Gunkholing in Gaicia
42:15.41N
8:42.36W Friday
8thth October 2010 There
could be no doubt it was heading our way.
Dark and rather sinister looking, the craft abruptly changed course and
sped in a sweeping arc directly towards us, so fast that its bow wave appeared
from amidships. We held a steady
course and waited anxiously. Before
long, we could make out the uniformed crew on deck preparing for boarding and
placing fenders along their starboard side. And they were certainly not
smiling. We were
heading across Ria Arosa, where we had been sheltering from some bad
weather. A rather vicious ‘low’ had
tracked in from the
The patrullero (photographed a few days later on a return visit in
better weather) The Commandante and crew of the patrullero ‘Aguila V’ were unfailingly
polite but insistent, despite my concerns of the risks involved in coming
alongside in a swell. They
manoeuvred their craft skilfully, depositing two crew with non-nautical footwear
on our teak decks. After examining
our paperwork, they completed a form in triplicate which was duly signed by all
parties and given an official Ministerio
de Hacienda stamp. Refusing our offers of hospitality, they
managed to relax a little before transferring back to their craft with the same
dexterity, then sped off at full throttle to seek more lucrative
prey. At anchor in Muros Wind and
an increasing swell maybe, but there’s no stopping Stellie once she’s decided
that now is the perfect time to refit and paint the anchor locker! Everything is
hauled onto deck, buckets of soapy water thrown everywhere, then much scrubbing
and sanding before covering anything not moving in grey paint. That’s my excuse for being so
grey! When the
depression arrived at Portosin, the force of the wind took everyone by
surprise. Passing directly
overhead, it produced a wind shift of 90 degrees in a matter of minutes and the
wind blew harder still. We
measured 50 knots across the decks, storm force 10, although local newspapers
reported gusts of up to 140 km/hr and some local boats were damaged. ‘Ananda’, weighing-in at over 30 tons,
was heeled hard over against the (fortunately) strongly built pontoon. But despite a one-metre swell in the
marina, we got off lightly by tripling some mooring lines and using spring shock
absorbers. Still more
bad weather here in Some you
lose. |