Corme to Camarinas
16 June 2014
Stu & Shar

Set off early in a fairly fresh NE breeze around 20kts. I knew it was going to kick in hard later in the day so wanted to cover the short distance to Camarinas as quick as we could....we managed to cover most of the distance with 7-8kts slipping under the keel as the fresh breeze was pushing us along nicely from behind...but the last hour kicked in hard consistently over 30+ kts with the tops being blown off the waves as spray. We were running on about half a headsail and humming along easily at 8-9kts. As we rounded Cabo Vilaino ("Cape Villain") we were hit with a blast, Songbird took off like a rocket on a wave and needed a bit of focus to steer, I glanced down to see 10.6kts SOG and the wind at 52kts. Jack woke up from his slumber of listening to music and playing games on his iPhone, as things had started to get exciting. The looks from Shar, said roll the heady to a handkerchief "NOW".....this only lasted for about 5 minutes and settled down again as we moved under the headland and around the corner into Camarinas..... As on most windy and rough days people seem to be more attuned to you needing a hand to tie up, as it can all go pear shaped quickly with a strong breeze blowing.....we had many hands to help tie Songbird up, for which we were grateful in these conditions. The harbour was quite rough as it was exposed on the NE side and the chop rocked and rolled the boats and pulled heavily on the mooring lines to the pontoon for most of the night.....Three days we waited for the winds to abate, it howled from the N/NE, not a pleasant place to be out to sea at the moment..... Camarinas was a good stopover.....we walked to Cape Vilano and had a look out to sea...the wind was blowing so hard Jack could stand on the edge of the wall at the lighthouse and lean into wind without falling over...I didn't quite work for me something to do with the physics of weight, mass and surface area :o).... One thing Spain has invested in quite heavily is wind turbines, we have passed thousands (yes..thousands) of these mounted on the hills along the coast since we landed in Spain at Gihon...bit of an eyesore but that's the price for this renewable energy......The north of Spain has been brilliant for the budget with most of the Marinas around the 20 euro mark.....beer at 1.50 euros a middy and simple good quality three course meals for 10-12 euros.....most food and items in shops are around 40-60% cheaper compared to Australia....with some items at a price where you wonder how they can make them for the price....10 centimes for a bread roll (15 cents).