Audierne, France to Camarina, Northwest Spain

The damaged anchor on the bow

 Were we able to fix the anchor windlass in Audierne? The short answer is partially. The marina manager and local bike shops were very helpful, but neither had the right size of sprocket (cog) to replace our broken one. The local blacksmith was on holiday and the bike shops did not have a large enough wrench to remove a metal collar from the inner workings of the windlass. We were advised to try Stratimer, a local boatyard after the next day.

Birthday tea on Sal Darago

We were able to celebrate my birthday with lunch at Kantiner. Their specialism was Moules Frites. There were only 5 tables in the intimate restaurant and the food was cooked on arrival. It was lovely to relax for a while between supermarket shopping in the morning and doing the laundry in the afternoon.

 

Damaged tip of anchor

We walked to Stratimer the day after the public holiday. It was closed. We were quite close to the fishing quay, so went there to ask if any engineers were around. It was very quiet. A man left his car engine running and went up ladders to his boat in the yard opposite. When he came down Jeremy showed him the part and asked for advice. Good things happen sometimes! The man was an engineer. He had a workshop nearby. He could remove the metal collar. He was closed but he would help us anyway. He took us in his car to his workshop, produced a metre long wrench and removed the offending part. He refused payment! We don’t even know his name but we appreciate his kindness to us.

 

Approaching Vieux Port

Later, Jeremy made a temporary repair of the anchor windlass, using and undersized sprocket form the bike shop. The next day, Saturday 16^th May, we left Audierne and sailed overnight to La Rochelle, tying up at Vieux Port in the centre of the town. It was a passage of 168 miles, with light to moderate winds backing from SW to NNW.

 

Botanical garden, La Rochelle

We spent three nights in La Rochelle. Mostly, we did the usual things: shopping, laundry, showers, catching up on sleep. We did spend one day in the rain walking a historical route through the old town. Whilst sheltering under a tree in a botanical garden we met a couple from Newton-le-Willows, a town close to Wrightington in Lancashire, where we used to live. Small world! Our granddaughter, Ellie, became a teenager.

 

Old Town Hall. Henry IV is in the turret

We left La Rochelle in light winds that soon became 14 knots on the nose. Changing course made little difference as the swell was high and the motion uncomfortable. I took a Stugeron and asked Jeremy to cook lunch. Gradually, the wind eased, the sun came out and the motion of the boat improved as we left the continental shelf behind. We were at sea for two nights. The wind was generally light, starting with westerlies, swinging to easterlies and ending with westerlies as we approached Gijon in Northern Spain. One of these swings took place within minutes on my watch, jamming the preventer line and breaking a block. We had travelled 229 miles and crossed the Bay of Biscay.

 

Lantern Tower, La Rochelle

Checking in at the marina in Gijon was straightforward. The usual ship’s papers were required, our passports and a copy of our boat insurance. The visitors’ section of the marina was closed but a berth was available in another part of the marina. We filled up with diesel at the fuel berth. The office, showers and toilets were a 10-15 minute walk away around the harbour. We were not prepared for the heat on arrival. Soon we were wearing shorts and sandals, finding fans to cool Sal Darago and putting up insect nets. It was 36C, a big change from 14C in La Rochelle. The next day it was 10 degrees cooler.

 

The cathedral at La Rochelle

We stayed in Gijon for two nights, Friday and Saturday 22^nd and 23^rd May. Each evening, it seemed that the whole town gathered on the quayside, eating, drinking and chatting. This did not disturb us on the Friday and all was quiet by 10pm. Saturday’s gathering turned into a party, with loud communal singing. This went on until 6am! While we were in Gijon, Jeremy bought a Spanish SIM card. We had pleasant lunch at Meson Santo, bought provisions for our next passage and filled up with water.

 

Guess where?

As we prepared to leave Gijon, we sang Happy Birthday to our sister-in-law, Eileen. We expected a downwind, overnight coastal sail in easterly winds to either La Coruna or Laxe. We fixed our inner forestay in place, lashed the No2 jib to the guard rail and put downhaul lines in place ready for two spinnaker poles. We would sail with twin headsails and Hydrovane would steer. Well, the weather doesn’t always do as predicted. We left Gijon in fog with about half a mile of visibility out at sea and light NNW winds! We moved about a mile out to sea and found light easterlies. Wind speeds were variable from 0-13 knots. The genoa was let out and furled so many times we lost count. Just before midnight, Jeremy took down both poles and tied up the No2 jib. We motored.

 

Sal Darago at Gijon

We decided to continue to Laxe before southerly winds arrived. We needed northerlies for Atlantic Spain. The moderate wind turned SW as we approached Punta del Rocundo. Within minutes Atlantic fog rolled in, the sea changed colour and became choppy, making our last, few miles uncomfortable and cold. We were happy to drop the anchor off the lovely, curved beach in Laxe. A Dutch catamaran called Hermit was anchored nearby.

Passing Cabo Villano

Weighing anchor this morning, 26^th May, Jeremy found the new sprocket in the anchor windlass was not big enough to be effective. 

 

Catamaran and beach at Laxe

He pulled the anchor up by hand and we motored 20 miles to Ria Camarinas and anchored off the harbour. There are three other yachts on anchor. Two of them are British and one is German. We be expect to be here for two nights, before a northerly wind wafts us to Bayona.

Anchored off Camarinas

 

Sailing Again

 River Deben, Suffolk, UK to Audierne, France

Hello again readers of this blog. Jeremy and I are on the water again in our Westerly Solway, Sal Darago. Here’s a quick overview of the winter months of 2026.

Norwich Cathedral

In January, we had our annual meet up with Graham and Val. This time we met at Norwich Cathedral, which we explored, followed by a long, catch-up lunch in a nearby pub.

Our local river, the Deben flooded in February, making country walks impassable. Jeremy and I gave a talk to the Westerly Owners’ Association East Coast Group. We showed slides and videos about our trip back from Australia in 2022-2023. Jeremy became one year older, Valentine’s Day was celebrated and we enjoyed days out with Emily, Ben, Ellie and Sophie. Our American granddaughter, Ramona, celebrated her 5^th birthday.

March was still cold and wet. Sal Darago was visited and some winter maintenance completed in the boatyard at Melton. Sophie reached double figures on her birthday and Nina in America, became 7 years old.

Thurnham Hall, Lancaster. Our accommodation before going to the Isle of Man

Serious work started on Sal Darago in April before we went to visit family in the Isle of Man and then on to the Isle of Mull to spend Easter with our Suffolk family. Once we were back in Suffolk, we prepared Sal Darago for launching on 27th April. Our first trip was downriver to our mooring at Ramsholt, where the wind blew at 20 knots and the boat heeled on her mooring!

On holiday in Mull

On Friday 1^st May, we left our house in the care of our daughter and the neighbours. Sal Darago was to be our home again. That evening, Jeremy replaced the head of the log. There’s always something that doesn’t work! The next day, we met Em, Ben and the girls at the Ramsholt Arms for lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach in the sunshine. On Sunday 3^rd May we left the River Deben and motorsailed for two and a half hours to the River Orwell. We anchored for the night at Stone Heaps off Shotley. The next day Jeremy weighed anchor at 0500 hours for our passage to Ramsgate in Kent. The navigation lights didn’t work (they worked well when tested previously in the boatyard) and triggered the circuit breaker. Otherwise all went well. The cooking gas conveniently ran out later when we were berthed in Ramsgate Marina.

Sunset on the River Deben

Tuesday 5^th May saw us leaving Ramsgate for a short passage to Dover. There was a smell of gas outside on the deck. The regulator to the gas bottle was leaking. Jeremy changed the regulator. Then there was a smell of petrol. The tank in the dinghy’s outboard engine was leaking. This took a bit longer to fix. As we had arrived in Dover in the morning, I suggested a walk to the Western Heights described as “easy.” Well it would be if you drove to the car park and walked along the white, cliff top but not if you walked from sea level as we did!

Kathy on the Western Heights above Dover

Our next port of call was Eastbourne, where we sailed for three hours in a fresh ENE wind. The rest of the passage was a motorsail as the wind eased. We locked in during the afternoon, topped up with diesel and fresh water, provisioned at Asda and ate out at the Harvester pub.

From Eastbourne, we motorsailed in light winds to Chichester Harbour, anchoring for the night at East Head, off a spit of land called Ella Nore. It was raining when Jeremy called Chichester Harbour at 8.15 the next morning. We could tie to their waiting pontoon for 4 hours and pay for a short stay. This would enable us to go to Force 4 Marine for a new Nasa wind speed and direction indicator. We were advised to wait until 10.30am before motoring up the channel, as the it was close to low water for the tide. We decided to try our luck at 8.30 and arrived at the waiting pontoon at 9.40, only touching the soft, muddy bottom once.

Force 4 Marine kept their last wind instrument for us. We bought it and quite a few other items as sailors do when visiting a chandlery. Our rucksacks were bulging as we boarded a bus back to the marina. After lunch, we left for the Solent anchoring for the night at Newton River on the Isle of Wight. We informed UK Border Force of our intention to leave the UK the next day. Then we informed French Border Force of our intention to arrive. This was done online. We attached a copy to an email and sent it to Chantereyne Marina in Cherbourg.

We’d had a good run with mainly moderate wind in the right direction. The forecast warned us of a change to come “later”- easterly winds gusting to force 7 – i.e. a near gale. Jeremy was confident we would make it to Cherbourg in plenty of time. I wasn’t so sure. As it happened he was right, but it was very worrying hearing both Solent Coastguard and the French equivalent, broadcasting strong winds and a near gale all the way across to France. I took Stugeron to be on the safe side. At 1810 on Saturday 9^th May, we tied up to the visitors’ pontoon in Chantereyne Marina, Cherbourg Harbour. The strong winds arrived in the night and continued throughout Sunday, moderating by Monday morning.

Checking in at the marina was easy. No passports were requested, no need to see the police, every marina had their own method of checking in, we were told. We stayed for two nights.

On Monday 11^th May the wind was still blowing, but not as hard. We went to the fuel berth first and filled up with diesel. Then we left the massive harbour at Cherbourg and caught the fast moving tide around Cape Hague followed by the Alderney Race. The sea was rough at first, then calmer as we went between Guernsey and Jersey on our way to the Chenal de Four. This was our first overnight sail of this trip and the winds were largely fresh from the N or NW. Jeremy became convinced there was something on the propeller, so we hove to, slowing down dramatically, and he went over the stern wearing a snorkel mask. He pulled a large circle of seaweed and fishing twine from the prop.

Anse Ste Evette

 By sunrise the winds were calmer and the sea was more comfortable. Unfortunately, the preventer line, which prevents the mainsail and boom blowing hard across the stern when downwind sailing, caught under a solar panel on our bimini and ripped the tape loop off that holds the solar panel in place. Another sewing job for Jeremy, pushing a needle and thread through several layers of canvas. At 11am we anchored off Porsmageur to wait for the tide to take us through the Canal de Four. This was a recommended anchorage in our cruising guide. The bay was sheltered with a sandy bottom and a fair number of small boat moorings inshore. The anchor dragged straight away. Then it held but the bottom felt more like rock than sand.

Jeremy behind a wind break taking the anchor windlass apart

 We enjoyed our four hour stop. We had lunch and caught up on some sleep until it was time to go. The anchor was stuck fast. In trying to free it, the anchor windlass broke. The anchor came free and Jeremy hauled it on deck by hand. We continued our journey, passing through the Canal de Four, which is the inshore passage between the island of Ushant and the French coast, and the Raz de Seine in one strong and fast moving tide. We anchored for the night in Anse St Evette. Jeremy started working on the broken anchor windlass. After much hammering and brute force, he took it apart and brought it into the cockpit in pieces.

Audierne Marina. Can you spot Sal Darago?

 

 There was much discussion the next day, but eventually it was decided to go up the nearby river to Audienne and berth in the marina. The wind was gusty but Jeremy managed to haul the anchor up manually between gusts. We tied up in the marina and learnt it was a public holiday for Ascension Day the following day. All workshops would be closed. To find out if the anchor windlass could be fixed you’ll have to wait for the next blog.

Kathy's birthday lunch - Moules Frites