We pulled up our Anchor Wednesday 3^rd September at 10:40AM to sail off into the unknown once again. We were headed for Camarinas a small fishing port and nautical club 43:07.60N 9.10.92W 

It was wet and horrible out but we were both chirpily happy as we hoisted the sails headed to another wonderful unknown town. The unknowness of everything is what really makes this whole sailing thing really great.  Don’t forget that it is all hard work sometimes more than the two of us can handle or at least cope with. We are both happiest when another destination is just over the horizon or around the next headland and we can hardly wait to arrive and explore. Mind you Fiona and I are sown from the same cloth in that regard, we both love arriving, getting sorted and then walking around town taking a few pictures and then back to the boat for a meal, early night and the anticipation of doing it all again in the morning.

We were lucky to make it into this port considering the weather report’s.  Our trusty Navtext has been fantastic ever since I programmed the thing correctly letting us know all the meteorological reports and gale warnings. This time was no exception the little machine said that a gale was due at 3PM 4^th Sep until 9PM 5^th Sep and it was absolutely correct. So as we motored into this little port we headed for the Nautical Club and tided ourselves to the closest pontoon we could see. That was until about 3AM when the Mrs. Featherplace (Gale – something that Fiona calls a gale, don’t ask!) turned into a Severe Gale and our safe harbor was becoming unsafe. I had to tie an additional three lines from the boat to the pontoon. So we now had seven holding us on and believe me we needed every one of them. If only I could of added a sound bite of the wind through the masts of our little community of touring yachts all in the exactly the same situation Fiona and I found ourselves in. Incredible.

The yacht next-door a British family with a 3 & 4 yr old girl onboard recorded 43Knt’s which is about 80 Km/hr wind. A catamaran needed to be rescued in the middle of the night anchored in behind the breakwater in what looked like a very safe spot and was where Fi and I firstly wanted to anchor. The yacht a few boats down had their small front sail unravel which sounded like a shoonock helicopter was landing on the deck at about 5 AM. This whole storm left me thinking what would we of done if we were out amongst it? Would we of survived? Is our life raft suitable? Could we stream the sea brake? Could I raise a storm jib in such rough sea’s? I have no idea and to think the horrific winds Fi and I found ourselves in the other morning were bad, they had nothing on what we went through this night. Anyhow I really did not sleep and woke at 11AM after collapsing. Check out the picture of the bow line, this line had a huge rubber snubber attached to it which takes most of the load and yet it was only minutes away from setting us free.

Special comments by Fiona:.  Where has the good weather and wind gone??  Why do we always seem to miss it?  I didn’t mind being out in the wet, knowing we were on to our next destination.  Strangely I found it quite refreshing!  It was comforting to reach our next place and tie up to the safety of a pontoon.  Well, so we thought!  I don’t know what it is but I’m struggling a bit and getting a bit home-sick, or craving some sort of normality.  Today, I went for a run (something I used to do in my “normal” life) and explored the town.  After 40 minutes I returned to the boat and felt fantastic.  My feelings of home-sickness had disappeared and I feel positive again!

Day 43

Destination – Camarinas

Traveling Direction –South

Wind Direction – North East

Average Speed 4.7 Knots

Top Speed – 6.3 Knots Through the water

Total distance – 18.9 Nautical Miles

Travel Time – 4.05 Hours

Temperature – 16 degrees

Crew     - Fiona (Missing Normality)

Missing Work – NO

Expenses – €0

Next Destination – Bayona