RETURNING HOME

We are writing this on a cold afternoon back home in Little Haywood. We returned back to the UK on Monday 5th November.

We have had a wonderful time and seen many interesting and beautiful places. There have been so many highlights to the trip that it is difficult to chose which was the best. My best was possibly the city of Cadiz, whilst Mandy's best moment was our arrival at the south west corner of Ibiza at sunrise following a beautiful night crossing from the mainland.

Having visited and explored all the Balearic Islands we finally arrived in Minorca which we have enjoyed immensely . We ave now fully recovered from our traumatic fire experience and   have decided to winter the boat there.

Next year we will continue to enjoy the Island whilst we also prepare ourselves and Josephine for the next stage of the adventure. Our plan is to head East to Sardinia and then on to the Greek islands via Sicily.

Thank you all for your comments and messages which were very important to us.

                                                                Mahon Harbour 

A Visitor to Mahon

We will continue with the blog early next year.

RAY & MANDY

OCTOBER IN MENORCA

Reflections of Menorca

        Well it is as if some one has switched off summer and now the weather is unsettled not cold but wet and windy. On Monday we set off to sail around Menorca we left Mahon in sun shine as we left the harbour entrance we could see black storm clouds and rain ahead however we would not move that fast so we would not get to that storm however when we turned to look back it was just as black and the sun was shining above us so we set off north towards Puerto Addeya a new destination for us.
       One squall hit us and we got wet for about 5 mins and the the sun was shining as we entered Addeya alovely small port and  we went ashore it was very friendly and an very English resort. We departed the next day and the weather was mixed but little wind so motor sailed around to Ciutadella the old capital of this island and when we arrived and it rained very hard and we did not leave the boat. The next day we waited for the rain to stop and set off south no wind so we had to motor but there is a storm on it's way so we need to be in the harbour.

       We have fallen in love with this island she is beautiful with many pretty anchorages and very often good wind for sailing. So next month we are on our way home for a few month's. It has been fun and we have had many laughs my inability to tie knots some days I am knot blind and have 2 left hands and other day's it is easy the clove hitch and I don't tie Bowline; Ray has christened my knot the Mandylin it is a backwards knot!

         For those who asked who fell in it was Ray and there was no witness's thankfully.

   We will put in something before our departure.
                           Mandy

ENJOYING MENORCA

      
                                            THE VIEW FROM OUR MARINA BERTH

We are continuing to enjoy Minorca.  From a sailing and cruising point of view this has by far been the best of the Balearic Islands for us.

     We have been exploring the Callas and anchorages and continue to find new places. One could easily cruise around this island for a whole season and if you wished not stay in the same place twice!

      The weather is still good, with pleasant winds. October would seem to be a very good time to visit. We have noticed that there are now far fewer tourists, less boats in the anchorages, and things in all the shops are all on offer with 50% off !!

This week we met up with Deidre Newsome who was out here on holiday with her sister Margo and brother in law Graham, and we went out for a very nice meal and evening to a restaurant well inland that they have been frequenting for many years.

The inevitable happened this week. Having been very diligent about about not carrying mobile phones in my pockets when in the dinghy, we returned to the boat after watching Stoke V Liverpool, and my phone and I went in !!. I have not only lost the phone but more importantly all the numbers and contacts stored in it. !!

We are now making plans to lay the boat up for the winter and have booked our flights home in November. The weather here at the moment can only be described as perfect and so we are bracing ourselves for the return!

We have had a great summer but we are looking forward to our return and meeting up with all our friends and family.We have already booked seats for Stoke v QPR and so things will be back to normal.

                                                   THE RED ARROWS OVER MAHON

RAY & MANDY












RAY & MANDY

MORE FIESTA PHOTOGRAPHS

 

A SELECTION OF FIESTA PHOTOGRAPHS

 

 

 

A QUIET STREET IN MAHON

 

 

 

 

 

 BRING ON THE HORSES

   COOLING DOWN AFTER THE SHOW

 

 

 

 

 ONLY ANOTHER 100 YARDS TO GO !

 

 

 

A BRIEF REFLECTION OF TWO VERY MEMORABLE DAYS

 

MINORCA

Having enjoyd Majorca very much, we left Alcudia and traveled across the thirty mile channel to Minorca. All the islands are very different. Minorca is very green and far less mountainous than its neighbours. There are numerous calas to anchor in, and most of them are totaly unspoilt.

                             
                                                  MAHON HARBOUR AT SUNRISE

On Fri 7h we arrived in Mahon, after having had some lovely gentle sailing along the south coast of the island.  We decided to have lunch at a waterside restraunt in the port and I remarked how quiet it was compared to the last time I was here some years ago. It was so quiet that we decided to go and have a look at the old city, which involves quite a climb to get there.

Well what a suprise. It was litterally like Wembley on cup final day!  There were thosands of people lining the streets having partys,dancing, and drinking a local speciaality, Pommada, a coctail of Minorcan gin and lemon. In one very crowded road there was a roar and then a procession of about 100 Magnificent black stallions was rode through the crowd. It was ;

FIESTA

These horses are unique and are bred here on the isand, and the riders can and do make them rear onto there back legs which when you see it close to is quite awsome. What an experiance we thought it cant get better than this. It did.

On Saturday our good friend Mick Naylor arrived from the Uk and we told him all about the horses that we had seen the day before, The Festa was continuing (four days) and we took Mick up to see what was going on. It was another day of partying and we got into the spiit drinking Pomada and enjoying the atmosphere . We rounded a very crowded corner and found ourselves in a square in front of the cathederal,  a brass band was playing wild music and a mass of people dancing clapping and cheering. There were TV cameras on swinging booms. Then came the horses again. It seemed impossible that  they could possibly get through .The band increased the tempo, the crowd went wild and the first horse reared to his full height and surged foreward. The crowd  then just went into a frenzy, people holding up the horse at his breast whilst others supported the rider hanging onto the near vertical back of his stallion. This continued for some time for the entire procesion of horses. How no one was seriously hurt we do not know but we did see ambulance crews  treating injured spectators. .

We eventually got away and had a few Pommadas and the party went on (without us) untill about 6am the next morning.

FIRE AT SEA
It is always said that one of a sailors worst nightmares is a fire at sea. Well we have had one and can tell you it is pretty hairy. On the Sunday we had a pleasant sail along the south coast as we were taking Mick to a very attractive calla that we had found, Calla Porter. We furled the sails and started the engine. A few seconds later smoke was coming out of the hatchway at an alarming rate. We stopped the engine and rushed below to investigate. What ever it was it was in the engine compartment. All the hundreds of safety briefs that I had given as an instructor clicked into place. The golden rule being do not open the compartment to look, it will only supply the fire with more Oxygen! We let off two entinguishers through the hole in the casing that is there for that very purpose. The cabin was now full of smoke and we were adrift out at sea with no engine! After a few miniutes I ventured a look inside, and imediatly shut the door. The fire was still burning with flames on the port side of the engine. We let off a third and larger extinguisher which thankfully and eventually put out the fire.

We then sailed the boat into Calla Porter, which is very narrow, and was thankfully empty, and dropped the anchor. All the electrical wiring on that side was totaly burnt out and it would seem that most of the flames and smoke had actually come from the so called "fire resistant" lining to the engine compartment !

The next day sods law of the sea worked its normal way with the wind blowing into the narrow calla and making it impossible to raise our anchors and sail out. After some time a passing French yacht, who had only come in to take photographs, was hailed and they kindly and skillfully took us alongside and towed us out to open water. We were then able to sail the boat back to Mahon, and bring the boat to an alongside berth under sail.

We are now fully repaired and all is well again, although we are considerably poorer having paid a substantial bill !   It would seem that the starter motor had burnt out and that the heat from this spread the damage to the adjacent wiring and also destroyed the alternator. (I suspect the powder from the extingushers did this ?)

Quite an experaince and congratulations to Mick and Mandy for helping to deal with what could have been a very serious situation.

LAYING UP FOR WINTER
After our experiances we have made the decission to keep the boat here in Mahon for the winter and have found a very sheltered and nice  friendly Marina at the head of Porto Mahon . It is only a few minutes from the airport, with regular inexpensive flights to the UK.

We will spend the rest of the time continuing to explore the island.

Ray

Next Island new adventure

Well we are in Menorca and in Mahon Harbour and it is beautiful but every adventure has a big story and I think we have had ours and are now storing it out.
    Our sail over to Menorca was interesting as the weather was mixed left in sunshine but ther were black clouds about and a squall came over and Ray got very wet I put on waterproofs and we continued sails out in and reefed etc. a good work out for the crew and as Mallorca disappeared in a black cloud so infront of us appeared Menorca in sunshine so first bay/cala on the south west corner of Menorca was our home for the night and the water to swim in was refreshing. The next morning the sun ws shining so head east to Mahon to meet up with a guest on saturday. Arrived at a beautiful Cala Porter and spent the night sandy beach and lovely cliffs. The next day sailed on and got to Mahon on friday to prepare and shop for food however it was Fiesta week-end and they know how to party here and the shops are all shut! So party and eat out a good time was had by all and Ray has photo's and will show you the Fiesta.
   On sunday we set sail all the south coast and not much wind but it filled in and we had a great sail and decided to take Mich  to Cala Porter as we loved it and a swim ashore to the bar was possible, to enter the Cala we started the engine to furl the sails as it is a narrow entrance and we had smoke coming out of the engine compartment and a different engine noise yes Josephine's engine was on fire so the fire extinquisher was deployed well 3 to put the fire out and we turned out to sea to sort ourselves out and plan what to do next Skipper Ray was great calm and we had good wind direction to sail into the Cala no other boats in there so plenty of room to manover and drop the anchour quickly as no engine = no breaks! so in we go anchoured ok then the 2nd anchour out quickly to stop us swinging into the cliffs. Safe and sound!
     We are now in Marina Menorca getting the engine fixed an electrical fire started it we think by the starter motor. Mich our guest for the week sadly has not experienced much of Menorca and not much sailing alot of Mahon and tender rides to get about.

     Anyway we are all well and now experienced fire fighters ( wish we weren't ) and Josephine has or is getting as I write new wiring.
     Adove is Ray and Mich enjoying a drink during the fiesta.

Menorca

We have made it to another island and it has been beautiful difficult crossing weather wise but now back to sunshine .lots to tell you all but we have a guest to look after and are off to dinner chat longer next time.
      M&R

Weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Well what can I say we are now in Alcudia hiding from a storm! us sailors never happy too much wind not enough, in the wrong direction ,however we are also hiding from a northerly swell of 3/4 metre's in height which would make for an uncomfortable crossing to Menorca this week -end. So we plan to go tomorrow or sunday,watching some football here on sat. may delay us a day!

         The wind last night was strong whistling through the rigging and today is cool and dull no sun and we are loving it it is the 1st day without sun since middle of june sorry to all those on holiday here who want the sun but it is nice today.

ILAS BALLEIRAS
We have really enjoyed cruissing the Balleric Islands and would recomend them to any one who is considering chartering in the future. Majorca from the sea is in many places very unspoilt and quite beautiful, with many anchorages and harbours wwell away from the mass tourist areas. Much to my suprise we have also had some excellent sailing. Most mornings start off calm and serene but by miday a very pleasant breeze sets in to give perfect sailing conditions to our next anchorage or port.

Regular reaaders may find the weather site that we use interesting it is called passage weather. It gives very detailed weather and swell information together with barometric charts etc.

For some time now i have been considering entering into a tirade of my opinion of people who drive around in large and small power boats and of their ingnorance and rudeness, but i am still managing to contain myself and may save it for a very strong letter to be hopefully published in Yachting monthly or better still in Motoer boat monthly if such a publication exists !!

Ray and Mandy x

   P.S the sun is out again in Mallorca!
    

Waiting for the wind!

Well we have been in Mallorca for a week now and have seen a beautiful island from long unspoilt beaches too magestic cliffs and rocks and caves.I have swam in clear blue seas and seen a Ray(not the Skipper Ray a fish!) of some sort making its way along the sea bed.

   We have had some of the best sailing here and now are in Porto Cristo waiting for the wind to change direction it is northeasterly today and we want to go that way and there is a 2 metre northeasterly swell which would make for an uncomfortable sail so the north coast will have to wait for a day or 2 but we have been stuck in worst places so we will just have to relaxe and enjoy ourselves! I think we have been diung that for the last 4 months! so well practised at it.
      The 2 picture's are of a sunset from Ibiza the eve before we set sail for Mallorca.

                             bye for now mandy

Mallorca we made it !

I have to pinch myself when I think it is 4 months since we left home and we planned and dreamed of making it to the Med and here we are! and in Mallorca with hundreds of Spainish holiday maker's and Spain is poor well this lot are not in their speed boats etc. Anyway just a short hello we are both good and in puerto rapita a very beautiful beach area and anchorage we have cleaned Josephine of red dust again and filled with water and tomorrow will move on.

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE

Now that we are here in Ibiza water is not as readily avilable as it was on the mainland. It really is a commodity that we take for granted and then realise its impotance when you have to start being carefull. We are quite lucky as Josephines tank holds 400 litres and this will last us a week quite easily without being to carefull. WE shower severall times a day off the back of the boat after swiming etc.

However we are now down to our last 50 litres and need to go into the Club Nautico San Antonio to see if they will sell us some! Our pilot book describes the water here as "Brackish and not nice tating"!

The other problem is we also now have a very dirty boat, and we are not allowed to hose it down. Every night we get considerable condesation on the decks and windows and this combines with a sprinkling of red dust that comes over from the Sahara in N Africa to leave a unattractive coating every where.
     Above is the boat we are saving for!!!!!

Ibiza south coast 1st rock on the left

Well we have now left mainland Europe and started our sequence of island hopping. The Spnnish coast was quite wonderfull and extremely varied. So many contrasts from Coruna and the Rias in the north to the Cotas on the med coast.

WE left fromAltilia and had a very nice night crossing to Ibiza.. There was a full moon and Venus the brightest star in the sky seemed to stay on our bow all night to guide us.

The photograph above was litteraly the first rock on the left as we arrived at 0700hrs on the sat morning. It really is a most stunning and very high islet. Its name is Isla Vedra and together with its neighbour Isla Vendral stands only a short distance off the main coast of the island . The passage is quite narrow but has a min depth of 30 metres and it is quite dramatic passing through to the west coast. After a few days of being facinated by its rugged beauty we found out that it was in fact the island that was used as "Bali HI" in the film South Pacific, much of which was filmed here on the island.

Ibiza is supprissingly nice and an excellent cruissing area. with numerous callas and anchorages. The water is cristal clear and 25 deg C. WE swim and snorkel everyday.

Ibiza

We have made it and it is not just a disco island the coast is beautiful the sea is warm but good enough to cool off  in on a hot day! The Cala's are idilic and some very busy others very quiet we are just south of San Antonnio at Cala Basa enjoying lunch and will be setting off  up the north  west coast before leaving for Menorca ray will do a better tale with pictures when we get the computer ashore and not just the tablet.

About to leave mainland Spain to party on the Islands

Hello Everyone!
            We are enjoying the heat! The internet is frustrating at times new problem last night got on line at a bar could see the screen well because it was dark unlike daytime use when the sun makes it difficult in the dark I can not type I need to see the keys I am not a touch typist it is 2 fingers and a thumb.
   Anyway we are in Altea just north of Benidorm and south of Calpe and tonight we are setting off for Ibiza the party island as those who know me my night clubbing days are over but looking at the charts and reading the Bays and Natural habour's around the island are beautiful so we have just been to the supermarket and loaded the boat with food and drink and to let you all know what we are up to we have had to stop at a bar with internet access and have a beer what a hardship for us both!
      After we have caught up with e-mails we will be casting off to anchour off the Rock at Calpe to relaxe and swim cook dinner and set off at 21.00hrs approx it will have cooled down and there is a full moon and so we are looking forward to a night passage and Ray thought he would never say that .

                               next time we will contact you from Ibiza
                                          Mandy & Ray

Costa del Sol & Blanca

Well we finally got away from Gibralter and we are now in Cartagina. This is a very attractive city steeped in history.

We stopped of at Fuengerolla and met up with Ellie, my grand daughter, and family. We suddenly had eight people on board . We and they had a gerat day partying at anchor of a very nice beach. The teenagers were jumping and diving off the front of the boat, and after a few sangrias the adults joined in.
We have been most impressed and very pleasantly suprised by the Costa Blanca.  Miles and miles of unspoilt and beautiful mountainous coast line. with attractive harbours and anchorages. Unspoilt Spain.
We are about to turn North and hopefully will soon be in Ibiza which we are looking forward to.
The weather is, as you would expect, very hot, but at sea it is not so bad when the afternoon sea breeze sets in. We have therefore been doing shorter sails and having lunch time stops to swim and snorkell etc.
Hope you are all enjoying the Olympics

Ray & Mandy

We are Leaving the Rock!!!!!!!

Well it is 8am and we have the important chip and it has been fitted in to plotter and we are filling Josephine with water and then diseal and we are off up the cost to the Calahonda area for at least a night as Ray has family on Hols in that area so we hope to meet up.
   Last night the fans of Portsmouth F.C. were in town as they were playing a pre-season against Gibraltar sorry don't know the result we did go but could hear it.
    

                          Mandy

WAITING FOR THE POST ( Wed 18th)

We are still sitting here in Gibralter and waiting for the delivery of a small package from the Uk. We have enjoyed Gib but are now eager to get away and get back to our journey.

We visited La Linear across the runway and border. It is quite a unique experiance to cross across by foot from such a British enviroment to a buissy and bustling Spannish city. One of the most striking differences is the cost of living. In La Linear everything just seemed so much cheaper.

As for our package we are still waiting. Taking into account mooring fees and the cost of living etc it probably would have been cheaper and ceartainly quicker to have taken a flight back to the uk , collected it and then returned !  There are flights to Gib every day, we see daily easy jet, monarch and BA. I believe Easy Jet flys from E Mids.

The weather here is beautifull if any one would like to come out for a few days you would be very welcome, we may be here for some time as i was told the post can be anything between five days and three weeks !!!

As i am sitting here and typing  I have to stop every few seconds and litteraly put my fingers in my ears !? Four RAF tornados have just taken off and the noise is litteraly unbearable. The entire boat vibrates.  You can tell newcomers from people who have been here for a whille. The newcomers stand and watch or take photographs. The rest just stop and put there fingeers in theire ears, and then carry on.

Look forward to your messages and e mails

Cheers
Ray.

Some Pictures to accompany story

A FISHERMANS TALE

Fishing is a frustrating hobby, and if we had to rely on what we caught to survive we would have died of starvation a long time ago !

I have invested a considerable amount of time and money buying lures,,line, swivels the whole lot and what have we caught so far ? A seagull  !! The poor thing took far more interest in my superdooper life like swiveling and diving lure than any fish did. What do you do when you are towing a hooked sizable wing flapping and squealing bird along at six knots ? If you say i dont know that is what I said. The poor bird solved the probem by deciding to take off taking the lure and about 100 meters of line with it!  We have not bothered fishing since .

Ray 

Algarve & SW Spain

Hi and apologies for the delay in updaating but as usual we have had internet connection problems.

We have now sailed the entire coast from Cape St Vincent to Gibralter where we now are.

We can only say that it is an excellent cruissing area with lots of different harbours and anchorages. We had an excellent visit to the Rio Guadina, the river that forms the border between Spain and Portugal. We berthed in Ayamonte on the Spanish side and met Mike and Sheila, old and good friends of mandys from the Manor golf club,  who have a beutifull apartment there. We had a very pleasant evening but unfortunatly they were flying home the next day.

The highlight of the trip was undobtably Cadiz. An amazing city. If.any body would like to think where could we go for a holiday or a long week end then seriously consider this beautifull place. The entire city consists of narrow ancient streets leading to numerous plazas and squares, with mature shady trees and fountains etc. Numerous bars and restraunts everywhere, beaches, cathedrals, and lots to do and see.

We are now in Gibralter berthed below the rock and alongside the airport runway in Ocean Village. The RAF are here at the moment with eight Tornado fighter jets. When they take off (which they do severall times of day) the sight and noise is unbelievable.

Gib is an interesting place and fiercely loyal to the Uk with union jacks and banners everywhere. The cuissine is traditonal English food, fish and chips everywhere!

Next week we hope to leave and travel up the eastern Spannish coast and get to the Ballerics where we will spend some time enjoying the Callas of the islands.

Ray & mandy

more pictures before the next installment !

more picture of lisboa to cape st vincent

The Algarve. 23rd June 2012

Since we rounded Cape St Vincent and left the Portugese Atlantic coast things have ceartainly changed.  We are now deffinatly into holiday country. A beautiful coastline with magnificent beaches and delightful anchorages.

Chris and Elizabeth left us on Sat 23rd and we have just been sailing aaround this very attractive area and chilling out. We discovered Praya da Luz which we really liked. It was not until a few days that we realised that it was infamous for the very sad Mcann disaperance.

We watched the England, Italy game in a very crowded open air bar with several screens and the crowd actually sang the national anthem !

The sailing is good with beautiful warm winds setting in  the early afternoon to give  a pleasant force 4/5 offshoree breeze. On Thursday we set off further east hoping to visit Faro, Villa Real and the river (rio) that seperates Spain and Portugal and then on to Cadiz and Gibralter. We then prepare for a dash up the Costas and hope to spend some time exploring the callas of the Balleric Islands.

All is good here and our trip is working out well. Best regards to you all.

Ray & mandy

Porto in June

Lagos is lovely!

Hello, Well here we are almost reached the med!Josephine has been great as is her Skipper and crew we have just had alovely week with our first guests aboard and we hope they had a good week? We are now in the resort Luz to watch the Euro 2012 England v Italy lets hope the dingy ride home is happy one.If the wind gets up it will be a damp bottoms.I am having a few laptop problems with loging on so photo's are in short supply but we promise they are on there way so good iPad is keeping us intouch.As Ray said the coast here is spectacular especially from the sea.We will be moving east next week but in no rush to hot to rush sorry Britain but it is lovely here. Once we get to Gibraltar wewilldo a few long days sailing to getto the Balerarics and then again spend a month or longer there before moving on. Keep safe Mandy and Ray

Portugal & The Algarve

Thur 21/06/12 Hi and apologies for the delay between blogs. We have had Internet connection and a few other problems. We have now left the wonderfull Spanish Rias and cruised down the Portugese coast. Portugal is a country of many contrasts. Initialy in the north we encountered an air of poverty and what we can only describe as a generally poor standard of living. Properties were run down and lacking in maintaince,poorly dressed people,beggars etc. We continued heading south down a generally uninteresting coast with very long legs between harbours. When we arrived the marinas were always half full and the locals complaining of few visitors. The Portugese economy does really seem to be suffering with an air of despondency everywhere. We rounded the corner of Capo St. Vincent and turned left ( heading east at last!). Hey presto we were in the Algarve, the sun began to shine, posh houses along the coast it was an instant transformation. The Algarve coast between St Vincent and Lagos is really quite stunning and beautifull. We may well stay here for a while and just chill. My daughter Elizabeth and son in law Chris joined us in Lisbon on Sat 16th and return home on the 23rd. We think they have enjoyed it so far and it has been a pleasure having then on board We are still having connection problems ( probably not pressing correct buttons) but hope to post more regularly and pics etc. Missing you all and please keep in touch it is nice to receive messages. Ray & Mandy

Now you see it now you don't

Hello everyone You may have read an entry about Vigo and Biaona and now it's gone slight mistake and deleted it ops.So we wil try to up date it all again. Sat 9/06/12. Figueroa de Foz Since our last blog we have now left the Spanish Rias and are making our way down the Portugese coast. We spent an interesting day in Porto and visited the wine cellars and tasted a few glasses of complimentary port. Going on the tour and just smelling the wine in the casks would have been enough to make you tipsy !! Cruising down the coast we have decided that there are as many lobster pots in Portugl as there are bicycles in Bejing! Unfortunately minus one. Having spent all our time weaving through them a moments lack of intention meant we got one. From what we have seen so far our present location seems very nice. Tomorrow (Sun)we set of for Naziar and we have some wind forecast! We will be in Lisbon by mid week when Elizabeth & Chris Rays daughters and son in law, join us for a week. Ray and Mandy

The launching of Little Jo,Vigo and Baiona

Sunday 27th

We have spent the last few days in the Ria Muros. It is an impressive piece of water four miles wide and seven miles long. we anchored off Muros itself and fell in love with the place. A quaint typical Spannish fishing village ,with narrow windy lanes or alleyways and full of character. It was so nice we stayed for three nights and just chilled.

On Saturday we took the local bus to Santiago de Compestilla. A visit well worth doing. The cthederal is magnificent and is where the remains of the apostle St. James rest. It is a place of pilgrimage and there were hundreds (possibly close to if not more than a thousand) of pilgrims who walk across the North Coast of Spain to Santiago to pay homage, and we arrived by bus as they arrived on foot for a big church service.

The town is beautiful and very historic and interesting.

Tomorrow with a hoped for improvement in the weather we hope to head south to Bayona for a few days and then take favorable winds south down the Portugese coast.

We have loved and strongly recomend Galacia which iss well worth visiting for it s culture, cuissine and exceptional wines. We have eaten so well and inexpensivly.  On our return journey from Santiago we visited a local bar whilst waiting for our connection and we had four glasses of wine (local but by no means plonk) and a beer the total cost four euro!!

Ray & Mandy

Hello all,
        today 27th May and guess what a rainy day in spain so we are staying in and catching up I have just posted photo's of Ray,Noah the dove our stow away and me with the spainish coast in the background,and then Josephine in the Marina I think Josephine looks well after her crossing the same cannot be said for me but that was after 2 nights and 3 days without proper sleep or food and I had more Sleep that Ray!
      Anyway we have recovered and ae now in Ria Muros have had a few lovely days of weather and today is not good but good forcast for tomorrow so south to Vigo we hope to go.

Photo's of the 4 of us on arrival to La Coruna!