La Coruna - at last!

Celebrating our arrival

  

We finally made it to La Coruna on 11^th July. The crossing was better than we expected, but it  did have its moments…

Monday 9^th July. We left Audierne, as planned, at 7.15am.  The sky was overcast and we had a 14-20 knot south westerly wind but were able to sail close to our course. At first the waves were between 0.5 and 1 metre, but by the evening the swell had increased to around 2 metres and the motion had become more uncomfortable. Jean was sick twice and carried on with his watch regardless.  I took the helm at 10pm feeling queasy, although watching dolphins swim alongside the boat provided a pleasant distraction. By midnight my supper was in the bucket and I was ready to collapse on my bunk as Cliff took over the helm. The wind then dropped, so we had a rolly motor sail throughout the night.

Sun, sea and Bach

Tuesday 10^th July. My attempt at an early morning watch lasted minutes before the bucket came out   againand I went below to sleep. By midday the engine was off and we were sailing again. The wind had increased but waves had eased and I began to feel much better.  Early evening saw me on the helm again, the boat sailing beautifully at 6.5 knots in a gentle, 10 knot westerly wind, the sun glinting low on the sea and Jean’s CD of Bach’s Goldberg Variations playing in the background – perfect.

Jean discovers Marmite

 

 

 

Dolphins playing on the bow

 

 

 

Wednesday 11^th July.  I took the early morning watch and as the sun rose I could see the outline of the Spanish mainland – almost there!   A school of dolphins appeared to help me celebrate and I let the autohelm do the work while I watched them play in the bow wave. The morning bought calm seas with a gentle swell and no wind, so we continued to motorsail. Both Jean and I felt well enough to eat breakfast and Cliff introduced Jean to Marmite, which he loved! We finally reached Coruna Marina at 3.15pm and were soon joined by Richard and Rowena, who helped us celebrate our arrival with a nicely chilled bottle of champagne.

Nearly there