Bay of Biscay - part 3







Monday

Not in the best of moods today, literally got out of the wrong side of the bunk, and there is only one side, (not helped by discovering that the Shreddies I bought where frosted; damn Nestlé make the boxes different), which makes sailing to a beach just outside a marina to which we will dock in the following morning seem all the more nonsensical to me. There seems to be a lot of effort expended for little gain!  


Anyway the crew seem to have fun racing


with Starling, and it actually was, whilst in the cabin we keeled over 90° and were thus able to see the local fish through the cabin port hole. We also smelt what Helena was convinced was an Orca!  


We made it into the beach first and Starling docked alongside and to us. We are such an accommodating boat. 


The ribs were deployed so that some crew could have a 10 min paddle - lots of effort for little gain again! (although Alex did manage to get some good video). 


White rice and ice cream for dinner followed by a Russian card game called ‘fool’. No surprise who the fool was then. 


Early night - in the bunk by 21:30. 


Tuesday 


So we now head to the Marina where we can freshen up, shower etc. Couldn’t we have done this yesterday evening? I like the boat and have no issues being on board at sea overnight, but if there are facilities nearby, why not use them?  


So as there is a little wind today approximately 13 to 16kts in the afternoon we will be staying in the Marina.  I guess sailors aren’t too keen on the wind. 


Supposedly tomorrow is going to be better 7 to 12kts with a strong possibility of drizzle etc (don’t get me started on the 10nm detour to another beach cove - I do hope it is pretty etc.). 


So we moor the boat and take the rib engine back on board for less than salubrious shower facilities, but hey they are showers with bathrooms and I can get some laundry done nearby. 


Meanwhile three of the crew are off to the fish market to prepare for a fish dinner. 


Currently 15:30 local and calm, let’s hope it stays that way, Coruña 17kts gusting 30kt from the south. 


Back to boat to prepare tomorrow’s navigation. Points covered:

  • From - to
  • Distance
  • Tidal heights (secondary port)
  • Tidal stream (negligible) 
  • Route compass cardinal points
  • Dangers on passage - actions to avoid
  • Communications en-route
  • Ports of refuge
  • Weather forecast 
  • Pilotage (negligible will not be taking any shortcuts, etc., heading to beach via mid-channel). 
Linda was / is a star and made sure that all the bases were hit. 

PS to be written later. 


Resting before dinner at 20:00


In Cha bola which is more like a playground than an eatery. Pleasant staff though and food was good. 


Watching the RBL v RML game at Meson Lodeiro.  RBL currently 2:1 up.  Time to move on. Hey that is a time stamp 58:00 mins in. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Garmin GTN™ 750Xi | Touchscreen Flight Navigator Checklists for Cirrus SR22 and Robinson R66

Below I attach  Garmin GTN™ 750Xi | Touchscreen Flight Navigator   Checklist for the Cirrus SR22 and Robinson R66. Use of checklists is at users own risk, at all times the Official Pilot Operators Handbook should be consulted. The following files need to be added to the route files of relevant GTN SD cards (this incudes any Flighstream Card in use).  The files are .ace files and need relevant software to view.  The editor can be downloaded from Garmin  here: SR22 GTN Checklist R66 GTN Checklist  
Read more

Bay of Biscay - Prison Boat Bluejay Conclusion

Image
 Draft 1 Conclusion Was it worth it? Not really sure! Did I learn anything? Not really (well that is with regards sailing anyway, which is a shame as I have a lot to learn). However the skip didn’t really make an atmosphere conducive to learning, and didn’t allow us to make our own decisions and mistakes.  We should have been allowed to skipper the boat / sail the boat at some time during the second half. We should have been allowed to pass the instructions to our fellow crew members thus really could have been done on our rostered navigation days and thus really would have allowed us to learn and gain confidence, instead all we did was follow orders and be quietly barked at, admonished when we were unable to follow them either immediately or quickly enough or due to inclement weather. I cannot be sure but I genuinely believe that this is why one original crew member left on arrival at Gijón (he had skipped to watch shifts after being admonished on his last watch), and I have a lot of
Read more

Matt & Maria’s Trip to Sri Lanka 2018 - Part 4

Image
Day 10 - 21st December 2018 - The Tooth Relic,  British Garrison Cemetery and Kandy Botanical Gardens 08:00 for The Tooth Relic; here a Tooth recovered from Buddha’s cremation pyre is preserved having been sent over from India by the king with the prince.  Sumi manages to find a perfect parking spot and shows us the temple, providing us with interesting information.  School is out so there are plenty of families with young kids and babies as well as school holiday trips; but we’re here in good time and beat most of the crowds.  Maria manages to have her photograph with a monk who has been in service since 1995 as well as a load of kids.  The temple and its surroundings are great but we never did see that allusive Tooth.    Before picking up the car we headed to the British Garrison Cemetery and walked amongst the graves and headstones of young colonialists who died mainly from jungle fever.  The average age in the cemetery was around 27 years.  The first resident was a
Read more