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.