Feliz Pascuas De La Coruña...A perspective from the first mate

20-April-2014  Feliz Pascuas De La Coruña….A perspective from the first mate

I was on the early morning watch as we entered Spanish water.  Little by little we started to get weather and “securite” broadcasts over the VHF in beautiful Spanish…pitty I could not understand more of it.   This early morning watch is not an uneventful one.  This part of Galicia is full of fishing ports and villages.  We have the ability to track all vessels in the water that transmit an AIS signal and it was amazing that almost on the hour each fishing port launched its own fleet of fishing vessels in unison.  At midnight it was port Burela who’s fishing vessels were released, just an hour later it was the fishermen in San Cibrao, then Moras, and continuing on until La Coruña.  The night watches on the coast of Northern Spain were busy!  We were constantly trying to avoid all the little fishing boats some of them without AIS or a radar reflector.   Keeping clear of fishing traffic means watching your AIS, your radar, and looking around the boat for nearby navigation lights.  Finally at around 10AM the boats returned back to port and it was quiet again.  We decided to make a stop in La Coruña to rest and make the best use of the weather and wind conditions. As we entered port we rose the Spanish guest flag.  I was proud to fly the Spanish flag next to the American flag, both countries which I claim citizenship.

La Coruña is a beautiful city which reminded me a bit of Stavanger.  Lots of beautiful hills and fjords which offer protection from the wind and elements.  It isn’t a huge metropolis but a perfect size without much traffic.  I was so impressed with how sporty everyone was here, I think the entire city was out running or cycling on the city’s perfect network of bike paths.  We hopped on the bikes and checked in with authorities (my first experience with customs in port).  They were very welcoming and happy to have us as guests.  We continued on a quest to find some dinner where I could get the famous pulpo a la Gallega (Spanish Octopus).  We found a restaurant who served us probably the best pulpo I ever had in my life!!!  We went to the market and I bought a whole octopus, determined to recreate the experience of savoring the delicacy I had just tried not minutes earlier.  We cycled around some more and came across the church of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors.  His statue looking down on us offering protection on our journey and all of the other brave fisherman of the city who risk their lives on the sea.  We returned to our boat which sits just 100 m from the base of St. Anton castle.  After a beautiful afternoon it was time to get ready for our next long journey against the wind around Portugal.  Time to get the laundry done, boat washed, water and diesel tanks topped off before a difficult day of sailing ahead against the wind on our way to the Mediterranean.