LLANES. Spain

5TH JULY

Now in Llanes.

just outside the harbour where we initially dropped anchor before going into the marina

A coastal town ( obviously!) in the Asturias, northern Spain. Towering above what at first appears to be the small town is the majestic Sierra del Cuera where the mountains and rugged coastline are absolutely stunning. I did however not enjoy our entry as before leaving Santander i was feeling rather sickly and my neck/head were making themselves known with a grip i recognized to my dismay!  I thought it would pass as we set off along the coast but not to be , so i spent at least 2 hours being sick and uncomfortable.. I don’t think it was sea sickness but couldn’t be sure.

When we arrived at Llanes  3 pm ‘ish .We were to drop anchor in a lovely cove which we did but it had that ‘swell’ that was sure to make a night aboard not great in the least . Chris was aware of my sickness and felt helpless knowing that i may throw up any moment as i dropped the anchor! when a man in a rib. motored up to us and gesticulated in a friendly manner to follow him into the harbour ‘as the sea state was to get worse’. Chris tried to tell him what our draft was. 1.9 metres  ( meaning… we had to be sure if the tide went out we would still be floating! ) he seemed to say it was ok.( but neither of us could truly understand the other!)

I was called up again to pull up anchor and follow this guy into the harbour..  at the same time as putting fenders and dock-lines out!… as we turned the corner of the sea wall we realized there was a TINY brand new marina there.. and  we had 2 seconds to dock along the pontoon as soon as we went through a ‘ storm/swell gate’ . I have never moved so fast . But we did it again without any scratches!! .

At last we were in calm waters and chris blurted “there maybe a God after all”. I took some anti-sickness tabs and had another sleep then some comfort food ( cold Birdseye custard) . Starting to feel a bit better we took in our surroundings and then ventured into town to find the ‘capitan” to pay any dues.. only to be told the marina had only been open since April and they had no means of charging anyone yet… Wow… what luck! Feeling we had  won the lottery sauntered off to delight in this gem of a place….

At around 22.30hrs . we noticed the depth under the boat to be 3 metres… then 2.5 and when it dropped from there we became concerned as we had been told there would be at least 2.5m ! Low tide was at midnight so we stayed up watching the monitor as it countdown… 2.3    …..    2.2  …… 2.1…. oh my . we put out extra fenders and  tied two halyards (ropes) from the mast ashore so if we were to sink into the sand and tip we would tip onto the pontoon…

The flow of water through the marina began to slow down. We had  a 4 metre drop of tide in total and it stopped at 1.9 metres which was our draft!!  we did not go aground thank goodness.  What a day !!

The Cubes of Memory– by Augustin ibarrolla. A major piece of artwork… thought a party of school children had painted the rocks prior to them being dumped in the water barrier!!

We have decided to stay here a few days and look around and get some           scenic walks in. The weather has been mixed, with wet, sunny, dull grey, rain and warm days. i would prefer not to have the rain but the semi-dull days are rather pleasant making walking a lot more enjoyable. we’re getting a bit more accustomed to having a rest in the afternoon and going out later at night as the locals do..  Life is good..

Somoya sits in the tiny harbour.

Ps i am now reading my first book since we left……. great read so far.. Written by my sister-in-law

http://crookedcatpublishing.com/our-books/once-removed-by-k-b-walker

The book was fab.. what a talented sister-in -law i have .. well done Kimm.