as then we would overheat down below and to undress and dress with that amount of clothing and my frozen shoulder was just too exhausting. It was just so much easier to just sleep fully kitted ready to go on watch, in fact even going to the loo was an exhausting exercise. The only luxury I did allow myself was to take off my boots and use my little hand warmers to defrost my hands and feet.

The sun set directly in front of us, which was a good boost for our morale, “Sailing to the Sun”

Sailing to the sun.

In the early hours of the morning, 0400, the wind increased and turned to the N, the mainsail had to be dropped, fortunately the moon has risen at midnight and we had plenty of light to see by. We altered course for the top end of Spain, just on the outer edge of the shipping lane.

That day we passed Brittany, we saw the one island briefly as the sun appeared for a short while, the Dolphins came and stayed for both our watches, I love it when they come round, they are such fantastic animals it is always a morale boost.

Mike put out a line, caught nothing, more to the fact that we were sailing to fast than any thing else.

The wind dropped and we  contemplated putting the screecher up, but being good cruisers and believing that you reef when you first think about it and make sail again after your 3^rd cup of tea. Just as well as the wind soon came back with a vengeance, 30 knots in the gusts and we were surfing as 8 to 9 knots with only the Genoa up.

By the late afternoon we were chilled to the bone and even Mike was having trouble getting warm so we succumbed to the whispering warmth of the Webasto heating system for a couple of hours, it also dried the boat out which was starting to drip and add to the cold.

The sky was a beautiful red that night and the Red sky at night, the sailors delight came to mind and I relaxed with a grin. It works the opposite in the S hemisphere, where a red sky at night makes me get my spare underwear ready.

Mike has turned my galley fan for keeping cool in tropical heat into an extractor fan to try to keep the moisture down while cooking. It works well but as we exhale about 2 litres of moisture a day moisture and the resulting mould monster is a never ending story in the colder climes. Another reason to head for the Sun.

Day three dawned and we were feeling rather jagged round the edges. The Barometer had risen again and the chances of a S wind before we reached Spain had disappeared. “The top end of Spain is looking rather attractive” I suggested to Mike, he jumped at the suggestion and we altered course for Ria Camarina which looked like an easy anchorage to get into especially with our chart plotter. I am soooo very happy with our plotter and hate the thought of having to sail without one and bite my fingernails down to the elbows again and have to change my underwear regularly.

If going in at night we feel it is better to find a nice safe anchorage, clear of all dangers rather than find ourselves wondering round a crowded harbour or marina in the dark and a strong wind. The weather report had also given a gale round Cape Finistere and as they had been right so far and Finistere was famous for its gales, and all the shipping comes through the traffic separation scheme there, we decided to duck in before we got there and rather round it in calmer conditions when we were not tired.

We Gybed the Genoa and set course for Cabo Villano. Ria Camernia was only a few miles past it. Even with the wind coming from the Port side the awning stopped it going right through us and kept the temperature up.

We had to cross the shipping lanes, we started with the traffic from astern that afternoon and by the morning it had changed to the up traffic. The AIS was such a boon, the ships from behind altered course as they saw our AIS and the ones from the bow should give way to sail but as Mike knows they are not always watching that well and regard us as lunatics, WAFI’s they call us, Wind Assisted Flaming Idiot’s. (Polite version). So we gave way to them early and with a 30 deg course change to they could see what we were doing. The unwritten collision rule is the one I always follow, “Might is Right”. You do feel rather vulnerable in a 30 foot wind blown piece of plastic, trying to argue with about 200 M of laden power driven steel. Funny how with an AIS you always feel you are the Centre of a dart board, all the arrows heading your way.

The Dart Board

It was a great relief when in the late afternoon of the 4^th day the herds of ships were thundering off to the North of us.

While Mike was successfully playing dodgems with the ships I kept him happy by baking a loaf of bread using potato and gram flour, it was a great success so he wrote the recipe down. He knows my memory.

The sun came out to welcome us to Spanish waters and as the sun set we saw the light of Cabo Vilano. Only a few miles S and the Anchorage would be ours. The wind increased so we were going to be there sooner.

In the dusk we came across a fishing boat, as usual his working lights were so powerful they blotted out any navigation lights and he did not have AIS, we struggled to see what he was doing and where he was going and eventually I shone the torch on our sail so he could see we were a sailing boat and rather un manoeuvrable. He turned tail and moved off much to our relief.

We took the awning down as we got to Cabo Vilano so we could get to the sail easily should we have to manoeuvre in a hurry. The wind bit through us like a knife and I was shivering inside of 10 minutes. Fortunately as we got passed the cape the wind was not as bad.

There was a passage inside a reef but to play it safe we decided to go outside, just as well, looking at it from the top of a hill later it was not a good place to go at night. It got calmer as we got into the bay although the wind whistled down the gullies, it was still 20 knots in the anchorage but so calm by comparison, I thought we were aground, I checked the echo sounder and saw we still had 5 meters under the keel. Mike dropped our SARCA anchor and it dug in well, swinging us round with a jerk so we knew it was well set, we played out plenty of scope just to make sure we could sleep well. We had arrived, our kitten (30ft cat has to be a kitten) had another long passage to her credit and we thankfully fell into bed.

Preparation to leave England

Even though the winter had been mild so far we decided to leave as early as we could, so preparations were made and appointments were made to be ready by Mid February not expecting to leave then but to be ready for the first weather window which we thought, judging on previous years would be March.

I started filling up the freezer with Organic meats and chicken and Wild Alaskan Salmon, buying the specials as they came up.

Mike serviced the motors, checked the sails and rigging and did odd bits to make life easier.

I had an eye specialist’s appointment on the 9^th so the 10^th of Feb would be our earliest leaving date. I have a bad shoulder and had just started Physiotherapy but I would have to take what I could and do exercise in the mean time, Mike was allowed to come to the one session to see how to Massage to help me should it all freeze up again. I also had a Dentist check and had to have a crown glued back on. So it was going to be a busy week. We started to make preparations to leave as soon after this as the weather would allow.

Some of the other sailors on the dock were sceptical of our leaving especially as it was February and all the books say you must not leave at this time. I am sure we were the subject of many a conversation in the pub, we certainly got some comments.

Monday the weather was looking good and we decided to get ready. I caught the free bus to ASDA to do the victualing (food) and was sorry to say goodbye to the bus driver Sandy who always went out of her way for everyone she certainly is a credit to her company.

I wanted at least 2 weeks food on board before we had to victual, I know how much it cost and what I could get but in Spain and Portugal you would have the language problem and I did not know how much it would be. This turned out a sound plan as food is more expensive in Spain and Portugal, about double and organic four times as much.

Tuesday we put the boat up on the slip, Mike went into the six degree water to scrub off all the jellies before the Tide went down and it dried and made the removal more difficult. I had the hot tea and soup ready. Hans and Diana our friends came to help him which was way beyond the call of normal friendship. It was also Market day and I had ordered lamb, liver and steak from my organic farmer friend Peter of Nancarrow farm. His meat is the best ever. Get some of the veggies from the veggie sellers and say goodbye to my very good friend at the Organic Veg stall, Lydia. Buy some smoked salmon, olives, and eggs I would miss all of my friends at the market.

Wednesday we put the boat back on the slip and Mike painted the boat, this time in the dry. I went to do physio, dentist and get some more essentials.

Thursday and our last day we thought, and the Laundry had to be done and got a bit hectic with Physio and eye specialist appointments and so I had to leave the Laundry in the drier and rush off, I asked Denise if she could just take it out the drier and I would fold it when I got back, She had folded it for me which saved me a lot of precious time. I felt so blessed to have such good friends. Mike had to pick up gas and fuel, and ended getting the charts for me as he went to the Bosuns Locker chandlery for the gas,. I had walked a lot in the last week, up the hill to the Physio, down to the dentist, back up to the laundry, at least I would be fit to go. Fortunately my friend Diana offered to drive me to the next door town to the specialist and then stop on the way back at ASDA to get the last minute shopping otherwise trying to catch the buses to Helston and back would have taken up most of the day.

Our Pastor and wife came to say goodbye, unfortunately when I was at the eye specialist,  the church would be the most difficult to leave, I did not want to say goodbye to all of them but rather think it would not be a permanent parting as one day we would meet again.

Our Pastor, Roger,  on board having lunch with us with his two daughters and Mikes daughter Ang, on the left.

.Rogers friend, wife Mandy and Son Eli.

Roger and Mandy's youngest daughter, The Captain, she spent most of the day steering and did an excellent job. 

On Thursday evening I cooked up two big stews, a Chicken one in the pot and a Dutch Balletje sop. (Thick vegetable soup with small meat balls spiced with a bit of nutmeg), in the pressure cooker so as not to have to cook for the first two days. The pressure cooker vacuums and keeps the food for at least 4 days, especially in British temperatures.

Friday we had planed on a 0500 departure to catch the tide, The weather was foggy, wet and with a SW wind so we decided not to go,  but our friend Nick had pitched up at 0500 to say goodbye, as did the Family from Eau de Vie, with Misty the Cat,  Mike had just got back from his Jog, the family went back to bed and Nick came on board and had some breakfast and spent some very special time with him. He is a fascinating person with a heart of gold and a head full of knowledge, especially on plants and he and Mike spent a lot of time discussing the foraging from the wild part of life.

We borrowed Misty from our friends on Eau de Vie for a cat fix. When I met Mike he hated cats, being allergic to them, then we went to visit my friends on Bonniedale farm (www.bonniedale.co.za) where my old part African wildcat lived. She jumped on his chest and licked his eye, he thought the end had come, he would break out in hives as he normally did, but no reaction. He soon fell in love with her and now he adores cats this led to us getting our own cat, Theraputix who now stays on the farm and after whom we named our boat, well, you got to name a cat after a cat do you not?

 Misty is part Scottish wild cat and such a character and of course Mike does not react to her so he spends hours playing with her and she loves sleeping on him, as did Josh the other cat on the walk on but he did get streaming eyes and itches from him but thought it worth it.

Our friends from Eau de Vie with Misty the cat. 

Saturday was a 0600 departure but although the wind had swung to SE it would be a tight beat and the wind was strong whereas on Sunday the weather was predicted to be ideal a light NW wind building and continuing for 6 days, from England down to Spain, right across Biscay, What a present, God was certainly kind to us. To have such a weather widow in summer is rare, let alone in winter. Nick was on the dock at 0600 to say goodbye for the second time, but did not stay this time, he was afraid of eating all our victuals.

Friday and Saturday were much needed relaxing days, and at least we would leave well rested.

Sunday came and Nick was on the Dock to finally say goodbye, (I think he was relieved), we would miss our chats with him. We woke the Family up and they cast off our lines and Nichola ran round to the end of the dock for a final wave, Henridavid, I know, would of liked to but he had left their boat without shoes and his feet were frozen. We waved them goodbye with tears in our eyes. We would certainly miss all our friends we had made and Falmouth but the weather is too cold for us tropical birds so it was time to head S to the sun. Our biggest proplem of course is that we were both born with IFS, Itchy Foot Syndrome, we just got to keep travelling. One day when we are too old to sail we will get a camper van and just keep moving. When we are too old for that we will just move on into heaven..

 Falmouth Main Street, with the Oyster Festival Procession. 

 Our Snug "winter village" berth where we spent the last 4 winters.