42:45.975N 008:56.650W

SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Sat 28 Jul 2018 21:15
UTC 1943
Local 2143…

We are in Spain. We are in Portosin, Ria Muros…
Well, technically, we are on the anchor, in front of the Marina… I’ve used all means to notify them of my arrival…
But Saturday is somehow a very special day for them — they are closing at 1330… A pleasant surprise though — the Imray Guide said that the office is closed on Sunday, but the person confirmed to me — they are opened tomorrow…

The marina officer English exceeds my Spanish… But even putting together all knowledge of all languages — we failed to understand what I would need from them… But we managed to great each other, to have a nice chat, and to say goodbye…. So, if police, customs, or both are not going to raid my boat tonight — that would be a great success in international diplomacy… I’ve been pretty sure that they like in UK do not care too much… until I heard over the radio — ‘Sailing boat, moving across Muros… that is a custom helicopter! Identify yourself immediately… ‘ No, it was not us at this moment — we were already on anchor, with Canadian flag proudly flying, with the yellow Q flag near spreaders… But helicopter was flying and yelling for a while… ;-) No gun shots though…

Besides that — we are happy to be on anchor… It has been short leg… But tough…

No end of challenges… I do not know why I deserved the last one — but it has been a cute one… We are coming to the point to drop the anchor. Those, who were with me on a boat — knows how long it takes me to find a good spot… So, we found it… anchor going down… 75 ft of chain and boom! Chain stopped! Stuck!!! Really well…
The challenged became obvious pretty quick — I have ‘navigating pipe’ — about 3” diameter, from the chain locker to the windless… Somehow — since the chain has not been used for a while… two chain elements stuck together strong enough to reach the pipe at the same time… And then — you do not need much to lock it well inside the pipe…
To undo it… a different story… No access… no proper angle to put the pressure… and 75 ft already out… And no way to pick it up — at least obvious way… And the boat is drifting… since in 30 ft of water, and 75+ ft of chain — it is not enough…. And I’m tired…

Lift the anchor and put the chain just on deck… Move the boat out of the anchorage space… put her on course into ’nowhere’… Grinder… cut disk….cut the pipe… The boat definitely did not expect such a radical actions on my side… The chain is un-jammed, cleaned, verified… We are back to the anchorage… The chain is going down… We secured… Under condition that I calculated the tides range properly… Tomorrow I would be able to say for sure… ;-)

The ’to do list’ on the boat is growing up… Now I understand much better what people were saying about constant repairs… But I think I do not reach the bottom line of that understanding… I wonder if there is such a boat — purely theoretical — which does not need constant repairs and attention ? I started to suspect — that though theoretically it is possible to achieve — there is no such boat on practice…. I have no complains about my boat at all… She is great, with all millage and abuses she got… But still, some design solutions — not from Nautor, but other companies, like Spar Arrow ( which made rigging on my boat ) — make me ask a lot of technical questions… ;-)

I guess, one of the priorities for the time coming — to put all those lists in kind of ‘reality prospective’, and to start to move and to work on it…

On the same topic, but under slightly different angle… Sailing on the boat and living on the boat… I mean — to travel on the boat for a while, vs. continue your life, being on the boat constantly… The last passages contribute a lot to the topic… Interesting… I’m sure — it is doable… Meeting people on Azores, talking to them — was priceless from that prospective… But that is really big topic, as I call it — Those men and women on the boats in the sea. Really interesting… But somehow I got the feeling that I’ve only get the tip of the iceberg… So, one day — I hope I would be able at least to write about it…

Meantime — rest, formalities tomorrow, more rest, re-connecting and talking with friends, planning… and visiting the land! ;-)

Talk to you soon,
M.

P.S. Ah, a small thing! Funny observation!
The anchor dropped and seems settled… I’m sitting in the cockpit, in 3 layers, with warm hoody on top… I’m not cold, I’m not warm… I’m really comfortable and cozy…
I’m on anchor in front of two small but nice beaches… Both — full of people… Bikini, sunbaths… swimming and playing valleyball in the water…
Checked the instruments — the water is 64.8F… People are happy! I’m looking at them — I’m getting cold… ;-) Is it influence of the Caribbean? Or something else ?