Highlights – the overview
We wave goodbye to Jesus at Yates Marina and the Aduana (customs) boat that was on the dock behind us, and head out of Gijon towards Cudillero, 27nm west.
There’s a lot of concern and debate going on the last years about orcas along these coasts attacking the rudders of sailboats, damaging and sometime sinking them. The advice is to stay close to the coast, within the 20m depth line. The orcas don’t seem to be swimming in shallow waters. Well, we’re not really worried with our sturdy steel rudder and retractable centerboard, but it can’t hurt to be careful! That’s why Wim is wearing his new orca cap! When orcas see that they’ll think, “A friend! And friends don’t bite each other’s rudders”, ha ha ha! 🙂
By late afternoon, without seeing any orcas along the way, we arrive at the harbor entrance, which is truly beautiful!
We moor on the pontoon where Jesús showed us on the webcam, the only place on the pontoon for visitors. It’s a small but active little fishing harbor by a lovely little village. The main road meandering up from the lighthouse with a winding cobblestone street and quaint shops and cafes. In summer it is very crowded here, a place beloved by locals and tourists alike. In fact, it is considered one of Spain’s 4 “not to be missed” villages to visit. But in winter, it’s a different story… a quiet place that appeals to us much more without the crowds.
Despite it being well protected here, there’s a huge amount of motion in the harbor with the swell. We tie up and within one day break 3 of our older dock lines. But we get creative and come up with a solution using some abandoned heavy rope we found on the pontoon. All fenders (10) are in use and lots of rope – it’s a maze climbing over lines on board and on the dock.
Despite the swell and a few heavy storms, which cause big waves to sometimes crash over the breakwater and walkway, we decide we want to stay here through the holidays. Some days are beautiful and we can sit outside to enjoy lunch and take walks and scooters to explore the village and beyond. At other days the weather is not so nice, and we stay snuggled down inside the cabin while the winds blow and it rains.
No one is going in or out of Puerto Cudillero in these conditions!
Since we decide to stay here through the holidays, we would like to have a Christmas tree, but not a plastic one and not a cut one… A live one. Sher wants one with roots in a pot that we can plant after the holidays. But none of the shops in town sell these, so we have to go out and search for one ourselves. We walk up the hill and search for a tiny pine tree that will fit. The views are lovely but we can’t find any little pines!
Then, almost to the next village, we see a lonely pine tree on top of the hill. It’s too big to dig up and fit inside, but Wim decides to take one of it’s lower branches. We say “thank you” to the little tree, which hopefully will not be too traumatized by this amputation, and head back to the boat.
Back on Dione IV, we fix the branch to the deck salon table and install the lights.
Sher brings a tradition from her childhood to the boat. She’s loved mice since she was young (no idea where that came from?), and all the decorations on her Christmas trees were of mice, making what became known as the “Mouse-mas” tree. That was a long time ago, and most of the ornaments disintegrated over the decades, but a few special ones survived… so Sher gets her Mouse-mas mice in place on board! 🙂
Next, we dig out our Christmas lights for the boat, turning Dione IV into a huge Christmas tree. We string them along the railings and hoist ‘m high up in the masts. How beautiful she looks! Here’s the view from the webcam!
And speaking of the webcam… We notice the webcam has been re-positioned: Dione IV is only half in the picture suddenly. Our family and friends start complaining! 🙂 So, we decide to go to the webcam, borrow a high chair from the nearby restaurant and correct it! 🙂
Another day, the weather is lovely again and we decide to go for another scooter outing! We climb up the steep road through the village and ride the height east of Cudillero. On such steep roads, the scooters can’t carry us. They don’t have enough power for that. So, we walk next to our scooters, Thelma and Louise, while we set their cruise control to 3-4km/h. Like that, the scooter drives itself and we don’t have to push it 🙂 Sher named the scooters… remember those characters from the movie? Always on adventures and road trips, those girls, but hopefully ours with a different ending!)
We have a wonderful ride over the hills!
Lots of things going on, projects including painting some panels and mounting a picture, installing a new antenna that receives not only GPS, but also the positioning signals from Europe and Russia and China! (Who knew there were all those separate systems?!) But good to have backup options. Also, Wim made a little platform for his Paua shells that we use for candle holders. In the meantime, another Dutch boat joins us on the dock and we enjoy the company of the young couple with their two lovely (and extremely active) little girls.
The panel in the corner of the deck salon fits Sher’s painting “Rockets of desire” very nice! 🙂
The name is from “The Law of Attraction” by Abraham… the basic idea being that the Universe accommodates and provides us with what we concentrate our energy and focus/desire on. Very appropriate here on Dione IV, as we have found just what we wanted – each other, our love, and this fantastic cruising life adventure together!
Jesús gave us a Asturias courtesy flag (thanks Jesús!) and we fly it proudly on the starboard mizzen, as the secondary courtesy flag.
When the wind and waves are strong, there are huge waterfalls. That could make getting around the wall and to the village a challenge. What a huge amount of water! That would surely wipe us over the edge and onto the rocks!
We watch closely and see that 2 big waves are followed by a number of smaller ones… and then it’s go go go before the next big one hits!
We take another trip by train on the day before Christmas, this time leaving the scooters behind because they aren’t allowed in the trains. We go to Aviles first, to get some fabric for Sher to sew new covers for our boat fenders and to have a nice lunch out, then on to Gijon to try to pick up another package left at the post office. Sher goes to the big supermarket while Wim goes to the post office. We need fresh spices for the special Christmas dinner Wim likes to make! On the way back it is already dark, and we get to enjoy the lovely lights in the village and then a delicious Christmas Eve tapas dinner with our favorite Dos Corvos port!
This is a long post, even just the highlights, but read more below in the Captain’s Log to see additional details, videos and photos!
The Captain’s Log (T+168,169,…188) – the complete story
December 4 – Gijon to Cudillero
At 0930h we leave our berth in Yates Marina in Gijon.
Destination: Cudillero. About 30 sea miles.
It’s gorgeous weather.
We say goodbye to the customs boat. We saw (and heard) them going out on patrol every day or night, at irregular times. Hearing the roaring sound of their big engines with unsilenced exhausts.
There’s no wind so we motor out of Gijon’s port.
By the end of the morning, a light breeze comes from behind so we hoist sails.
There’s a lot of concern and debate going on about Orca’s attacking the rudders of sailboats along these coasts. The advice is to stay close to the coast, within the 20m depth line. Orca’s seem not to be swimming in shallow waters. Well, we’re not really worried with our sturdy steel rudder but, it can’t hurt to be careful! That’s why Wim is wearing his new Orca cap! When Orca’s see that they’ll think: ah, a friend! And friends don’t bite each other’s rudders, ha ha ha! 🙂
By the end of the afternoon the wind is completely gone and we glide over a mirror-like sea into Puerto Cudillero.
The entrance is lovely!
We moor on the pontoon Jesús showed us on the webcam.
December 5 – first walk around the town
We take a walk around the port and into the lovely village.
Around 1800h, we sun goes down behind the hill.
December 6 – broken dock lines
Last night, a swell came up and that causes a surge in the port. Dione IV is moving a LOT and heavily pulling her lines. While we are debating what to do about that during breakfast, a line breaks with a loud bang! We rush outside and tie a new double line, and that breaks too, after a while!
But we are good in problem-solving!
The line that broke was the one on the boat’s middle bollard. That holds Dione IV tight to the pontoon, on her fenders. The forces caused by 24 tons moving by this surge are huge. So, we need a very strong line on the middle bollard… On the pontoon there are some old abandoned lines… probably they were floating around in the port and somebody picked ‘m out of the water. One of these lines is a 6m very heavy nylon line of an inch thick. With the rope cutter, we cut the bad ends off.
We attach it to the middle bollard, via the cleat on the pontoon and to a winch in the cockpit. We put all our fenders (10) in between:
That thick line holds Dione IV firmly to the pontoon. Our bow and stern lines prevent her from turning. But these forces are not so big.
The weather is gorgeous (23 degrees C) and we have lunch in the cockpit!
After we’ve done all this work with the lines, a local guy shows up at the pontoon. He says: “I have some advice: move your boat forward. That part of the pontoon is much stronger because there’s a big pole supporting it. There’s a storm coming tomorrow.” Well, we knew there is a storm coming but we hadn’t thought of the stability of the dock… This guy is right; it’s a much better idea to move forward! So, we release all lines, move Dione IV forward and attach as many lines as we can. Again, the inch-thick fishing boat line for the main force.
It takes us a couple of hours but after that, Dione IV is very secure!
December 7 and 8 – there’s a storm!
Even with the storm, we’re well protected here. We see gusts of 36 knots, which is not severe, but the storm generates a 4m swell and that is huge:
Big breaking waves crash on the entrance of the port. Nobody can go in or out with these conditions. All fishing boats stay safely in the port.
Huge waves crash over the 15m high wall:
But we are cozy and safe! Enjoying a delicious leek quiche at candlelight.
December 9 – more on the engine relays
Remember the burnt engine relays? Sher finishes winding them up and Wim solders the wires and mounts the case. The both work like a charm!
Wim mounts one back on the engine and the other one will be a spare.
Now, we have to figure out what caused them to burn out. That remains a mystery still. That’s why we do not connect the coil to the engine’s electrical system. We connect an LED instead. So, we can see under what circumstances the LED is lit and thus figure out the problem.
December 10 – Oh Christmas tree, oh Mousemas tree!
We would like to have a Christmas tree. But not a plastic one. A real one. Sher wants one with roots in a pot that we can plant after the holidays. But none of the shops in town sell these, so we have to go out and search for one ourselves.
We walk up the hill and search for a tiny pine tree. The views are lovely but we can’t find a little pine!
Then, we see a lonely pine tree on top of the hill and Wim decides to take one of his branches 🙂 We say “thank you” to the little tree and head back to the boat.
Back on Dione IV, we fix the branch to the table in the decksalon and install the lights.
Sher gets her Mousemas mice in place 🙂
December 11 – Christmas lights for the boat!
We dig out our Christmas lights for the boat. We string them along the railings and hoist ‘m high up in the masts. Looks great on the webcam!
December 12 – warm beautiful day for projects
Another lovely day: 20 degrees C. It’s really warm in the sun and Wim does some woodwork on some panels outside in his T-shirt. How convenient, to be able to work outside in December!
December 13 – scooter outing!
A scooter ride into the hills. We drive up along the Camino de Santiago, up to a fountain. On the way back we are stopped by the police. “Patinette (scooter) only in the city! Not on the inter-rural roads.” He tells us to go walking instead of driving. Well, we do that until they’re out of sight 😉
December 14 – webcam adjustment
We notice the webcam has been repositioned: Dione IV is only half in the picture suddently. Our family and friends start complaining! 🙂 So, we decide to go to the webcam, borrow a high chair from the nearby restaurant and correct it! 🙂
We reposition it so that Dione IV is right in the center! 🙂
A seagull with only one leg is watching us suspiciously as we adjust the webcam. Maybe he was the one that sat on the camera and moved the angle?
Wim had a small collection of shells from several places on earth that were on the small shelf under the port window in the deck salon. But since we repainted that we decided to clear that space and give the shells back to nature. We found a nice place, a rocky beach, for them. We kept 3 beautiful Paua shells from New Zealand, however. You will read more about that later!
That evening, while we are enjoying a local wine in a bottle without any label or foil over the cork, the moon rises over our main mast.
December 15 – another scooter ride!
Scooter outing: we climb up the steep road through the village of Cudillero and ride the height east of Cudillero. On such steep roads, the scooters can’t carry us. They don’t have enough power for that. So, we walk next to Thelma and Louise (the scooters) while we set the scooter’s cruisecontrol to 4km/h. Like that, the scooter drives itself and we don’t have to push it 🙂
We have a wonderful ride over the hills!
We see these houses on poles everywhere. This one needs some maintenance…
Last time, in Ribedesella, we thought it was a car port (remember?). But no, it’s a laundry drying area! 🙂
December 16 – Scooters and Train to Gijon
We’ve ordered new lights for our Christmas tree/branch but they are stuck at the post office in Gijon. We decide to take the train to Gijon to pick ‘m up. Because Cudillero train station is a 45 minutes walk and the the postoffice in Gijon is half an hour walk we take our scooters.
When we’re in the train, the conductor comes and tells us that electric scooter are officially not allowed in public transport any more. But, he says, “I haven’t seen it” 😉
After a 2-hour train ride with beautiful views over the countryside and the coast, we get out at a very small, deserted station at the Transport area of Gijon. Sher thought this was the right station, but it was the next one. Good choice anyway, because there’s nobody here to comment on the scooters 😉
We drive to the post office, pick up the parcel, have a delicious Spanish lunch on a bench in the sun (a bocadillo con Jamon Iberica for Sher and a bocadillo con Tortilla de patatas for Wim, yummy!), we drive back to the same little station and get our scooters in the train, unseen! Luckily, there’s nobody checking during the 2 hour train ride back…
It sounds almost ridiculous because it took us the entire day but here are our new little Christmas tree lights! 🙂
December 17 – another boat on the dock!
We have a chat-contact with a Dutch boat in Gijon, “Gipsy”. They ask us if there’s a place for them in Cudillero. Yes, behind us, there’s a place if we move the 2 harbor-dinghy’s. We send them this picture and at 1830h they arrive and moor behind us.
We take off the old lights which we found to be too chunky and we install the new little LED lights. It looks lovely!
Sher makes empanada’s with spinach and goat cheese. They taste a whole lot better than the ones we bought in the supermarket!
After dinner, Jesús, the harbormaster of Yates Marina in Gijon, visits us and he brings a box with new dock lines. We’ve ordered these at CIV in the Netherlands (a prof fishing vessel store) and had it sent to Yates. Also, he brings 2 big rubber snubbers that we ordered with him. Jesús lives here in the neighborhood (in El Pita, up the hill) so it’s only a small detour for him to bring the box.
We have a wine and a nice chat with him. He is such a nice guy!
December 20 – new dock lines!
Here are our new dock lines! It’s a type of line that we can’t get here: Tipto12 (12 string). That has some advantages above the 3-string nylon line that is sold here: it doesn’t squeak on the bollards and the gunwale and it stretches.
We have 4x new 16mm 10m lines (breaking strength 5 tons) and 2x 20mm 15m ones (breaking strength 8 tons), all nicely finished and with an eye with chafe protection.
We have coffee with the young couple and their 2 little girls. It’s nice to exchange sailing stories (while the 2 little cuties run from one end of our boat to the other, trying to get rid of their energy 🙂
Jesús gave us a Asturias courtesy flag and we fly it starboard mizzen, as the secondary courtesy flag.
A project: installing a multiple system GPS receiver. We think it’s a good idea not be dependent solely on the USA-based GPS system, but also be able to receive the EU-based Gallieo, the Russia-based GLONASS and the China-based BeiDou satellite positioning systems. Plus, we found it a good idea to have a good backup GPS receiver in case our main receiver (in our AIS transceiver) malfunctions. This TriNav from Digital Yacht does that all. We can connect it via USB to our board computer and our laptops and we test all that.
A good place for the TriNav puck is next to our other GPS antennas (the receiver for the VHF and the antenna for the GPS receiver in the AIS device). And thus remove the old exhaust device from the diesel cookers.
So, remove the exhaust and fill the holes with a strong epoxy filler.
It’s a lovely day to do that job outside.
We have lunch in the cockpit!
At sunset, Wim takes some pictures to possibly use for our midwinter-greeting…
December 21 – winter solstace
Although we have a beautiful sunrise this morning, we decide to use yesterday’s photo for our Winter Solstice greeting:
The 3 panels we’ve been working on are now ready for their final paint. We paint outside, not to have the smell inside. But there could be some light rain so we cover the panels with plastic.
Since we have replaced our Christmas tree lights, we don’t need the old ones anymore so we give ‘m to our neighbors. They hoist the string in their mast. Looks nice!
December 22 – “Rockets of Desire”
The paint on the 3 panels has cured nicely so we mount ‘m.
The panel in the corner of the deck salon fits Sher’s painting “Rockets of desire” very nice! 🙂
The name is from “The Law of Attraction” by Abraham… the basic idea is that the Universe accommodates what we concentrate our energy and focus/desire on. Very appropriate here, as we have found just what we want in each other and this fantastic cruising life adventure!
December 23 – lovely little candle holder
It have been a couple of windy days. But since we’re very well protected from the west winds, we didn’t have much wind in this port. But out there, at Biscay, it has been blowing pretty severe. That generated a heavy swell. This morning, we have a 4m swell breaking heavily on the wave breakers and the port entrance!
Another little thing we’ve made is a little stand to hold Wim’s 3 Paua shells together. This will be our little candle holder! He found ‘m in 2002 on Motuara Island in New Zealand when he was sailing there. They are so beautiful and their colors match Dione IV’s colors so nicely!
We have to do some shopping but some waves crash over the 15m high wall. We hesitate because it’s a huge amount of water coming over the wall, enough to wipe us from our feet and fall down 10m’s down on the rocks. That could be very dangerous. We watch the waves for a while and notice there are 2 high ones crashing over the wall followed by 5 or 7 lower ones which don’t crash over the wall. So, if we wait for 2 high ones, we have some time to pass safely! These photo’s show some of the smaller waves, we couldn’t capture the real big ones. Remember: that wall is over15m high!
There are huge waterfalls. We watched that from close by and it is a huge amount of water! That would surely wipe us down the wall.
Anyway, our approach of waiting for 2 big waves and then go! get’s us dry to and from the village 😉
In the late afternoon, the 2 little girls from our neighbor boat come and give us some self-cut paper snow flakes/crystals. So sweet! We put ‘m in our Christmas ‘tree’ and send them a photo of it.
December 24 – T’was the night before Christmas
Today, we wake up ‘early’ (8 o’clock, while it’s still dark) to make a trip to Avilés and Gijón by train. Since we know that our ‘patinettes electrico’ are not allowed in the train, we walk to the train station. A 40 minutes uphill stroll. With sweat on our backs we arrive in time for the train.
We pass the lighthouse at dawn. It’s light is still on.
After the 1-hour train ride we arrive in Avilés. Our target is a fabric store where we hope to find fabric for new boat fender covers, since our current fender covers have been destroyed by the constant movement of Dione IV against the pontoon 🙁 We find some nice teal-colored terrycloth fabric and Sher is going to sew new boat fender covers from that.
The main square of Avilés. It’s a lovely sunny day and all terraces are full for lunch.
Also, we are on the hunt for fresh herbs like thyme, oregano, rosemary and sage for our Christmas dish recipe. In a small green-grocery store, we find great fresh thyme!
In Santa Gloria coffee & bakery we have a delicious lunch and a Pastel de Nata as a dessert!
After that, we move on to the train station to get to Gijón. We have to pick up a parcel at the postoffice and find the other ingredients for our Christmas dish.
After another 1-hour train ride we get off the train at a tiny train station and walk half an hour to Gijón city center. Sher goes to the big Carrefour and Wim goes to the post office.
Bloody H***!! The post office is closed! We suspected that on Christmas Eve day but on their website it said: open from 0830 to 2030. On Google maps it said: open. And even on the door it says: open from 0830 to 2030! But no. Closed. 🙁 So, no package with our Christmas Stars….
In the meantime, Sher didn’t get lucky with the fresh herbs but she got all other ingredients for our special Christmas dinner. Finally, we get into a herbs shop and buy some nice dried sage, rosemary and oregano. That’s got to do it, tomorrow…
We take the 2-hour the train ride back to Cudillero and we arrive there at 1830h in the dark. The Christmas lights in Cudillero are on and they are lovely!
At 1930h we are back in the marina and we pick up a box that Jesús (harbormaster from Gijón) has brought and left with our neighbors. The box contains our new TV screen! More about that later!
The neighbors give us a homemade Christmas bread. How nice!
Back on Dione IV we light our Christmas lights and since the sealant on our Paua shells stand is cured, we light the tea lights in it 🙂
We have a great Christmas Eve tapas dinner with our beloved Dos Corvos port wine!! Then snuggle into our “nest” for a good sleep.
Leave a Reply