Bay of Biscay - part 4 (the prison boat)






 Wednesday 


Today we make a long sail to Sada which is further than A Coruña yet is an inlet before it.  It dawns on me that the reason why we are anchoring here is so the paid crew can save on harbour fees which they probably trouser for themselves. If this isn’t the reason then I just don’t get it. 


The sail is approximately 9 to 10 hours and ends up being a “race” at which our boat BlueJay is soundly beaten by both Oriale and Starling. Surely it had nothing to do with feint tacks which destroyed any momentum that BJ had and reduced our speed to 0kts. But I guess that is the gamble you take with well planned tactics. 


Pleasant surprise of fish fingers and ice cream tonight followed by another game of Russian fool.  Thanks crew!


10 to bed with thunder and lightning in the air. 


Thursday


Short sail and motor to the marina with a stop for fuel. Today Linda and I are on cleaning duty which we dutifully do to only find out that it would all be done again at the dock. At the dock the rope locker is emptied of all items which are then promptly put back. For a moment I thought I was in a Monty Python sketch (the one with the ministry of useless jobs). However I realised that we are actually on prison boat and that I would have to retrieve my passport and make a run for it. 


So that is exactly what I did!  Bags packed early and having retrieved my passport before it could be sold I said my goodbyes to the team. Generally they have all been good team with probably only one exception and he barely looked up from his phone on my departure (he was probably pleased to see me go, even if he didn’t ask if I had my passport). 


So if to the NH hotel and a luxurious jacuzzi bath and comfortable bed with actual sheets, I have found heaven. 


Meet up with the crew if all three boats for dinner and found out that I was not the only one to think I had been in a prison boat nor was I the only one to question why we would anchor outside a perfect good marina only to go to the marina the following day. Fun times were had dinner and final farewells made. 

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