Lanzarote Relocation

Here is the next instalment of Paul, Sally and Megan – their trip to Lanzarote on their yacht “Moonchild”, and their new life here, in 2008.

If you missed the first two posts – click here

Week One | Week Two (both open in a new window)

Monday 30th June

We set off about 09.30 heading to Ribadeo; Megan enjoys the sailing she is asleep until 1pm!

We have winds force 4-5 but there is a 2-meter swell, which makes for a rocky sail. We do not see any whales or dolphins sadly!

After sailing approx 52 nautical miles not including the pilotage of the Ria we motor sail under the bridge that spans the river Eo and head to Club Nautico de Ribadeo on the west bank.  In Gijon, we have become friendly with a Spanish sailor; he is also here and comes to help with our mooring up.  One of the best things about this trip is the people we are meeting.

The marina has good facilities, free washing machine and Wifi but the shower block and toilets closes at 8pm!

Supper is Spanish sausages, which Megan thinks are great as they are purple.

Tuesday 1st July

Ribedeo is an estuary that forms a natural link between Galicia and Asturias.
The town is very stately the nearby summit of mount Santa Cruz is a popular pilgrimage site.

We go to the supermarket to stock up; the hill from the marina to the town is very, very steep.

In this part of Spain, they still enjoy a siesta, shops open at 10am. Then close at around 13.30 until 16.00 when they open again until 20.00 hours. They seem to spend the siesta eating and drinking, seems very agreeable to us.
We have moored up next to an English couple Bob and Liz from Plymouth, a very interesting and nice couple, they left Gijon about the same time as us where they became friendly with a German couple on a Hallberg Rassy who are moored the other side of them now.

The weather does not look good; Bob and Liz have a weather forecast predicting a 4m swell, not good news, so may be staying here longer than Thursday.

Wednesday 2nd July

Megan writes..
We do not do much today. We get up quite late as usual, and then have breakfast. Then we head into town and look for a shop someone has directed us to, that apparently sells gas. When we get there it is a kitchen showroom but there are two gas bottles in the window so we buy one, dad makes a lot of fuss saying it is too small when we get back to the boat it turned out to be exactly the same size as the old one! After dad has put the gas bottle away, we relax downstairs mum and fall asleep I am on the computer.

Then we go for a lovely walk all along the edge of the ria well not all the way! We go on a bridge that stretches far over the water it was lovely at the end of the bridge a man is fishing.  We go back to the boat and watch a DVD. That is it for the day.

Thursday 3rd July

We get up early for us and wait for the weather report, this show reasonable wind up to force 5, with swells of 3m in the morning calming down to 2m in the afternoon.

Several of the French sailors leave so we decided we would go also, which encourages Bob and Liz to leave as well, so we say our goodbyes and hope to meet again.

We set sail at 11am, and have a 34 mile sail to Viveirio. The swell is large up to 15ft but not too bad, the wind is variable which allows us to sail some of the way.

We arrive at Viveirio; the Viveiro estuary is the biggest one in the Cantabrian Sea, into which the Landro river flows. Viveiro, at its mouth, is the most important city in the whole region of A Mariña.

The marina we have read; is a small marina for boats up to 15m. We are unsure where to go but an English couple directed us to a berth, which has reservardo sign on it, but they reassured us that it is OK.

We find the harbour master and tell him where we are, pay and leave. It is cheap to stay but we can see why, the shower block is underground, in the dark, covered in paint dust, with a room with showers and no doors. “No way” says Megan.

We get back to the yacht and are stripped down cleaning it, when a Spanish pixie man arrives squeaking away excitedly and flapping his arms. We get the message that we are in someone else’s place.

So after much arm waving we move to a another berth not easy in a 14m yacht where berths are made for 6m boats, Paul gets in not sure how, and we tie up.

The Spanish here seem to find our yacht and us very interesting we know our yacht is brand new and impressive looking and try to convince ourselves that is why people kept pointing at the yacht.  Realistically it may be that we look rather large for the small space we are in, and must have been air lifted in!
We have drinks with the couple from Plymouth (Liz and Bob) who arrived, as we were moving. A good evening that has us very amused with their stories.

When we get back to our yacht, I am convinced we will dry out, so after speaking to the couple who saw us in, and panicking them, as they have less water underneath them than we do, in the same sized boat… we sleep

Friday 4th July

The forecast of strong winds are correct, we wake up to wind and rain. The rain soon clears so we walk into the town. Very pretty town, but we do get the impression that they do not see too may English tourists. Viveiro has a very significant artistic heritage, beginning with the remains of its medieval wall, which withstood numerous pirate attacks in the 16th century, as well as fires and floods. Some vestiges of the wall remain, attached to houses or along passages, and three gates still stand, Porta do Castelo being the most significant because it bears the local coats of arms.

They are preparing the town for a Medieval festival Rapa das bestas this festivity takes place the first Sunday of July except that the first of July  in the Buio Mountains. It is an old tradition where people cut the horsehairs, brand the horses and break in them. Paul frightens Megan by saying that the medieval gallows they are building are for English people.

We get back to the boat and invite Bob and Liz for drinks, most people we are meeting are older than us because most people have to wait until they retire to do this, we however have sold up everything and are following our dream, leaving our secure UK lifestyle, family and friends for uncertainty. We may live to regret this decision but better to have tried than to wonder what it would have been like. The time we have as a family is wonderful.
The Medieval festival goes on until the body can take no more, it was still happening at 3am on Saturday morning, not with us there though.

Saturday 5th July

Megan writes..Today we go to the festival but this time we have a good walk around it. As soon as we walk into the square, there is a display of what an old blacksmiths would have looked like someone is making a horseshoe. There is a big crowd beginning to appear around two people dressed as medieval jokers who begin to perform, it is clever she is an acrobat doing all kinds of stunts .The man keeps standing on a wobbly board.

For their final act, he makes the board high but it is still wobbling and she balances on his head she only uses one hand to hold herself up on but he is still on the wobbly board they nearly fall! However, they manage to hold it up.

There are many horses being ridden through the narrow streets.

After this, we have a walk round and see Bob & Liz, Liz is eating a ham crepe it looks tasty. We see a cheese stall and buy some it is about £10 for a small piece but it is lovely

We see a man dressed in rags with a musical instrument bicycle.

Then we head back to the yacht.

When it is getting dark, we see a funny shape at the entrance to the marina, it looks like a seal but is an otter, and it swims, sits on some weed and cleans itself before disappearing.

Later the German couple we had seen in Viverio arrived towing a smaller French boat whose engine has broken down in the ria entrance; they have been stranded and had been waving frantically at the Germans for a tow.

Sunday 6th July

Do we leave or do we stay, we have the alarm set for 6am, and agree that if it is raining, we will not go. No rain, but the couple on “Perfect Harmony” is supposed to be leaving at 6.30am. No one has left. At 8am they go, as do several French boats, so we decide to go, so do Bob and Liz.

Not too bad as we go out of the river, then the swell starts, and by 10.30, it is bad; I am seasick and feel rough, as does Megan. We are behind two French boats, one of which soon falls behind us. Should we turn back, it is not pleasant. We decide that if the French boat continues we will.

What a day, never again, the autopilot decides to go on strike so Paul has to hand steer all the way, Megan hides in the cockpit under her sleeping bag, and I am sick. It rains, the wind gusts, the waves are rough and the swell is about 4m.

The only thing to brighten the day is that the French yacht is out in it with us for a while we sail with in sight of each other.

We eventually get to La Coruna at 20.30, having seen no one else for hours and having sailed 75 nautical miles.

We try to find space at the Real Club Nautico but it is too busy, so we head further around to the Darsena Deportiva de la Coruna.

Later we find out that several boats turned back, the two French boats turn up later, and “Perfect Harmony” got in just before us.

We are very reassured that our new yacht is able to look after us in rougher sea states and is not just pretty to look at. After 3 weeks we are settling into our new home and after today, Moonchild has gone along way to proving herself a solid yacht.

To find out more about the Cook family, and their yacht, “Moonchild”, you can visit their website: Sail Lanzarote

Sail Lanzarote operates bareboat charters out of Puerto Calero, as well as day trips. We have been lucky enough to go out on “Moonchild”, and coast around from the Rubicon Marina… past the Papagayo beaches, and into Puerto Calero.

Highly recommended!

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