August 10th - 17th, 2012 (Spain)
Progress so far (Click picture to zoom)
We spent a couple of lazy days at anchor just off the beach in Ares until the wind switched to south easterly. Sada was only four miles away at the end of Ria Betanzos so we moved there for better shelter and anchored in the bay overnight. The following morning we motored into the marina to top up with water and do some shopping. Sada appears to be a Spanish holiday resort with a fun fair and market along the front and a lot of extremely loud music every night.
We next headed to the Ria de la Coruña, sailing under genoa alone out of the Ria. We passed seven or eight tall ships which were all going down to anchor where we had been. The race from la Coruña to Dublin was supposed to start on 12th August, but had been postponed due to very strong winds in Biscay. Just before we reached la Coruña we passed two more tall ships one of which was being towed back into the harbour with some sort of problem. Once again we anchored, this time at the Playa de Santa Christina, and while we were having our evening tipple it started raining and this continued all evening and into the night.
The following morning we motored into the marina and arranged to stay for three nights as the wind was forecast to be strong from the south for several days. After lunch we took a wander into town and ended up walking about six miles, as Mike wanted to buy Sikaflex DC (a not particularly common type) to seal a small section of teak decking which was never properly bonded by Jeanneau. He also wanted a new USB card reader as his existing one had expired. We were successful with both purchases but it took a while to find them! On the walk back to the boat the heavens opened once again and we were both soaked even though I had taken a brolly. At least the rain is warm and we dried off pretty quickly once the rain stopped.
The following day was very windy with showers in the morning and because I had a mosquito bite on my ankle which had come up in a blister and made walking painful, we didn’t leave the boat, which was a pity because it was a national holiday and in the evening there was a concert in Maria Pita Square with fireworks etc. La Coruna has a very attractive old town and lots of buildings with glass balconies as well as plenty of modern sky-scrapers The next day we walked up to the Tower of Hercules, the oldest working lighthouse in the world. Unfortunately, again because of my ankle, we didn’t climb to the top, which would have given a great view of the surrounding countryside. After a visit to the pharmacy for advice on my ankle, it was decided that for the next couple of days, I was to keep off my feet in the hope that the blister would stop growing and hopefully start to shrink. Not so far; at the moment it’s about the size of a quail’s egg and is showing no signs of diminishing. Luckily, other than when I’m walking, it’s not painful. We have now left the marina and are once again anchored in Playa de Santa Christina, before heading off for Laxe , about 36 miles south, as soon as the wind drops.
