We pulled up anchor at 4:26AM in the rain and dark on Tuesday 19^th August and made it as far as San Vicente de la Barquera 43:23.29N 4:23.69W

We spent the night at anchor again opposite a very large port. We awoke to the alarm at 4AM got ourselves dressed, pulled up the anchor and sailed off into the darkness once again. The harbor was flat as a tack as we crept out of port, until we were confronted by the huge swell that had been pushed across the Bay of Biscay over the last few days from the strong North Westerly Winds. It was not uncomfortable though due to the large rollers being so far apart.  We just went up and down, however this time Silky slowed with every rise of the water. The wind was all over the shop most of the day so I used the wind vane mode on Atrie - our much loved crew member the Auto Pilot - as hungry for power as he may be he is still the best behaved crew member we have. 

The wind began to pick up as the morning went on as several cold fronts passed us causing rain and large gusts. We were very aware that if we were stuck out in this swell for long in a storm we would have one hell of a battle on our hands, so our plans to make Ribadesella in a day and daylight were put to one side and we headed for one of the refuge ports I had selected during the route plan.

The coast line along this part of Spain reminds me a lot of the west coast back in Victoria.  If anyone has driven west of Apollo bay you find yourself in open low lying land one minute, only to be cruising along cliffs beside the water the next. I think I have already mentioned the swell so no need to bring that up but both places have surf.

The first port we headed for was Pta Torco de Afuera, however once we got close enough to see our leading marks in we turned and headed back out into the deep.  It was low tide and only about a meter of water would have been under us across the breaking bar so that probably meant a disastrous end.  Any-how we had another plan up our sleeve.   About 13 more miles on, thinking it should only be a 2.5 hr sail down the road it turned into a 5 hrs journey tacking our course through the head wind to make it there. I dare say we went another 8 miles that in the right winds we would not of needed to do. All hard work too.

Silky is designed for cruising and not to race especially upwind so she is good for about 55 degrees either side of the tack, unlike some of the more modern boats that will go 30 degrees into wind at full speed where we lose about 20% of our power. To be totally honest as much as I love this whole sailing thing, big swell, horrible wind and going nowhere in a hurry is not a lot of fun so I do not plan on intentionally doing that again soon. Our plan is to spend 2 days here in this beautiful little fishing port and wait for the wind to swing to catch the breeze as far as it will take us.

As we finally sailed in yesterday afternoon, Fi and I worked as a cracking team to guide Silky in the channel now that the tide had risen to park her in our resting place for the night next to a large fishing fleet. You will see we have tied up with lots of rope out. I did not want to make the mistake of tying up tight only to have silky hang from her cleats as the tide goes out.

Anyhow I am really glad we pulled into this very beautiful spot check out the view from our cabin window.  We also ate out again last night enjoying the lovely Spanish treat’s you find in any bar.  Red wine and beer to wash it all down of course. We figure having not paid to moor up for the last week we can afford it.

Special comments by Fiona:  Getting up at 4am only to be confronted with huge swell and unpleasant wind again is not my idea of fun.  But you have to take the good with the bad with this sailing business and not every-day is going to be paradise.   Thanks to Ben’s smart route planning we did not have to endure a whole day and night of unpleasant wind and swell.  Ben navigated me in as I took the helm into our home for the night.  Again, I’m loving eating out on tapa’s and the wine of course.  It makes it even more pleasant when it is so damn cheap!

Day 29

Destination – San Vicente de la Barquera

Traveling Direction –West

Wind Direction – North West West (On the nose)

Average Speed 4.1 Knots

Top Speed –6.7 Knots Over Ground

Total distance – 47.4 Nautical Miles (only 33 the way the crow fly’s)

Travel Time – 11.42 Hours

Temperature – 18

Crew     - Fiona (Hating the wind and tacking all day)  

Missing Work - I do not think So

Expenses – €33 Dinner and Drinks,

Next Destination – La Coruna or as far as the wind will take us. La Coruna being a long long way away.