Cedeira

An early start saw us chugging down the Ria in hot pursuit of a French yacht. We both decided to take the short cut between Isla Coelleira and Punta Embarcadiero, a pass known as Freu de Colliera. It is fairly straightforward in calm conditions which we certainly had.

There was virtually no wind or swell at this stage it being not yet 9 o'clock in the morning. We had noticed that the wind filled in from midday and died away again in the evenings after 10 pm.

We got unusually close to shore as the calm conditions allowed us to venture closer than we would normally allow on this coast.

The sun was out and as we approached Cabo Ortegal the wind picked up a little and enabled us to sail a little as we rounded the headland.

We again had headwinds sailing the last 10 miles to Cediera and the sun vanished to be replaced by a grey sea and overcast sky, the entrance to Cediera is straightforward as long as you avoid the rocks which makes the approach a bit of a dogleg and the harbour itself is hidden until the final turn. There were quite a few boats aalready at anchor but there was still plentry of room. We finally had 14 yachts at anchor there that night.

A few boats were familiar, Arus Mor who we had last seen in Luarca and a fellow OCC boat, Dandelion whose crew were ashore. We were soon joined by another OCC yacht Seawolf, who we would meet again in A Coruña. We exchanged a brief word with David as we took our ensigns in at sunset ( David is ex navy ) we also noticed we were one of two boats with an anchor ball up, and later noticed only 50 % were actually showing anchor lights. Not good enough France, come on!

The Ría itself is quite pretty being wooded with a fine beach at its head. We thought about going ashore but as we had planned an early start we thought it better to get the boat ready and get an early night. So it was as the sun went down we phoned home to discover a good friend to Dark Tarn and us was dying, Chris Miller the owner and guiding light of Preston Marina had been diagnosed with cancer, it made for a sober evening............very sad news indeed.

The mood wasn't much lighter in the morning as the cloud base was barely above the cliff tops. The wind was still westerly but was forcast to move a little more north later in the day. We thought, as we later discovered did Helen and David aboard Seawolf, that it was rather like Scotland on a ' dreich' day.

As the rain descended I sent Lynne below, there seemed no point to two of us being cold and wet.

The next  seven hours are probably best forgotten, we motored in rain and dismal grey sky's with again virtually no wind and what there was fitful. Seawolf caught up with us just as the sun came out and we rounded Cabo Prior turning towards A Coruña 10 miles distant but just visible. Slowly The city came into sharper focus as the sun decided to shine the sky was once again that vivid Spanish blue and the distinctive  lighthouse the tower of Hércules was plainly visible.  This is the oldest lighthouse in the world still working and is a very elegant structure. We had been in email contact with the OCC ( Ocean cruising club ) port officer for A Coruña, Antón, he met us as we entered the Marina Coruña ( Antón had already booked us in and arranged our OCC discount ) and had a couple of men in tow to speak to us. We had developed a problem with The roller furler on our genoa, it had developed an intermittent sticking which needed sorting out. We had also decided to have the boat hauled out so we could pressure wash and anti foul the hull. Our speeds had been dropping lately due to the amount of weed and growth on the hull. It was also time for some TLC for our overworked engine which was due for a thorough service.

Time for a refit! And Antón had sorted it all out, we explained what checks and repairs we needed and the guys gave us a good look over and we all retired to the bar for a beer. This is how to do things the Spanish way! We had arrived on a holiday weekend, luckily the feast of St James. This meant that we couldn't be lifted at Coruña but Antón took us to a neighbouring Ria and a small town called Sada that had all the facilities we needed and the boatyard there would lift us out for a reasonable price. We enjoyed a lovely ride out and had gin and tonics overlooking the Ria at Sada and Anton diverted on the way back to show us General Francos summer residence, now open to the public three times a week. We arranged to be lifted out the following Tuesday as Monday was a public holiday, we decided that we would get the train to Santiago de la Compostella on the Feast of St James and watch the festivities. Everything was working out very well so far!

A Coruña is one of those honey pot ports that attract other birds of passage and virtually every other boat on the ' transitos' berths were flying courtesey flags, some heading east back to France, some north to the UK some on their way to Portugal, the Mediterranean or some like us , further still. All serious cruisers and not weekend sailors so everyone has something in common but not everyone has a port officer like Antón, what a star that man is. We could relax for the weekend and Antón would remain on call for any eventuality and even accompany us the 8 miles or so to Sada on Tuesday. Meanwhile Dark Tarn sat between the old fort on one side and the modern port control tower on the other. At peace for a while. We could now begin to explore A Coruña a little bit.

The fort of St Antón, the marina is just to the left of it. The city is behind me as I take the photo.