05 June 2012 | Fisterra
Tuesday, the 5th of June, 2012
It's a longer than I would have wanted to leave blog, but I was waiting for us to do something worth writing about and that just didn't happen, so I'm just going to give a brief synopsis of what we've done.
We left Viveiro on Wednesday, the 30th of May.
Previously, we were in Viveiro in 2006 and had stayed in the marina. That stay was memorable for two reasons. First, the floral pavement arrangements which lead away from the church, wound their way through the streets and alleys to arrive back at the church. Secondly, there was a Hunting Hound Show on the hard right next to the marina. We did have a walk around it and it was very interesting, but it lasted 3 days if I remember correctly, and the hounds were in top 'voice.'
This time we anchored off the beach with another yacht or two.
Viveira Achorage and Town
Typical Spanish building façade.
Anchoring off beaches sounds wonderful but in many cases it means a long motor with the dinghy to a landing where you can tie the boat up. (When it's finally lovely and warm, we will leave outboard on the boat and row the dinghy to the beach. We then haul it up above the high tide mark and leave it there. Closer, Good exercise and not using any petrol - perfect.)
The forecast on Wednesday was for zero wind but as there was a bit of a breezing on our anchorage that morning we decided to go for it.
We upped anchor and motored some of the way and sailed the rest.
We had a play with the cruising chute but there wasn't even enough wind for that.
Nothing to do but read.
This is the area with the highest cliffs on the Bay of Biscay and the made for some great scenery.
You can see why they put the lighthouse half way down and not on the top. This coast is known for low cloud like this.
When we rounded the headland toward Cedeira, what I noticed most, as the wind now passed over the land before it came to us, was the distinctive smell of pine in the air. I immediately started sneezing and took an antihistamine.
This is our second visit to Cedeira and we anchored both time. They have a new dinghy pontoon which is a great improvement to tying up to the harbour wall or dragging your dinghy up the slipway. We did a bit of shopping at the local Gadis supermarket and came hustled back to the boat because it was really hot. The first really hot day.
We've been having a pre-dinner nibble in the cockpit these days - some local bread, cheese and maybe some air dried sausage and olives. It's one of my favourite eating experiences of the day.
After two nights in Cedeira we upped anchor and carried on for La Coruña.
It was another day of mixed motorsailing and sailing. We're still on a schedule so have just accepted that until we get to Lisbon by the 16th of June or so, if the winds aren't quite right we will motor.
Running the engine while sailing, helps you to sail closer to the wind and steer a more direct course. It also helps to keep you speed up to either just get you to your destination more quickly or to stop the boat rolling from side to side in light winds and a lumpy sea. In certain conditions, when the boat hits a wave it 1) slows it down, 2) knocks the wind out of the sails which 3) make you wallop like a pig until the sails fill again and your speed picks up. A bit of motorsailing makes this situation much more pleasant.
We have a couple of ways of monitoring our progress: TTG - time to go and DTW - distance to waypoint
TTG depends on your speed and DTW depends on how direct your course to your waypoint.
We would like our cruising speed to be at least 5 knots. We start to grumble if it goes much below that, BUT, that reaction is based on our previous sailing experiences which were very much determined by schedules. Once we no longer have any agenda but our own, we should become more relaxed about the boat speed.
At 5 knots it will take you 4 hours to cover 20 miles and at 2.5 knots it will take you 8 hours.
Unless you are always fortunate enough to have destinations that are always downwind of your starting point, sometimes when sailing you will have to sail close-hauled and tack (or beat) toward your destination. This will add a distance to your journey.
Your gut reaction might be, 'Oh no! It will take longer to get there!' and your gut might well be right, except that sailing close-hauled is a fast point of sail. You might well get to your destination sooner (or more comfortably or more cheaply, depending on what is most important at that particular time) by sailing.
Motorsailing can be a reasonable compromise between time and distance.
One thing that we have found on this coast is that come 4 o'clock you can expect sea breezes. Quite strong sea breezes. This is what we happened as we approached the Ria de la Coruña. It was rather like a switch had been flicked and suddenly we were romping along on a reach (wind from an aft quarter of the stern). We had a brisk 30 minute sail or so before dropping all sail and motoring to our anchorage around the back of Ensenada de Mera.
Some of our neighbours for the evening. I thought I had a picture of the beach, but apparently not.
It was quite a dramatic anchorage, particularly when the tide went out - a sandy crescent of a beach defended by very jagged and pointy rocks. At low water it looked like you could probably take you dinghy through them but as we were only there for the night we didn't bother inflating ours.
The next morning, the second of June, in a light drizzle we headed for the Marina Coruña, newly built in 2009, for a two night stay.
It was here in La Coruña that we met Mark and Angie and their two boys on Cygnus 3 a 45 foot Oyster and discovered what having the time to take you time means.
Their experiences of the same places we'd passed through made me want to turn around and head straight back to them.
Still there is nothing we can do until after the Olympics, but I am determined that sometime in the future we visit this part of the world again and do it justice.
La Coruña for us was a quick walk around town and a day's maintenance trying to cure the roller reefing for the genoa of the unpleasant noise it had started making and doing some laundry.
I do all our washing by hand in a bucket now and am very much looking forward to the time when shorts and t-shirts make up the bulk of the laundry.
So, Tim was up and down the mast checking the top of the furling gear, which was fine, and then removed the furling drum and we flushed it all with warm soapy water using the squeezey bottles I use when I need sauces and dressings to go exactly where I want them too. Afterwards the drum seemed to turn much better and the suspicious noise was greatly reduced.
A note on Tim going up and down the mast: It is SO safe and easy on Larus. We use the anchor windlass to winch Tim up the mast. It is a smooth quick journey and if we'd had a third person about we'd have pictures as well. Tim sits in the bosun's chair and I operate the windlass from buttons on the foredeck. It's fantastic.
A note on the noise: The roller furling has always made some noise when letting the sail out or rolling it back in and it's hard to decide if that noise has changed or we've only just noticed it and it was perfectly normal.
On a more personal level, it reminded me very much of the first time a asked myself, 'Have my thighs always rubbed together like this?' I suspect not, but as I have not yet been able to achieve the former state, I can't really be sure.
We did fill up with diesel as well and on our way past the Port Control one of the men fishing on the breakwater, shouted, 'Beautiful boat' to Tim. We always like that. :)
This is me, the distinctive La Coruna Port Control and verdura galegga, which is a Galician leafy green veg that we've been enjoying.
Yesterday morning, Monday the 4th of June, having seen next to nothing of La Coruña but pleased to have smooth running roller reefing gear and lots of clean t-shirts we headed south down the Costa del Morte or 'Coast of Death'. Heh. I'm only tell you that now that we're past it. :)
We started out just before dawn.
La Coruna and full moon.
I suspect in the past the combination of no engines, no weather forecasts and a very rocky shoreline earned that name.
A bit of the Costal del Morte. Brrr... very scary and not a breath of wind.
What we noticed more than anything were the hundreds of wind turbines spread out along the entire length of the coast.
We the wind dead on the nose and place to be and things to do, we motored. We could see other yachts, making long tacks out to sea and then back toward shore, and felt quite guilty about it, but it's all about getting to Lisbon by the 16th of June.
Today, Tuesday the 5th of June, we are anchored off Finisterre or in Spanish, Fisterra. There are some lovely things to seeing and do like - walk to the lighthouse, visit its two churches, one 12th century and the other baroque and if it stops chucking down with rain I might well be in a position to tell you about them later.
I didn't even dare stick the camera over the sprayhood.
We're now waiting for our next moment to head further south.
I have promised Tim 'something' baked with apples so will amuse myself doing that, if we don't get any further today.
It's a longer than I would have wanted to leave blog, but I was waiting for us to do something worth writing about and that just didn't happen, so I'm just going to give a brief synopsis of what we've done.
We left Viveiro on Wednesday, the 30th of May.
Previously, we were in Viveiro in 2006 and had stayed in the marina. That stay was memorable for two reasons. First, the floral pavement arrangements which lead away from the church, wound their way through the streets and alleys to arrive back at the church. Secondly, there was a Hunting Hound Show on the hard right next to the marina. We did have a walk around it and it was very interesting, but it lasted 3 days if I remember correctly, and the hounds were in top 'voice.'
This time we anchored off the beach with another yacht or two.
Viveira Achorage and Town
Typical Spanish building façade.
Anchoring off beaches sounds wonderful but in many cases it means a long motor with the dinghy to a landing where you can tie the boat up. (When it's finally lovely and warm, we will leave outboard on the boat and row the dinghy to the beach. We then haul it up above the high tide mark and leave it there. Closer, Good exercise and not using any petrol - perfect.)
The forecast on Wednesday was for zero wind but as there was a bit of a breezing on our anchorage that morning we decided to go for it.
We upped anchor and motored some of the way and sailed the rest.
We had a play with the cruising chute but there wasn't even enough wind for that.
Nothing to do but read.
This is the area with the highest cliffs on the Bay of Biscay and the made for some great scenery.
You can see why they put the lighthouse half way down and not on the top. This coast is known for low cloud like this.
When we rounded the headland toward Cedeira, what I noticed most, as the wind now passed over the land before it came to us, was the distinctive smell of pine in the air. I immediately started sneezing and took an antihistamine.
This is our second visit to Cedeira and we anchored both time. They have a new dinghy pontoon which is a great improvement to tying up to the harbour wall or dragging your dinghy up the slipway. We did a bit of shopping at the local Gadis supermarket and came hustled back to the boat because it was really hot. The first really hot day.
We've been having a pre-dinner nibble in the cockpit these days - some local bread, cheese and maybe some air dried sausage and olives. It's one of my favourite eating experiences of the day.
After two nights in Cedeira we upped anchor and carried on for La Coruña.
It was another day of mixed motorsailing and sailing. We're still on a schedule so have just accepted that until we get to Lisbon by the 16th of June or so, if the winds aren't quite right we will motor.
Running the engine while sailing, helps you to sail closer to the wind and steer a more direct course. It also helps to keep you speed up to either just get you to your destination more quickly or to stop the boat rolling from side to side in light winds and a lumpy sea. In certain conditions, when the boat hits a wave it 1) slows it down, 2) knocks the wind out of the sails which 3) make you wallop like a pig until the sails fill again and your speed picks up. A bit of motorsailing makes this situation much more pleasant.
We have a couple of ways of monitoring our progress: TTG - time to go and DTW - distance to waypoint
TTG depends on your speed and DTW depends on how direct your course to your waypoint.
We would like our cruising speed to be at least 5 knots. We start to grumble if it goes much below that, BUT, that reaction is based on our previous sailing experiences which were very much determined by schedules. Once we no longer have any agenda but our own, we should become more relaxed about the boat speed.
At 5 knots it will take you 4 hours to cover 20 miles and at 2.5 knots it will take you 8 hours.
Unless you are always fortunate enough to have destinations that are always downwind of your starting point, sometimes when sailing you will have to sail close-hauled and tack (or beat) toward your destination. This will add a distance to your journey.
Your gut reaction might be, 'Oh no! It will take longer to get there!' and your gut might well be right, except that sailing close-hauled is a fast point of sail. You might well get to your destination sooner (or more comfortably or more cheaply, depending on what is most important at that particular time) by sailing.
Motorsailing can be a reasonable compromise between time and distance.
One thing that we have found on this coast is that come 4 o'clock you can expect sea breezes. Quite strong sea breezes. This is what we happened as we approached the Ria de la Coruña. It was rather like a switch had been flicked and suddenly we were romping along on a reach (wind from an aft quarter of the stern). We had a brisk 30 minute sail or so before dropping all sail and motoring to our anchorage around the back of Ensenada de Mera.
Some of our neighbours for the evening. I thought I had a picture of the beach, but apparently not.
It was quite a dramatic anchorage, particularly when the tide went out - a sandy crescent of a beach defended by very jagged and pointy rocks. At low water it looked like you could probably take you dinghy through them but as we were only there for the night we didn't bother inflating ours.
The next morning, the second of June, in a light drizzle we headed for the Marina Coruña, newly built in 2009, for a two night stay.
It was here in La Coruña that we met Mark and Angie and their two boys on Cygnus 3 a 45 foot Oyster and discovered what having the time to take you time means.
Their experiences of the same places we'd passed through made me want to turn around and head straight back to them.
Still there is nothing we can do until after the Olympics, but I am determined that sometime in the future we visit this part of the world again and do it justice.
La Coruña for us was a quick walk around town and a day's maintenance trying to cure the roller reefing for the genoa of the unpleasant noise it had started making and doing some laundry.
I do all our washing by hand in a bucket now and am very much looking forward to the time when shorts and t-shirts make up the bulk of the laundry.
So, Tim was up and down the mast checking the top of the furling gear, which was fine, and then removed the furling drum and we flushed it all with warm soapy water using the squeezey bottles I use when I need sauces and dressings to go exactly where I want them too. Afterwards the drum seemed to turn much better and the suspicious noise was greatly reduced.
A note on Tim going up and down the mast: It is SO safe and easy on Larus. We use the anchor windlass to winch Tim up the mast. It is a smooth quick journey and if we'd had a third person about we'd have pictures as well. Tim sits in the bosun's chair and I operate the windlass from buttons on the foredeck. It's fantastic.
A note on the noise: The roller furling has always made some noise when letting the sail out or rolling it back in and it's hard to decide if that noise has changed or we've only just noticed it and it was perfectly normal.
On a more personal level, it reminded me very much of the first time a asked myself, 'Have my thighs always rubbed together like this?' I suspect not, but as I have not yet been able to achieve the former state, I can't really be sure.
We did fill up with diesel as well and on our way past the Port Control one of the men fishing on the breakwater, shouted, 'Beautiful boat' to Tim. We always like that. :)
This is me, the distinctive La Coruna Port Control and verdura galegga, which is a Galician leafy green veg that we've been enjoying.
Yesterday morning, Monday the 4th of June, having seen next to nothing of La Coruña but pleased to have smooth running roller reefing gear and lots of clean t-shirts we headed south down the Costa del Morte or 'Coast of Death'. Heh. I'm only tell you that now that we're past it. :)
We started out just before dawn.
La Coruna and full moon.
I suspect in the past the combination of no engines, no weather forecasts and a very rocky shoreline earned that name.
A bit of the Costal del Morte. Brrr... very scary and not a breath of wind.
What we noticed more than anything were the hundreds of wind turbines spread out along the entire length of the coast.
We the wind dead on the nose and place to be and things to do, we motored. We could see other yachts, making long tacks out to sea and then back toward shore, and felt quite guilty about it, but it's all about getting to Lisbon by the 16th of June.
Today, Tuesday the 5th of June, we are anchored off Finisterre or in Spanish, Fisterra. There are some lovely things to seeing and do like - walk to the lighthouse, visit its two churches, one 12th century and the other baroque and if it stops chucking down with rain I might well be in a position to tell you about them later.
I didn't even dare stick the camera over the sprayhood.
We're now waiting for our next moment to head further south.
I have promised Tim 'something' baked with apples so will amuse myself doing that, if we don't get any further today.
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