We half filled our tanks with a bit of diesel and then motored away from the marina in Gijon at 10:23AM Saturday 23rd^d August headed for Cudillero 43:34.03N 6:09.01W 

It was another fantastic day and after studying the weather the night before we decided to sleep in and leave a little later and wait for the high to pass us so we could catch the veering winds in the afternoon.

We cruised into Cudillero and moored up. For the first time we had to use bow and stern anchor line’s, thankfully the Spanish are such lovely and helpful people and a local fisherman helped Fi and I work out where the lines were meant to go, but hey, he must of thought we were pretty spastic when we clipped onto the buoys floating in the water. Oh well, anyone stupid enough to do what we are doing you will be fortunate enough to have a learning curve as steep as ours.

The water in the fantastic fishing harbor was crystal clear and when I dropped the anchor on the way in I watched it hit the bottom from 11 meters above. Fi and I were straight in to the water (again) for a cool down and a quick wash or there about’s. The minute we were settled we put the dinghy in the water and headed for land through the maze of small fishing boats and tenders that were moored up along the way. Once we made it into town we were received by a festival - not exactly sure what the festival was for - but it was very nice. Cider being the local brew is exactly what we drank to celebrate. Funny thing is that more cider ends up on the ground as they poor this stuff into the glass from about 1.5 meters above it. For some reason it is tradition to poor the drink this way.  Crazy!

After all the excitement and celebratory drinks Fi and I consumed we headed back to the boat.  We walked down the steps, hopped in the tender ‘pillow slip’ and motored off towards Silky.   However, we in our wisdom, decided to take a short cut and about 1 minute later we had run straight over rocks and snapped the prop. No bull, we were now in the dark, the middle of the harbor somewhere, no oars, no light, no boat with an anchor light and we were going nowhere fast. All I can say is you should learn from your mistakes (think I’ve said this before!) It is just that for some of us, it takes more than one mistake to learn. Anyhow Fi and I hung our selves over the side of the dinghy and started to paddle towards home. We were both very lucky that we were in a safe harbor and there was almost no wind and no current so we could make it back. I could have been a lot worse  so all is good. The next day after I cursed a little I inspected the prop to find it smashed some what to bit’s.  As stressed as I was I knew I could fix it and so I went about my regular routine of fixing things. Check out the picture, next to the Macarno set I bought in an op shop in the UK for all of £4.  The axels for the crane of what ever it made were the exact match of the sheer pin we managed to snap off, so I cut out a new one and filled the prop full of super glue and then a marine appoxy and presto off we went. Next time I think we will be taking a set of oars J

Special comments by Fiona:  I feel as though we have now slowed down a bit (thanks to the lack of wind) and recharging our own batteries after the tiring journey to get here.  We arrived at the right time to Cudillero, as it is festival time and the place is buzzing!  We both enjoyed a night out on cider  - the Spanish way, beer, wine and of course Tapa’s.  Although I don’t think we have the stamina to party to all hour’s any-more, as we were fast asleep by 11pm!  However, the party music from the shore was pumping to at least 6am which kept us intermittently awake. 

Our second day here saw us both working on the boat.  Ben fixing a lot of things that seem to keep on breaking and I spent the morning scrubbing the stove, oven, kitchen, floors, bathroom and what ever else needed my attention.  I’m finding myself enjoying the relaxing times (who wouldn’t!) but I almost need and want to work, that way the fun times make it that more worth it!

Day 33

Destination – Cudillero

Traveling Direction –West

Wind Direction – North East (Light breeze about 10 Knots)

Average Speed 4.4 Knots

Top Speed – 6.2 Knots Through the water

Total distance – 26.7 Nautical Miles

Travel Time – 6.19 Hours

Temperature – 34 degrees

Crew     - Fiona (Loving it more than ever)

Missing Work – !!!?

Expenses – €24.6 beer, wine and cider (what else)  & a plate of fried calamari €0.95 Bread

Next Destination – Hopefully La Coruna or as far as the wind will take us.