Corunna to Finisterre (maybe) and on to Vigo (not quite!)

26th August

After the crew left on the 24th, the sun was shining and the forecast for the next day was 20 - 25 Knots of wind, dropping to 10 - 15 Knots at the end of the day.

As we left Corunna, the day was bright and we had a beautiful view of the town and harbour.

As we passed the tower of Hercules, the first lighthouse in the world (first built by the Romans) all was looking good.

And even the promised rain held off.

Well not for long!  The wind built up to 25 Knots, 30, 35, 40 and we quickly had to reef as we faced storm force conditions with the waves building.  With two reefs in we hurtled along at 9 knots, 40 degrees off the wind.  Miss Liz II held her ground and we didn't have to go for the third reef, but for quite a few hours we bounced around as we fetched towards Finisterre.  With the weather against us we looked to our bail out port and headed for Camarinas, a beautiful little town.  But before we reached there the fog came in and visibility dropped to virtually nil.  On went the radar and with the AIS we were pretty confident we would not hit, or be hit by anything!  Using radar and plotter we sneaked into port where the fog had cleared. Interestingly, a Danish Beneteau left Corunna quarter of an hour after us but arrived in Camarinas 4 hours after us!

The Marina, quiet and quaint with excellent hot showers helped to revive us after the wet soaking of a long 10 hour cruise over 57 NM.

At port we met some more ARC members, a family from the UK and a Norwegian Couple.

Dave, prepared an excellent dinner (pasta again... hate to say it!!). An early (ish) finish ready for the 26th.

27th August.

Morning arrived and we planned for Vigo, but weather at 25 Knots forecast it looked like we would need to plan otherwise - and so it proved.

On leaving the sun shone....lasted half an hour before the clouds came in again. As we left Camarinas we followed a 35 ft French yacht, as they reached the entrance to the Rio, they did an about face as the swell and wind put them off. In 25 knots of wind we set off under full sail like a bat out of hell, but to have some level of comfort we reefed and set sail.

DAve spent some time making a Cat of three tails (nine is a bit cruel), ready for when the ARC crew return!

As we passed Finisterre, literally the end of earth in days gone by, the weather started to close in and the rain, the rain, returned....

Two reefs as we left Camarinas.

The ape in all its glory....before the weather turned...

What happened to the sea?????

That was the last of the good weather. The mist closed in again, along with heavy rain.  Eventually we reached our bail out Port of Portosin (Port of Sin??.....we will find out later!!), after another 8 hours sailing and 58 Miles covered.

Weather forecast remains wet with south westerlies tomorrow, moving to a westerly (thank goodness), winds 20 - 25 Knots, which means a great sail.  Hopefully no rain!  Good news is that the forecast gives Northerlies from Friday - and sunshine - which should drive us to Lisbon, we hope, by Sunday.....

So first two days have been tough but fun. Getting a real feel for How Miss Liz II behaves, and so far impeccable. A few issues still with the jammers for the main halyard and Jib Sheet not holding, but we have worked around  this with a little improvisation. The blocks for the Jbb furling sheet. with plastic rollers, have predictably started to seize and so rope friction has meant that at least one is not working, again we overcame with block and soft shackle.  So keeping us on our toes!  Now, as a treat, eating out tonight....I think we deserve it after the last two days.......