Position:  43:21.51N 08:14.77W

Sada Marina, Spain

Mum and Al arrived at Darsena Marina in the morning and we spent a couple of lovely hours catching up on news and gossip whilst they showered us with gifts of newspapers, magazines, chocolate, Tetleys tea bags and our post from home. It really was great to see them and it is so nice to have people visit when we are away, to re-connect with life at home and for others to see the way we are living. 

Mum and Al were tired, with good reason – they sold their house in the UK the previous week and have been traveling ever since – Al to Scotland and Mum to Shoreham and Suffolk, before meeting at Heathrow to fly out to Coruna.  After they leave us they are on the road for another few days – to Heathrow for a night, then to Berlin, then back to Shoreham before flying out to their house in South Africa where I expect they will collapse in front of a big steak and nice bottle of South African red.

We went out for lunch in Coruna, and had a great meal – it was like a mixed grill of lovely fatty meats and chips, smothered in garlic.  All very tasty, especially when washed down with a bottle of Rioja!  Then we took the kids to the playground.  The playgrounds are a big thing here in Spain – they are always very good quality, and packed with kids and adults – a real social event!  A lot of the kids and parents are very smartly dressed – well, smarter than me anyway.

The following day we sailed over to Ares, which is a small town about 10M from Coruna.  As it was sunny, we anchored off the sandy beach (we were the only boat around – is it because it is now September? Or does everyone know something we don’t) and spent the afternoon on the beach, swimming in the warm water, before heading into the marina. 

That evening we had a birthday meal (my 36^th birthday is on 2^nd Sept) at the restaurant in the marina area.  More Rioja and more lovely food, and great company.

Meal with Mum & Al, Ares

On my birthday, I think we all awoke with a hangover, which Sarah did her best to cure by cooking a fry-up for us all.  After this there were presents and cards, followed by birthday cakes!  Very impressive organization by Sarah and Mum.

Birthday cakes with Al & Mum

The weather is feeling decidedly autumnal, so after lunch in town we decided to sail over to Sada, a few miles across the Ria.  It was too cloudy and cool for swimming, so we headed into the marina for the night.

Looking at the forecast, we realized that there was a large storm coming in, the day after tomorrow – a big depression heading further South than usual, and the first of the Biscay September storms.  If we didn’t head SW tomorrow I reckoned we would be stuck in and around Coruna for another week.  So we decided to check again in the morning.