Coruna to Villagarcia - Ria de Arosa

Minka of Southampton - Cruising Log
Edmund Wigan
Sun 21 Mar 2010 19:50
Well this was an interesting trip. If you look at the map you will see I started off travelling North to get out of Coruna Bay and then gradually turned West to South then East come into this Ria and North East up the Ria. The forecast was hopefully going to provide winds moving round with me as I travelled but they were comparatively light. As you have seen from the previous blog it was overcast and foggy which did not change much until this morning.
 
I kept inshore all the way so was altering course at each headland. The wind was variable in strength so we did a little motoring and some motorsailing. If it hadn't been dark at times I would have put the spinnaker up.
 
The sun going down
and
 
and the sun coming up.
That has summarised most of the trip except for a few photos coming up the Ria. The photo above is the entrance.The Ria is huge being 13nm from the entrance to this marina and it is 5nm wide.
 
You had to have one of a lighthouse on a headland
The entrance is to the right of the picture. There are some fascinating rock formations. By the way I came past Finisterre headland on the way which they say is magnificient. It just looked like another flashing light to me.
 
This is taken about half way up the Ria which gives an idea of the scale of these waterways
As you can see it became quite a nice day.
 
Industry
There are a lot of these wooden floating things which are something to do with fish farming or maybe mussels. I will find out tomorrow.
 
That was my trip except I had a technical problem. Please feel free not to read any further.
 
Minka has a Volvo 2030 29hp diesel engine. Whilst motorsailing this started making odd noises and causing vibration throughout the boat. Occasionally in the past it has made the odd clatter when starting up. I had a look and thought it must be a faulty engine mounting.
 
Port side rear engine mount
It certainly looks a rusty mess but you can see it is a little twisted and has been knocking the corner of the crankcase. So I took it off expecting it to fall to pieces in my hands.
 
Well it didn't fall top pieces but you can see the rubber is separating in two places
 
I think it must have just become flexible enough to allow the edge of the crankcase to vibrate on the engine bearers. On the port side there is only a 3mm gap anyway. There is about 12mm on the starboard side. So I have put it back together and will order four new engine mounts. When I fit them I can then centralise the engine. There is quite a lot of flexibility as it has two constant velocity joints between the gearbox drive and the propshaft. In the meanwhile I will just have to put up with it rattling. That is assuming my diagnosis is correct. So thanks to my brother William for the permanent loan of his socket set which made the job very easy.