Getting round the corner

Wind Power
Originally uploaded by rosailither.

The last week in Spain brought the tail end of two low pressure systems and lots of strong SW winds and rain. Very disappointing ….
We spent two days sheltering from the weather in El Ferrol. It’s a huge commercial harbour but we tucked ourselves away in a corner near the 15th century castle ‘Castillo de San Felipe’, one of whose main functions was to keep out the British. We splashed out for the 1€ entry fee and were impressed by the extensive remains, the majority of which were still intact and incorporated clever plumbing and drainage systems. We particularly liked the old-fashioned outdoor toilet block, literally hanging over the edge of the sea. The original ‘plop and drop’…
The weather cleared up for a couple of days, allowing us to make a bit more progress (motoring again). We skirted the edge of the beautiful ria de Ares and stopped in Sada for one night, then went on to Lage the following day. Unfortunately we managed to pick up a crab pot just outside the harbour. Dave was just cursing the number of marker buoys to steer clear of when we noticed we were being followed by a couple, some 150 feet behind and doing just the same speed as us! He managed to pull up the rope with a boathook and cut the buoys free but we still had a short piece of rope around the propeller, which could only be freed one way - and that meant getting wet. Luckily the engine kept going regardless so we were able to anchor in the shelter of the harbour beforehand. Despite the inviting sandy beaches surrounding the bay, Dave said the water was rather cold.
The following day brought a forecast of SW winds Force 6-7. We wasted the morning debating whether to go out or not, then when no winds had materialised by the afternoon, we steamed round to the next harbour of Mugia with another English boat, a Warren Cat, behind us. This meant we were finally around the corner and had more chance of being able to sail in what seemed to be prevailing W winds.
We also arrived in the middle of another fiesta, one that lasted four days and was situated some 500 yards from our berth on the quay wall. This made for good entertainment but not much sleep. The music from the dodgems seemed to be competing for volume with the main stage, and neither of these let up until 5am. Then, just as we’d drifted into deep sleep, we were cruelly blasted awake at 9am by 25 enormously loud rocket bangers fired from a nearby boat. You’ve got to admire the stamina of the Spanish, the fiesta-goers spanned all ages and the older folk were just as keen as anybody to dance the night away.
The SW Force 6’s did finally appear the following day so we stayed for a repeat performance in the evening, but this time accompanied by a fantastic fireworks display at half past midnight.
The next day took us to a tiny harbour called Corrubedo, again motoring as the forecast NE 4-5 winds barely blew a 3. The Spanish weather forecasts seem to be fairly accurate - but not for the day in question, for either the day before or the day after! It’s a case of looking at the sky and decide…
The Spanish seem to have gone all out for wind power, most of the coastal hilltops were covered in large wind generators. We found these far more appealing than a nuclear power station.