We’ve been back on Weverbird for just over a week, adapting to life on board and starting to think nautically. Really what that means is being alert to the weather, particularly the wind, the direction and speed of the tide and the state of the sea – how big are the waves and the swell. Another area given close attention is provisioning. Always ensuring we have sufficient fresh food and wine for a minimum of three nights away from the shore. No popping to the corner shop for forgotten items.

We left the industrial port of Aviles on Sunday 6 July having spent much of the previous day removing the not so thin layer of coal dust that had settled everywhere. We headed west along the coast toward the small old fishing port of Luarca, in very gentle seas, lots of sunshine and no wind so under engine. We covered the 30 odd miles in no time at all only to be disappointed by the complete lack of mooring facilities for yachts our size in Luarca. We were expecting what sounded like an intriguing system of mooring buoys but they didn’t exist.. Plan ‘B’ was put into action and off we headed to our first anchorage of the season. Punta del Cuerno just 3 miles west of Luarca. It turned out to be perfectly fine, only us in it, slightly too much swell but good holding and we had a reasonable night. The following day we headed for Ribadao. Another 30 plus miles further west under engine. A good marina and pretty town a couple of miles up the estuary. The Camino de Santiago has a starting point in Ribadao (indeed, in most of the towns along the N coast of Spain!)so we decided to be pilgrims for the day and followed the route up into the hills, through deserted countryside. Passing through small villages which, other than washing on the clothes lines could have been uninhabited. Not a hostelry in sight. Well into the fourth hour of the pilgrimage we spotted a very welcome sign promising hospitality to pilgrims only 7km further on. By the time we finally got there we joined other fully fledged pilgrims enjoying homemade cakes and liquid refreshment. The way back to the boat was by taxi. A couple of days later we set sail for Cedeira, an anchorage in the first of many Rias we are hoping to visit. Apparently they get more impressive the further South West you go. It was another 30 plus miles easily covered and another peaceful anchorage. There really are very few boats about. Some of the little sandy beaches in the Ria had an almost Robinson Crusoe feeling. Fine golden sand, crystal clear water, so tempting but, so cold!! No swimming yet then! First BBQ of the trip. Delicious dorade, fresh fish is remarkably cheap here. The following day we had a blistering sail, in brilliant conditions, to A Coruna. 8 knots becoming the norm’. We arrived just ahead of an unsettled weather pattern we could see on our weather app. Aptly called ‘Windy’. It is a wealth of information including swell height. We decided to go into Marina Nautica/Real rather than the new Marina Coruna, one because it had been recommended and two because it’s right in the town and has a good buzz about it. We decided to spend the next three nights in the marina to let the weather pass, get on top of some boat jobs and visit Santiago de Compostela. We had two fairly essential jobs. One being the installation of our own WIFI router and ariel which means we can now easily access the WIFI signal provided by most marinas. This may not sound like much but believe me up until now access to WIFI has been tortuous, if not impossible. Three cheers for Steve!! Job two; the repair of the sacrificial strip on the head sail. It’s been four years since the sail was serviced – normally it happened every year in England. In the meantime the strip has been performing it’s job and is now starting to disintegrate in various patches and we can’t get a new one till the end of the season. To slow down the sacrifice we spent a morning taking down the head sail and meticulously repairing each tear with special sail repair tape. As a result the strip now has a slightly harlequin look about it but seems to be holding together. We arrived in S de C by train (no ‘walking the camino certificate’ this time). It is an interesting and well preserved city, very pretty streets and squares. Plenty of the requisite pilgrims around, some looked real some not so real. The cathedral was undergoing restoration work but the enormity was still there and we could feel the idea of the incense ball swinging through the aisles. The staff in the Marina office are very friendly and helpful and on their suggestion we visited a small, extremely lively, family tapas bar in the one of the back streets behind the port. Definitely no English spoken but plenty of hand gestures and with the back up of google translate we managed to order an interesting and delightful selection of local tapas. And we’re definitely getting into Spanish time as it was well after 10.30pm by the time we ordered!..We left the marina yesterday heading to a well protected anchorage in the Ria. The wind is still gusting 27knots plus and bearing in mind the next leg of the journey is along the Costa da Morte we thought we’d wait another day. Just time to get into the wet suit and do a few laps round the boat!