I hadn’t realised how long it had been since I last wrote up our voyage notes for Sailers [Not helped by the Editor's absence in September! - Ed].  Time flies when you are having fun!  From La Coruna we carried on south in fits and starts, stopping at Camarinas, Pedras Negras, Bayona, Viana do Castelo, Leixoes, Cascais, Sines, Lagos, Vilamoura, Cadiz and now Barbate.  

Our time spent in La Coruna was occupied with finding supplies both of victuals and items to service the anchor windlass after Brian had fixed the initial problems.  The gear oil had become contaminated with water (the anchor locker drain hole had blocked and the whole thing was awash for a time until we discovered it!) and was also very low.  The roller arrangement that the chain runs over was also a problem, in that it rotates and lifts the chain above the gypsy when winching in, so the chain would slip off and run out again!  An M12 bolt was required – not available in our collection. 

Benodet to La Coruña – via the Bay of Biscay

While in Benodet we waited for a nice westerly breeze to set in for a few days for our Biscay crossing – and waited, and waited for almost a week. We had decided to give up and head east along the Breton coast to L’Orient, La Rochelle or possibly Belle Isle. But I mulled this over and thought that this would add another two weeks at least to our journey to the Med if not more – and I wanted to be somewhere warm! So I persuaded Brian to look at the Biscay crossing against the weather map on a 6 hour plot to see what the wind looked like at each position.

Rose & Brian finally leave Holyhead on their big adventure.  Read the latest installment here:

On our way – Parties, trials, tribulations and excitement

The village leaving party went ahead with over 30 people! Our next door neighbour returned from business on the other side of the Pennines, we were really well feted. A full buffet spread was laid out, everyone had a great time and we were given gifts – a stuffed ship’s cat and a bag of oranges to ward off the scurvy. It was sad to leave all our friends. Stories relating to our 21 year tenure in the village surprised us – we had forgotten some of them. The following week we packed up the final belongings having sold our cars and finished all the clearing out, said final goodbyes and returned to Holyhead for the last time.