Fai Tira in La Coruna, Northern Spain. 45:22.05N 08:23.07W
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Fai Tira in La
Coruna, Northern Spain. 45:22.05N 08:23.07W 3rd
September 2011 On
the 3rd September 2009 we arrived in La Coruna after quite a horrible
Biscay crossing. So it is quite ironic to arrive back here exactly two
years later in calm conditions after nearly completing our adventure. We
are waiting for a weather window to set off on our final leg of the trip back
to Dartmouth.
We
had set off from Faro with the intention of getting to La Coruna in one hop. We
achieved this with favourable winds and only one night of bad weather. We
stayed close to the Portuguese coast to take advantage of the afternoon sea
breezes. The only downside to this was having to dodge the numerous fishing
and lobster pots dotted along our route.
An
early morning scene followed by a group of Islands that reminded me of our first
sighting of the Marquesas. The
highlight of the trip for me was being surrounded by Dolphins at night, watching
them as they streaked through the phosphorescent sea looking like green silhouetted
aliens with trails of sparkling plankton left in their wake. I was lucky
to be on watch when this happened just to the north of Finisterre. They stayed
with us for about an hour. As we passed through a shoals of fish all hell let
loose as they went into a feeding frenzy only to return back to the bows of FT
to keep me company for another few miles. I woke Baz to ensure he didn’t
miss this rare, special spectacle.
Here
is me enjoying the one of the two drinks a day allowed whilst sailing.
John on the lookout for more Dolphins. Motoring along in light winds. John
spotted a huge air breather which I was convinced was a whale of some type based
on its size. John was convinced it was a large Dolphin. We will never
know as it disappeared after a few minutes. Baz was asleep and missed it. After
arriving in La Coruna at 10.30 we chilled out and then headed into the
city. Memories of 2009 came flooding back - after all this was our first
real stopover after the achievement of crossing Biscay. We headed for the
main square which has an awesome town hall.
FT’s
Crew We
wandered around for a while before, yes you guessed it, we found a place to sit
and have a beer. But what a strange place.
We
sat outside a ham shop drinking beer. Baz was in his element being a
Radio HAM. We also came across this interesting street art figure
levitating in front of our very eyes. We carried on wandering
until we found an Irish pub. Guiness was on the sign outside so we headed
in and sampled a couple of very nice pints whilst watching Wasps play Saracens at
Rugby on the pub TV. Tapas was also on offer. Drinking Guiness and watching
Rugby in an Irish Tapas bar is not something you get to do every day!
John
sampling the dark stuff. After
the rugby it was time to eat. We were recommended to a nice local
resturant. Whilst in there the heavens opened and it rained and rained. It didn’t
stop until the next morning and we got thoughly soaked on the way back to FT.
The
square at night - deserted because of the rain. Sunday
dawned bright and sunny. We did a few jobs in preparation for our final
leg. Later Baz and myself headed off on the bikes hunting Geo Caches whilst
John when hunting art. We failed on the first location but achieved finding
the hidden tresure at the next two locations.
The
little panda we found in Cartagena goes into our first Geo Cache of the day to
carry on its journey around the globe. The second cache had some Finish
coins in it. We brought them away with us to check what their mission was.
Remember
these objects? - a rusty piece of art and this great surfing sculpure located next
to the beach.
Me
trying to work out which way it is to Dartmouth and the magnificent Torre de
Hercules a light house originally built by the Romans. We
met up with John back in the square and and then had dinner before retiring to
bed having had a really nice day. We
leave La Coruna tomorrow heading across the Bay of Biscay. Our ETA in
Dartmouth is midday next Saturday the 10th September 2011. |
