Work work work

Dark Tarn is usually ready for sea, there are always small jobs that need doing however and a particular problem has been our Dorade ventilators. One in particular has been weeping a rusty streak for a while. It is a fairly major struggle to get at these things ( possibly the cause of the problem ) as it requires dropping the headlining ( ceiling ) and removing insulation etc. We started the job and gave ourselves two weeks to do it. The sequence of events goes something like this:

Take everything apart

Remove any rust or corrosion

Grind back to bare metal

Prime and fill with epoxy filler

Prime again ( at least two coats of metallic primer )

Topcoat ( again at least two possibly three coats of polyurethane)

Dry assemble ( this enables us to figure out the sequence, not always easy )

Assemble with Sikaflex silicone sealer ( the really messy bit )

In the above photo we have de rusted and filled with epoxy, ideally I would have liked to have cut out the corroded section and welded in another but my welding set is in Preston and to be honest we hope this repair will last a good few years. The Dorade section is the thing in front of the orange bucket , the actual ventilator ( mushroom type ) is the thing lying to the right.

The mess was quite incredible, this is  a quick look in the cabin while we had the headlinings down.

All this for the sake of a rusted section less than two inches in extent. However we are very aware that you mustn't spoil the ship for a haporth of tar......

The finished article soon to be hidden under the Dorade cowl. These jobs are very time consuming but luckily we have an abundance of time just now even with it being still dark at 8.30 am and dark by 6pm.

While we are waiting for filler or paint to dry we still have lots of time to explore or just to look around. We had a frustrating few days of almost constant rain, we we're suffering from being st the bottom edge of Beitains firsts named storm ( winds expected over 60 mph ) Angus. The reward for being cooped below however was a superb rainbow over the Ria.

The weather improved and we could get back to work, .late one afternoon we went for a walk along the coast and watched the sun setting in the west over Islas Cies.

The sky later turned flame red and orange heralding a distinct improvement in the weather.

I had been debating whether to fly back with my mountain bike, there were so many great trails locally, however I decided that it made more sense to by a cheap bike from Vigo as bikes corrode quite readily in a salty atmosphere. So it was a trip on the ferry again this time I was delighted to find our local pod of dolphins playing just outside the harbour.

they are a common sight and we often spot them both from the coast and ferry, it quite a treat to see them play outside your front door. Dark Tarn is moored in the marina visible in the video. 

There were even bigger animals waiting in Vigo!

We also had a rare night out having a meal in El Bribon and trying a new bar that had just opened.

The strangely named " cat of the sea", however we were delighted to discover it sold Newcastle brown ale. And even had pint glasses. Could well become a regular haunt.......

The good weather continued. As I was now the proud possessor of a bike I felt duty bound to go out riding, Lynne wasn't keen on cycling after trying it in France so she elects to walk

I cycled along the coast trail to Limens and met up with Lynne on the way back, at the small beach at Medea. It was a lovely 18°c, not bad for December.

The recent winds were still generating a considerable swell and the waves were getting quite impressive for our sheltered Ria.

Around this time temperatures were around freezing point in the U.K.

hibernation preparation

The end of the year going into November was quite often astonishingly unlike Winter, the sun shone and we were able to swim and continue to explore in shorts and t shirts. Walking to the supermarket at LIDL was just as pleasant, meandering along the shore of the Ria.



Temperatures were very pleasant and our increasing list of minor jobs was once again shifted to the back burner.

Another attempt to walk to the viewpoint at the " Mirador del Rei " resulted in us exploring the hills above the town again but this time forcing further into the Eucalyptus forests and emerging above the town on a surprisingly well hidden ( from the boat ) platform complete with benches tables and granite bar-b-que areas.

As usual the views were fabulous, virtually the entire Ria was in view and we could clearly see dark Tarn at her berth in the marina at Cangas. we puzzled again as to why we couldn't spot this extensive viewpoint from below.

Of course being Winter we were soon overcome with the heat! It didn't seem winter at all,  however the trees along the waterfront were turning a spectacular shade of copper which seemed very odd when contrasted with the crocus flowering below! A kind of seasonal confusion.

We were approaching another notable astronomical event the "Supermoon" in actual fact this is the closest that the moon will approach for quite a few years, this was hyped a lot by the press but was in fact only about 4% bigger than a normal approach at perigee (closest point of the moons orbit )

It did look lovely though! Not the best photo but certainly better than the view back in the UK......

It was now getting time to dust off the jobs list, Dark Tarn is pretty much ready to go all the time, however there are always routine maintenance jobs and tidying to do. We have a list of things that we can pick from given weather conditions. A few days of rain coincided with a failure of the main outlet pump diaphram. This was traced to a split in the hinge bracket. I ordered spares from the UK and repaired the hinge bracket with epoxy replacing the diaphragm withour last spare. I couldn't leave Lynne without a working toilet! The pump is a large Titan gusher and is built in to a kind of cistern behind the toilet bowl. I am thinking of getting a job as a gynaecologist to utilise my new skills. I can also now peel an orange in my pocket. This is a "rainy day " job I hope not to have to do too often.

The epoxy had been left over from yet another job where we had replaced the anchor light with a super bright LED one. This had required some major surgery and a bit of lateral thinking but had proven to be very effective, we had first tried it out at the Islas Cies.

While my mind was on anchoring, and the sun was out again we took the opportunity to inspect the Kedge anchor (secondary anchor ) cables and chain. Dark Tarn has a great selection of secondary braid line and 10 and 12 mm chain, hundreds of metres, enough to sit out a hurricane if needed! To put this in perspective we have only used any of this once in three years of cruising, the warp on the left that is stained a brownish colour was used to deploy a stern anchor on the Spanish north coast the river mud gave it its colour.

All was in good condition, we dried everything and replaced a couple of rusty shackles and swopped the stainless anchor shackle on the main anchor for a galvanised one. mixed metals are not a good idea below the waterline and this job had been bugging me for ages.We also took the opportunity to reorganise the anchor lockers ( yes we have two) and shock horror, threw some things away!

We also utilised Lynnes splicing skills to build some permanent preventer lines for the boom using 8mm Dyneema, this is a wonder yarn that is size for size stronger than steel. Having the preventer permanently rigged on the boom will enable us to rig a preventer from the mast rather than hanging on the end of the boom. Dyneema  isn't particularly easy to splice when its double braid but we are very pleased with the result. Its undoubtedly safer and easier to rig particularly in oceanic swells.

That evening the super moon was again creeping over the horizon, this time with some atmospheric clouds. They heralded another dip in the weather. On a grey day we visited Vigo. This is Lynne by the statue of Jules Verne. Of course there is a reason for the statue,

Vigo is mentioned in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and the gold remaining on the seabed from the battle of Rande is harvested by Captain Nemo and his men. Of course there are those who maintain that Captain Nemo is fictitious and the gold is still on the bed of the Ria....but that doesn't explain why no one can find it. I like to think that its actually at the bottom of the Maelstrom near the Lofoten islands in the wreck of the Nautilus.

Birthdays again

First job obviously was a haircut, my mid life crisis rebellion was over and I was getting heartily fed up with eating my own hair. I will always be a hippy at heart but the hair would have to remain a memory. I wandered along the seafront at Cangas with my passport in hand found a pelequeria and in halting Spanish asked for a haircut "like that". Ten minutes later and this is the result.

I think its an improvement anyway. Next job was my birthday for which I decided would start with chocolate and churros. if you havnt had this indulgent treat before it consists of fried doughnut type star shaped strips (churros) and a cup of chocolate, this isn't a chocolate flavoured drink its actually chocolate melted in milk and is absolutely delicious.

We indulged in a late lunch at a local restaurant, Evoque, which is situated along the extended quay which leads out towards the main beach. we had a menu de dia on the terrace which has outstanding views out towards the bay and Vigo beyond.

 All in all ,very pleasant......

We later walked back along the tree lined front watching some locals playing a strange game.

I later discovered this is known as " A Chave" . Its a traditional Galician game where the object is to throw some heavy metal disks (pellos) at a target known as a Chave which has two spinning arms. I later discovered that the shape is regional too, some Chaves are spear shaped.

The ones here in Cangas have two spinning arms and the sound of the metal disks hitting the target was the thing which attracted us to the playing area by the fish dock to investigate the musical clanging!

Later I achieved another culinary first by eating roast chestnuts. I have no idea how I have managed to live so long without eating these delicious hot nuts.......very popular in this part of Spain all year round you can buy them by the kilo in every supermarket or grocery. In the square the local children were in fancy dress to celebrate Halloween.

The celebrations where very enjoyable particularly the hoola hoop lessons, learning to hoola has now made it onto my bucket list! This list has prompted my birthday present to myself too, a set of lock picks, I have now picked every padlock on the boat bar one, which was immediately promoted to protecting the outboard!

We are still receiving visits from our neighbours on the two Irish boats and we all got together for a lunch at El Bribon In the photo below Maureen and Bob are foremost and Megan and Jim are behind us along with their guest from home Leslie.

Bob and Maureen later took advantage of the fuel berth at Cangas to top up the fuel tanks on Modus Vivende as there was no fuel available at their marina in the beautifully sheltered reaches of St Adrian.

The fuel berth is located on the end of the harbour wall enclosing the small harbour where the marina
is placed. Modus Vivendi is a rather nice Oyster ketch.

The harbour wall is also the work area for the local women who mend the fisherman's nets. Again a skill I would like to aquire, I know its just one knot but I also know its not as easy as these ladies make it look.

Islas Cies the movie

A little bit of footage from a recent trip to our local paradise.......... the fantastic Islas Cies.

Castaways

the Islas Cies are located at the entrance to the Ria Vigo, we had sailed to and anchored off the Praia de Rodas on the chart below it is fairly central.

The following morning we had visitors, a couple who were also anchored in the bay in a Halberg Rassay called Frejya rowed over, we had bumped into them in Isle de Yeu over 12 months ago!
It is indeed a small world. After a quick catch up we agreed to meet up later in Cangas.

We went ashore as the sun tried to make an appearance and had decided to walk to the summit of the island which has a lighthouse on the top of it called Faro Cies.

The trail led up through the ever present eucalyptus forest and eventually onto the sparse heathland above. There were some interesting rock formations that are a feature of the geology of the islands.

As we wound around the island high above the channel between Islas Cies and Islas San Martino, mainly known as Islas Norte and Islas Sud, (the channel is known as Freu de Porta), the views began to become more expansive.

In the picture above the lighthouse in view is the lower light, our objective was the more spectacular
Faro above. This is reached by a tortuous track that is shown in the photo below, I stole the image from the internet not having access to a helicopter! It shows the path quite nicely.

Many lizards skittered away as we approached along the winding path, again as the tourist ferries had stopped running a few days before we were totally alone apart from Toby and Sara from Frejya, who were somewhere on the island. It was difficult not to imagine that Ernst Blofeld wasnt looking at us from his spectacular lair!

The path was steep and the heat was becoming a bit oppressive, however we soon reached the top and were rewarded by spectacular views, both to the north and south.

It seemed to be a good place to eat our lunch. So we walked down to where the switchback path provided a natural seat.

It would be a fair assumption that we would get a little jaded with spectacular views and wonders of nature. This would be wrong, in the case of this island it is a place suffused with a kind of magic. Lunch was an experience.....

We later dropped down a short cut path to visit the lower lighthouse, this allowed a return path towards a small beach known as the Nossa Senora, visible above Lynnes head below.

The path followed the shore of the channel overlooking the island of San martino and we passed the small fishermans harbour tucked into a small bay.

The rather beautiful little beach, (it would become our favourite) is overlooked by a small effigy of our lady in an inaccessible niche in the rocks on the headland which provides a degree of shelter from the swell and current.

We spent a bit of time just absorbing the atmosphere, the azure sea and crisp white sand and views towards San martino were very special.

Eventually we tore ourselves away from this oasis of peace and tranquility and headed back to Dark Tarn at anchor. We went on the internet and booked ourselves in for a third day at anchor.

Later we walked to the point overlooking the ensenada de Lago which has a great outcrop of rocks one of which is a perfect chair although i was not successful in persuading Lynne to pose in it for a photograph.

To be fair it was a fair drop down to the crashing waves! I took a series of photographs which turned out to give a nice picture of the view once they had been "stitched" together. The view is towards the

south and the Faro we had visited earlier is on the headland on the right. Dark Tarn is at anchor in the bay on the left. It is easy to see why the Islas Cies are known as barrier islands when you see the difference between east and west sides.
The anchorage remained sheltered and our friends on Frejya left for Bayona in the morning. This left the island to ourselves so we returned to the beach of Nossa Senora and enjoyed a lovely day alone on this beautiful island.

Clothes seemed unnecessary, we swam, eat and enjoyed the sun. The peace was perfect.

We had enjoyed a fabulous three days on the Islas Cies.

It was time to leave our magic island............but we would return.