SAILING
#5 – Sailing Galicia in Spain
At the beginning of September 2020, our boat finally was ready to go back into the water, but we still had some small things to finish before we finally set sail. Since Covid had hit Spain very hard, we had almost no interactions with other people.
A few days after we launched our boat, a Swiss sailboat named Eilean docked next to us. We welcomed the couple with a "hallo zämä" and they greeted us back in Swiss-German. For us it was super nice to meet someone with the same intention and to be able to share experience and plans. Very soon it was clear to us that we would continue the trip in the "Eilean-Lumos-Bubble".
It had been over 2 years since we last sailed our boat. Now, untying the lines and leaving the safe harbor wasn’t easy at all after such a long time. Lumos was now theoretically equipped to be in remote places for several weeks without having to go into a marina. But that was in theory, we had no time to do a shake down sail and to see if everything works as we accepted. We also were not sure if we better should stay in La Coruna, Spain and wait until the Covid situation calms down. That meant to spend fall and winter in La Coruna. To make everything even more difficult, the news reported increasing orca attacks. We also met two boat owners who had been attacked by orcas and lost their rudders just a few miles north of La Coruna.
After long discussions we decided to sail south as soon as the weather would be in our favor.
Just one or two days after we left La Coruna, the Spanish government issued a week-long ban on boats under 15 meters for that region, because of the orca attacks.
On September 22nd 2020, our trip around the world officially began. We were super excited and thankful for having Andy and Nina (Eilean) with us, both very experienced sailors. Planning together with the Eilean-Crew, gave us confidence and let us feel safer.
The "Rias Baixas" coastline of Galicia is just stunning and very diverse. From white sandy beaches to rocky coastline like the Swedish archipelagos. The rias that reach deep into the land gave us also good protection from wind and sea while anchoring. We spent a few sleepless nights at anchor until we learned to trust our anchor. When it's windy outside, it feels much more intense in the cabin than the wind force really is. When waves roll in, it can become quite uncomfortable on a boat. The only thing that holds you on place is your anchor. Burim spent the first nights outside in the cockpit, ready to turn the engine on if the anchor wouldn’t hold. But soon we realized that our oversized anchor was rock solid, and the sleep improved quickly.
Unfortunately, we had to hurry up a little bit with sailing south, the weather got every day colder and colder and the sea became rougher.
We experienced different conditions on anchor and at sea. From sailing the light wind sail (Gennacker) in calm seas to rough heavy weather with 4-to-5-meter waves. We made mistakes, we were extremely nervous and sometimes stressed out and tired, but we also learned a lot and we had incredibly beautiful and unforgettable moments at the same time.
