Once outside St Cyprien marina I went to haul up the mainsail only to have the connector on the end of the main halyard (bit of string that pulls the mainsail up the mast) part company with the sail and go flying halfway up the mast………expletives deleted!!

We then spent the next half an hour with me on top of the wheelhouse with an extended boathook trying to hook the halyard whilst Sara kept us head to wind to save excess rocking and rolling and aid my attempts – I do hope no one on the shore had a video camera running. Finally I managed to retrieve the halyard, and this time, connect it properly to the top of the sail. This is the first time I have done this and hopefully it will be my last, and was entirely my own fault as I obviously had not closed it properly the first time……. lesson learned.

There were two headlands we had to get around today, one being Cape Bear which according to local info has a good sheltered anchorage just to the south and one can shelter in safety from the Tramontana winds should it blow up quickly.

Photo of Cape Bear

We had winds gusting up to 20 knots and climbing rounding this headland when the bloody wind instrument failed again (it is becoming such a pain that I will simply leave it switched off) but as long as the winds stayed anywhere from the North it was fine by me.

Now as for the next headland, Cabo Crues, our friends from the pilot book state and I quote;

”….it is one of the most dangerous points on the whole of the west coast of Spain because it is in the centre of the path of the NW Tramontana”…….

Well that helps settle the mind then!!

Photo of Cabo Crues

We motored and then sailed until the speed dropped, and then motored again on and off during the day, as the both the wind direction and speed was changing at regular intervals. On the approach to Roses, there was a fair old posse of motor boats coming and going, and given we were close to the cliffs there was both the wash from the boats and the reflected wash from the cliffs causing a bit of turbulence. Also with the really big motor boats going so close to small boats (some with young children on board) it was looking a bit dodgy at times. Question is; why, when they must know they are creating a big wash, do they go so close to these small boats is beyond me.

The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived at Port Roses where I called the marina office on Channel 9, and they asked us to hover around the fuel pontoon and they would come and get us.

Out popped a dingy with three staff on board, two of which got off on the wall to take our bow lines, while the other stayed in the dinghy to help manoeuvre the boat if required. This was our first experience of mooring Med style and once we had our bow lines on, we were passed ropes which lead back out into the marina floor. With these ropes one takes in the slack and walks (in our case) to the stern of the boat, pull the boat tight against the bow lines thus keeping the boat from hitting the harbour wall and in position.

These guys were brilliant with us, and their expertise showed later in the afternoon when the wind had piped up. When other boats came in with these strong winds blowing, the same sequence took place, only this time the guy in the dinghy had a line with a snap hook, which he attached to the cleat of the boats going in to berth and ensuring this procedure was done in a controlled manner; acting pretty much like a mini tug.

How one would berth by themselves or shorthanded in a blow, could be rather “interesting”…………

Finally here is a photo of Sun Dog tied up in Rosas and flying the Spanish Courtesy Flag. I can say in all honesty there was more than a little frisson of excitment in us arriving in Spain, after meandering all the way from the West Coast of Scotland !!