On to the next port
Where to next?
Our next port of call was to be either Cudillero or Aviles, it just depended on how far we got comfortably during the day. With an easterly breeze behind us we first ran on just the headsail but then decided that with the winds as they were, it would fun to get out our Code D (an asymmetric spinnaker).
Our beautiful Code D, when it is behaving well.
Re-acquaintance with our Code D
This particular sail hadn’t seen the light of day for almost a year and so it was probably time to blow the moths out of it. It was a nice idea but, not having seen the light of day for a while and having been moved around a lot in the meantime meant that when we hoisted it, it was all a bit of a tangle. There followed a good half an hour of re-furling and sorting the sheets before we were finally able to hoist it up again and unfurl it.
Ah! Immediately Yuma leaped ahead with an extra 2kt of speed. Yehaa! Then, way too soon, as we rounded Cabo Peñas, we came into the cape’s acceleration zone and the windspeed picked up into the 20’s and stayed there unflinchingly. For the sake of ease, we brought the Code D back down. Given the winds and swell expected over the next couple of days we made the call that Cudillero was unlikely to be a comfortable harbour and so instead headed into the much closer Aviles.
One side of the Port of Aviles does ‘green energy’ with the installation of windmill parks nearby. On the other side ‘the pot of gold under the rainbow’ is a stockpile of Spanish coal ready for transport.
A well protected harbour
The long industrial entrance and harbour of Aviles took us about 2.5nm inland and behind a low range of hills that very effectively blocked off the strong northerly winds and all swell.
A fantastic sculpture of enormous sea urchin spines.
An old coal mining and steel town it is far from beautiful but has a very quaint and large ‘old’ town with a mix of architecture going back to the 1300s and lots of good restaurants and bars on small squares, a museum or two and a big cultural centre.
Street scenery in Aviles.
Spending time in Aviles
It all adds up to being a great spot for a few days. We spent our time doing the random wander that we like to get up to when seeing a new place, trying and failing to visit the apparently famous and even less apparently architecturally outstanding Centro Niemeyer, going for runs along the river and, of course, doing boat jobs.
The Centro Cultural Internacional Oscar Niemeyer. The same guy also designed the civic buildings of Brasília, the capital of Brasil.
In amongst these days was the Australian federal election and we stayed tuned into the ABC coverage for much of the afternoon and evening as the results rolled in. We also got to meet and spend some very pleasant time with John from SY Terrapin and Micha the German (!) harbour master.
