Highlights – the overview
We enter the Rias of A Coruña. We are planning on spending some time here exploring these beautiful areas, including the towns of Ferrol, Sada, and A Coruña itself. Our first stop is San Felipe in the Ria de Ferrol. We make a brief trip over to A Coruña to pick up some packages and return to Ferrol.
It’s a lovely warm sunny day and we enjoy being here in San Felipe in the Ria de Ferrol, so much! Especially with visits from Manoliño daily!
Every now and then a ship passes by, and of course, Sher waves. Ferrol is a busy commercial port.
In the afternoon, we get into the dinghy to go to shore and visit the fortress.
Oh, no! the inflatable floor from the dinghy is empty – no air! A seam has come loose and there’s a big gap. Hm. This part was repaired last year in France and now the part next to it broke. Well, we’ll try to glue it but that won’t be easy because the floor is high pressure.
Anyway, with the soft floor we dinghy to to the beach.
The fortress is impressive and pretty big. There are 2 fortresses on each side of the Ria. At the most narrow point. In the past, nobody got in here that wasn’t wanted here!
At night, they placed a heavy chain between the 2 fortresses. It was a huge steel chain floating on wooden rafts.
One time, the British fleet of wooden sailing ships tried to conquer this important port to invade Spain. At daytime, they were under heavy gunfire so they waited outside at sea for a favorable wind to sail in sneaky at night. But they ran into the chain and got stuck. They couldn’t sail back against the wind. Then, the Spaniards set the chain on fire. The wooden rafts were filled with tar and that burnt like hell. All they had to do was light it at both ends and the entire British fleet burned down…
Back on board, two fishermen in a small boat call us: “Delphin! Delphin! He’s Manoliño! He’s very friendly!” He’s playing with our anchor chain again! 🙂
The next morning, when Manoliño visits us again, he has a surprise… Sher made a dolphin toy for him using our little anchor ball on a blue rope. He likes to play with the rope!
The, he pulls the rope so hard that it detaches from the railing! He swims away with it! Oh no!
He swims far behind our stern with the ball and then we loose sight of it. After a little while we hear sounds at our bow. He’s back. We look down and see the yellow ball with the line twisted around our anchor chain! He brought it back and knew it belonged there!
That evening, we invite the Antares couple for dinner. We made ‘poor man’s food’, “Umjeddara”, but we feel so rich, being anchored at this beautiful spot!
While we’re eating, a big tugboat passes by at full throttle, making a huge wake. We roll very heavily and a bottle of wine crashes on the floor, spilling a liter of red wine over our carpet 🙁 So, as in intermezzo for our dinner, we are flushing carpet tiles on our foredeck, haha!
In the morning, another boat arrives at the anchorage. It’s the “Bird Song”, an American boat we’ve been communicating with since late last year, but haven’t met in person yet. They contacted us about the marina in Gijon. Even before the anchor reaches the sea floor, Manoliño is already welcoming them and playing with their anchor chain!
Next day, nice weather for drying our carpet tiles, and Wim glues the broken seam of the dinghy floor… let’s see if it holds!
In the afternoon, we have drinks and tapas with our neighbors.
Full cockpit at Dione IV! We have a great time.
Sher creates a WhatsApp group “Friends of Manoliño” so all three boats can message one another. Of course, the group picture is Manoliño playing with the anchor chain 🙂
The day starts sunny but the forecast is increasing wind and some rain showers. The Antares leaves the anchorage and heads to A Coruña. We decide to stay, together with the Bird Song. We test the dinghy floor. Bummer! The glue doesn’t hold. Hm. We discuss what to do.
During the day, the wind increases but we’re pretty well protected between the hills. But by the end of the afternoon, the wind changes from south to west and blows right through the Ria. In a heavy shower with huge wind gusts we turned 90° and get a huge blast on the side. It makes our anchor drag and we get too close to Bird Song and all the little mooring buoys.
We start the engine and in the howling wind and rain Wim steers Dione IV with her bow in the wind. Then Sher takes the wheel and Wim hoists the anchor on the foredeck. Well, it is still dug-in pretty solid but we have moved too much. So, we re-anchor a bit further to the fortress. The anchor immediately digs in pretty good and we’re safe.
The next day we go to A Coruna to pick up the packages that were delivered. The wind picks up and as we leave the Ria de Ferrol and head to open sea , there are some pretty big waves. The sky gets dark and a shower is approaching. Gusts up to 30 knots and waves of 4m make the trip uncomfortable, but we feel safe, despite the heavy rolling. Once around the breakwater, all is calm.
Sher notices that the marina has a small collection of books to exchange, and Wim thinks it’s a good opportunity to share some books and charts we don’t need… It’s about a 100 kg’s of books for the little library in the marina office (all the books on top in the photo). That saves us weight and creates space! Yay!
We are returning to Ferrol because we’d like to see the Easter “Semana Sante” processions there. As a complete opposite, on our return we have a gentle 9 miles sail with 10-15 knots broad reach. Very nice.
At 1100h we arrive in Club do Mar Ferrol. Tom & Marcia from Bird Song welcome us on the pontoon. They are here since we left the anchorage at the same day.
In the afternoon we have a walk through the city with Tom & Marcia and after that we have a lunch in a little restaurant.
It’s raining almost all the time.
We visit some churches. It’s White Thursday. Lot’s of people gather there for the Holy Week and pray. This statue of Mary is amazingly beautifully made: so much detail. And you can really see the sadness on her face.
In the evening, we try to see some of the processions but they’re all cancelled due to the rain. Pity!
At Easter Sunday, the Spanish tradition is to eat “Torrijas”. French toast.
Sher bought a sweet Easter bunny for Wim. Artisan made white chocolate.
Nom-nom-nom…. 🙂
We leave Ferrol and head to Marina A Coruña to pick up a package from Amazon that was delayed and then we continue on to Sada on the south part of the Rias.
The Captain’s Log [T+294,295…307] – the complete story
April 9.
It’s a lovely warm sunny day and we enjoy being here in San Felipe in the Ria de Ferrol, so much!
Every now and then a ship passes by. Ferrol is a busy commercial port.
29° C, 84° F today!
In the afternoon, Manoliño is here visiting again!
April 10.
The day starts with a beautiful sunrise.
We inflate the dinghy and admire our beautiful girl from a distance 🙂
Lunchtime for the seagulls 🙂
Here comes some Russian gas for Spain. An LNG tanker with a Russian name under Panama flag.
We don’t need their gas. We have our own energy!
In the afternoon, we get into the dinghy to go to shore and visit the fortress.
Oh, no! the inflatable floor from the dinghy is empty – no air! A seam has come loose and there’s a big gap. Hm. This part was repaired last year in France and now the part next to it broke. Well, we’ll try to glue it but that won’t be easy because the floor is high pressure.
Anyway, with the soft floor we dinghy to to the beach.
We walk to the fortress where we have to wait half an hour till 4 o’clock before it opens.
It’s impressive and pretty big. There are 2 fortresses on each side of the Ria. At the most narrow point. In the past, nobody got in here that wasn’t wanted here!
At night, they placed a heavy chain between the 2 fortresses. It was a huge steel chain floating on wooden rafts.
One time, the British fleet of wooden sailing ships tried to conquer this important port to invade Spain. At daytime, they were under heavy gunfire so they waited outside at sea for a favorable wind to sail in sneaky at night. But they ran into the chain and got stuck. They couldn’t sail back against the wind. Then, the Spaniards set the chain on fire. The wooden rafts were filled with tar and that burnt like hell. All they had to do was light it at both ends and the entire British fleet burned down…
From the walls of the fortress, we have a nice view of our girl.
And a view over the bay of San Felipe.
Back on board, two fishermen in a small boat call us: “Delphin! Delphin! He’s Manoliño! He’s very friendly!” He’s playing with our anchor chain again! 🙂
April 11.
Today, a neighbor arrives at the anchorage. It’s the “Antares”, the Austrian boat which we met in Cudillero and was our neighbor for weeks in Viveiro.
Nice to see them again!
April 12.
In the morning, Manoliño visits us again. Sher made a toy for him: our little anchor ball on a blue rope. He likes to play with the rope!
The, he pulls the rope so hard that it detaches from the railing! He swims away with it! Oh no!
He swims far behind our stern with the ball and then we loose sight of it. After a little while we hear sounds at our bow. He’s back. We look down and see the yellow ball with the line twisted around our anchor chain! He brought it back and knew it belonged there!
That evening, we invite the Antares couple for dinner. We made ‘poor man’s food’, “Umjeddara”, but we feel so rich, being anchored at this beautiful spot!
While we’re eating, a big tugboat passes by at full throttle. Making a huge wake. We roll heavily and a bottle of wine crashes on the floor, spilling a liter of wine over our carpet 🙁 So, as in intermezzo for our dinner, we are flushing carpet tiles on our foredeck, haha!
April 13.
In the morning, another boat arrives at the anchorage. It’s the “Bird Song”, an American boat we’ve been communicating with. They contacted us about the marina in Gijon. Even before the anchor reaches the sea floor, Manoliño is already welcoming them and playing with their anchor chain!
And after that, he goes playing with the Antares!
It’s a cloudy morning but the afternoon is sunny.
Nice weather for drying our carpet tiles…
Wim glues the broken seam of the dinghy floor with a 2-coponent PVC glue. It has to cure for a day so, let’s see if it holds, tomorrow.
In the afternoon, we have drinks and tapas with our neighbors.
Full cockpit at Dione IV! We have a great time.
Sher creates a WhatsApp group “Friends of Manoliño”. Of course, the group picture is Manoliño playing with the anchor chain 🙂
April 14.
The day starts sunny but the forecast is increasing wind and some rain showers. The Antares leaves the anchorage and heads to A Coruña. We decide to stay, together with the Bird Song. We test the dinghy floor. Bummer! The glue doesn’t hold. Hm. We discuss what to do: have a professional repair the floor? It has been repaired once already and now another seem broke. So, probably after this one has been repaired, it will break at another place… Buy a new inflatable floor? That’s not easy to find. This dinghy is out of production for at least 10 years already. Besides that, the dinghy itself leaks. It slowly fills up with seawater. Actually, we conclude, this dinghy is old. It’s 20 years old and this might be the end of it’s lifetime. Maybe it’s better not to invest endlessly in repairs and buy a new one… This is a setback… Sher has just sewed a cover for the floor, using an old sheet. And we bought new fabric for an even better cover, because the floor has to be protected from UV, as it’s made of PVC. The dinghy itself is made of the UV-resistant Hypalon.
During the day, the wind increases but we’re pretty well protected between the hills. But by the end of the afternoon, the wind changes from south to west and blows right through the Ria. But because of the curves and the hills we have wind shifts of 180°! In a heavy shower with huge wind gusts we get a gust right on our beam because a minute before, we turned 90°. So, it’s a huge blast on Dione IV side, on her full surface. It makes our anchor drag and we get too close to Bird Song and all the little mooring buoys.
We start the engine and in the howling wind and rain Wim steers Dione IV with her bow in the wind. While we’re turning into the wind, we miss a little mooring buoy by a meter. Wim disengages the prop for a little while until we pass the buoy not get the line in the prop and then he steers up and let Dione IV carefully hover over our anchor until the wind gusts ease down. Then Sher takes the wheel and Wim hoists the anchor on the foredeck. Well, it is still dug-in pretty solid but we have moved too much. So, we re-anchor a bit further to the fortress. The anchor immediately digs in pretty good and we’re safe. We hoist the mizzen in the second reef. That keeps our bow in the wind when the wind shifts.
April 15.
We have decided to move to A Coruña to pick up some packages that we had delivered there. The wind has decreased to almost zero but some rain showers are expected.
Behind us, heavy rain.
In front of us, blue sky!
We we get to open sea there’s no wind but there are some pretty big waves left from last night. The sky gets dark and a shower is approaching. We will certainly get wet…
As we get about halfway between the Ria de Ferrol and A Coruña, the waves gradually get higher (3-4m), shorter and steeper. Because we have these waves on our beam we roll heavily. Sometimes we scoop water with our gunwales! When the rain shower comes, it comes with a lot wind: 30 knots! This is not nice. It’s only 5 miles to go to A Coruña so we’ll survive, but it’s no fun. We hear some things falling in the salon but we’ll solve that later. It’s impossible to move around on the boat in these circumstances.
After the shower has gone over, there’s 20 knots of wind. Half reach. So we unfurl the jib. The mizzen was still in the second reef from last night. That stabilizes Dione IV a bit although we’re still heavily rolling on these crazy waves. We keep Mighty Mitsu running to make a good speed. Get out of here ASAP.
On this video it is calming down already as we’re approaching A Coruña.
Here we approach the big breakwater of A Coruña. The marina is right behind that.
Once we round the breakwater, everything is super calm. We furl the jib and take down the mizzen and we motor relaxed into the Marina Coruña.
We pick up our packages (4 flexible solar panels for on our cockpit sun tent and a package with bronze valves that arrived too late in Viveiro and was forwarded here) and we relax after this short but severe passage. A few small things have fallen and a few things have shifted but nothing serious happened. We’re getting nicely seaworthy! Sher corrects and repositions some stuff to improve for the next time.
A huge cruise ship passes by in the afternoon. We say to each other: we prefer our own little cruise ship!
We do a lot of thinking and researching for a new dinghy. The quality of this “Aqua Dutch” boat was great. It is made of the best Hypalon on the market: ORCA. Made in Belgium. Wim knew the Dutch owner of the factory: he retired and sold the factory and its patents to France. So, we look for Orca Hypalon and France on the internet. We find them! They’re “3D Tender”. They manufacture a wide range of inflatable boats, many of them in Hypalon. We consider one with an aluminum bottom. These have a better performance and no issues with the inflatable floor. But, they can’t be deflated and packed as small as the one we have. The aluminum hull determines it’s minimum size. We have to be able to take the dinghy on deck during passages so we measure the available space on our foredeck. Regretfully, we conclude that it’s not going to fit there. We have to stay with the inflatable bottom. We ask the guys in France for a quotation.
April 16.
Another Amazon package arrives with some small parts and we do a big provisioning at the Gadis supermarket. We have been about 2 weeks at anchor and we had good and fresh food all the time but now it’s time to restock. Especially because next weekend it’s Easter and everything will be closed for 5 days.
Wim collects a big number of books he doesn’t need anymore: read, outdated, not needed (like the pilots from the Dutch, German, Danish, English, French coast and all charts from these areas, we will not return there).
It’s about a 100 kg’s of books for the little library in the marina office. That saves us weight and creates space!
These are all our books and charts. Poor little cabinet! 🙂
Hopefully they will find a useful second life for sailors moving north!
April 17.
We go back to Ria de Ferrol and into the town of Ferrol. We’d like to see the Holy Week processions there. Ferrol is famous for that. Besides that, we don’t really like this marina here. The water is very restless. We’re moving all the time in all kinds of directions on the pontoon. We think this is caused be the swell bouncing up and down in the bay with all these walls.
We leave at 0830 because in the morning there’s a gentle breeze from the south. In the afternoon, the wind will increase and go to the west. We don’t want a ride like on our way here!
As a complete opposite we have a gentle 9 miles sail with 10-15 knots broad reach. Very nice.
At 1100h we arrive in Club do Mar Ferrol. Tom & Marcia from Bird Song welcome us on the pontoon. They are here since we left the anchorage at the same day.
We will stay here a number of days. The weather forecast doesn’t look nice and a storm is coming on Saturday.
In the afternoon we have a walk through the city with Tom & Marcia and after that we have a lunch in a little restaurant.
It’s raining almost all the time.
We visit some churches. It’s White Thursday. Lot’s of people gather there for the Holy Week and pray. This statue of Mary is amazingly beautifully made: so much detail. And you can really see the sadness on her face.
Another crying Mary.
We see even women kneeling in front of her and really crying.
In the evening, we try to see some of the processions but they’re all cancelled due to the rain. Pity!
April 18.
Good Friday.
A very rainy day.
There are 7 processions planned for today but they’re all cancelled because of the rain. Bummer!
April 19.
Almost the same view as yesterday… All day rain. Again, all processions are cancelled.
April 20. Easter Sunday.
At Easter Sunday, the Spanish tradition is to eat “Torrijas”. French toast.
Sher bought a sweet Easter bunny for Wim. Artisan made white chocolate.
Nom-nom-nom…. 🙂
April 21.
We leave Ferrol and head to Marina A Coruña to pick up a package from Amazon that was delayed and then we continue on to Sada.
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