SPAIN!!!

June 30, 2013

Ok so I have not written a blog in over 2 weeks! UHGG but I am here now thanks to God! I experienced some of the worst weather that the Bay of Biscay has to offer as well as some of the most amazing creatures.

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Before the fun started

Dolphins in Biscay

Nighttime watch in Biscay

The dolphins in the Bay were so playful and are apparently good luck but after the amount of bad weather we have experienced I do not really believe in luck anymore. So we left on June 17^th from L’aber Warc’h France in hopes to reach A Coruna, Spain. 

Peter on watch... and I was watching him :)

We ended up encountering some bad weather on our third day and ended up in Gijon, Spain. I was sooo happy to see land! We came into the harbor at about 2am. The swells were very large and rolling and there were 14 foot waves. I was scared but knew I had a great crew to get me there safely. Joseph and Peter did a great job managing the boat. I stayed below most of that night because of the rain and freezing wind. As we arrived in Gijon the weather died down. We tucked behind a wall in the harbor to take our mainsail down. 

    

We had a great night sleep and enjoyed a delicious tapas meal.

 As we reached Viviero the harbor was set very far back in the rio. As we approached the harbor, the marina attendant came to guide us into a berth but the one he wanted us to squeeze our 42ft. sailboat into was not going to happen. We do not have a bow thruster on our boat so getting into very tight spots can be difficult. We chose to tie up to a longer pontoon that was to our left or as we say in the yachting world, “port side”. As we approached the dock the boat stopped moving. It was low tide and we knew we had run a ground. The marina attendant said that it could not be but as I was left on the boat to make dinner it began to tip even more! So there I was, tipped over with our boat tied onto a dock. People were staring at me and laughing! I was very embarrassed. When Peter and Joseph returned from getting diesel, the tide began to come in again and the boat came back up to her normal floating level. We moved to a better spot and had a great night’s sleep.

The following morning we rented a car and collected Alison and Kate from the airport in A Coruna. While we waited for the girls flight we had some local BBQ

The girls and I spent the night in a lovely hotel. The guys returned to Viverio in order to bring the boat around the corner. 

Alison and I in A Coruna

The corner they had to go around is infamous for being one of the worst corners to sail around in the world. The waves are extremely steep and the wind has to be at a favorable angle in order to approach the corner. The guys did great and arrived in A Coruna the following afternoon. The girls and I had a great day exploring the town. We were unsure about the time of the boats arrival so I opted to move to a hotel closer to the marina in order to enjoy the pool. We had a great night out to dinner as a group.  The next morning we had to say goodbye to our Guernsey shipmate. Peter has been with us since Enkhuizen, Holland. He is an extremely experienced sailor as well as a very funny and just well rounded easy going guy. He will forever remain a close friend of ours. It was very sad to see him go but I knew saying goodbye to him meant that we had made it and were making great strides to reach our destination off the Mediterranean.

 Joseph and Peter

 We spent about 4 days in A Coruna. The city was beautiful, as it has a lot of old time charm with some modern aspects mixed in. We were fortunate enough to take a train to Santiago for the day. Joseph stayed behind to do some repairs but the girls and I had a great day taking in the sights of Santiago. We saw a lot of people making a pilgrimage by foot to Santiago. The end point of this journey marks a very old and very beautiful cathedral. We were able to go in. I said some prayers of thanks that I made it safe and sound to Spain. As I was walking out of the cathedral I noticed that there were priests sitting in these open wooden boxes. They were hearing confessions. No mom, I didn’t take confession! I considered kneeling and taking confession but then quickly realized that I am not fluent in Spanish. Although, considering my bilingual career in High school did not go well, I surprisingly am able to communicate and understand Spanish very well. 

Santiago

  
A Coruna

   OCTOPUS IN A CORUNA

We left A Coruna on Friday and headed south west towards Porto. We sailed around the Cape Finisterre, known as one of the most dangerous places in the area. We were lucky to have had the wind at our back. We also had some extra help to round the corner. We met this lovely man from Cornwall, England in A Coruna and he joined us for the journey. David was a wonderful addition to our crew. He had some great stories and a very colorful character. After seeing all of us girls aboard Zimbabalooba he said he came to Spain but ended up in America! David has a wooden boat that was built in Nantucket. His boat has gaft rigging and a spar that he has to raise up.  As he was crossing the Bay Of Biscay he experienced some rough weather and in the middle of his plight a pigeon landed on his deck. He quickly realized that this bird was not going anywhere. After some hours he welcomed the pigeon below to shelter it from the storm. On arrival to A Coruna he Googled and discovered that the pigeon was an Irish homing pigeon that had been released from England as part of A race. He even went as far as contacting the owner who said he was not going to travel to Spain to retrieve his pigeon. When David joined our boat he left the pigeon behind on watch. The girls and I did not want David to leave because he was so much fun. Again, I think we made another friend for life, just as he has with his pigeon.

Highly paid crew

Spectator sport

As I write this blog we are motoring between some beautiful islands just north of Porto. It was so nice to wake up this morning and put on a bathing suit. For the last 2 months I have been wearing a winter hat and Musto gear. Bring on the summer!

  Mountains and islands

It has been great having Alison and Kate here. Their visit has meant the world to me. Alison is my best good friend and I am sad to see her go! We have had some great laughs and experiences this week. I will be so sad to see them leave tomorrow. It is all so bittersweet because their departure also marks the beginning of Joseph and I arriving into Gibraltar. I am so excited to spend the summer sailing around the Mediterranean. I am feeling extremely blessed and grateful for this adventure! If you had told me a year ago that I would be traveling by sailboat around Europe, I would have laughed!

I hope everyone at home is healthy, happy, and safe! I miss you all so much!  I hope everyone knows that there is an open invitation to come visit us on Zimbabalooba anytime.

Cheers, Anne