Friday 1st April to the 5th April “In our excitement to leave France we had neglected to check what Spain’s Covid regulations were”
Friday morning we gave ourselves a huge fright by looking up the regulations for entering Spain. Google told us we should have applied for a PLF before leaving France – bugger we had not even thought about checking Spanish check-in rules! After quite a few hours of trying to fill in the form online, a typical government form, it kept locking us out at the last page. Eventually after many failed attempts, Marcel decided to look on the Noon website (a website for boaties) it appeared that private boats can just enter and report in on arrival without having filled out the form, so we had no choice but to try checking in without the required documentation.
It was another very cold day we stayed on the boat resting and doing odd jobs. The plan for Saturday was to design & make a shade cover for the back of Kiri a job that should keep us busy for most of the day. Hopefully, I will be a lot better on Sunday / Monday so we can head down the coast to “Muxia” before predicted bad weather hits us.
At this stage, we were very happy that we had stocked up with plenty of groceries in France and were used to cooking every night. Even so, we were really looking forward to eating out and sampling the local Spanish cuisine.
Footnote: It seems our check-in destination keeps changing daily.
There is a saying amongst sailors in the Med “you are a prisoner of your boat”
Saturday, for the time being, we were still prisoners on Kiri thanks to Covid which proved to be awful, we were in a new country at the beginning of our sailing journey ready to explore and thanks to Covid we have to stay put.
All the way from France we were so looking forward to arriving in Spain and enjoying everything Spain had to offer.
Adding to our worries; a Spanish Coast guard boat had anchored out in the bay not far from us. We had heard plenty of stories about the Coast Guard and immigration boats boarding yachties if they come and check us out we could be in a lot of trouble.
In the evening, our kettle caused Marcel a bit of a problem by blowing a fuse, when all else fails check the manual, thankfully the Lagoon manual came to the rescue. There were two fuse boards in the generator locker, the one Marcel had been looking for was well and truly hidden.
Still at anchor in Ares Bay, will we ever be able to check into Spain?
Sunday, I am still not well & Marcel has a sore throat again we have decided to stay for another day. In the afternoon we got out the sunshade fabric that we had been carrying around with us since 2018 and designed the sunshade for the back of Kiri. The design process took a lot longer than expected, I made a start sewing it up but didn’t quite get it finished, a job for another day.
The mornings were very cold but most days at 3 pm our cockpit turned into a hothouse which was super nice after freezing for most of the day. It was staying light till about 9.30 pm so dinner & bedtime was getting later and later.
Bad news Marcel has tested positive
Monday, This was not good as we really needed to check into Spain but of course, we couldn’t go ashore while we were testing positive, another day in limbo. The question was did we risk staying in Ares on anchor and possibly have the Coast Guard check us out or did we go to the nearest marina & check-in?
Today our Rocna anchor was put to the test! Winds gusting around 40knots hit us in the afternoon for three to four hours it was very scary. While Kiri held fast, it soon became apparent that we had another potential problem on our hands! The Code Zero was still up, fortunately, it was in a bag, however, there was still the potential for it to be ripped to shreds. As soon as the time between gusts lengthened, we leapt into action, brought it down, and stored it away without any dramas.
Being unable to go to shore to stretch our legs and the cold was starting to get to us. We were really looking forward to getting over the Covid hurdle & moving on. A life saver was being able to talk to friends and family every day. As well as knowing that our friends from Les Sables had finally left France and at this rate would probably catch us up.
We have decided to wait another day
Tuesday, due to Marcel testing positive the decision was made to wait another day before moving to the marina across the bay. I wished I had a crystal ball, it really felt like there was no end to the situation we were in.
Fortunately, there were plenty of odd jobs to keep us busy. I updated our safety manual and, in the afternoon, Marcel got out my sewing machine to finish sewing the shade cover. A lot of time and energy was put into this project, and at times it felt like the shade cover would never be finished. We were very happy with the end result, but not keen to make another one in a hurry.
The weather was still unpredictable we were experiencing summer and winter all in one day, very cold overnight and in the mornings 6 to 8 degrees, in the afternoons the cockpit and saloon would get up to 29 degrees for a few hours.
Sailors' lives are controlled by the weather, an extremely bad weather system had been predicted to hit this area for the next few days. Thanks to the approaching bad weather system there was no choice but to head to the safety of the marina across the bay tomorrow. In all honesty, we were both relieved even though we were extremely worried about the check-in process at the marina it was time to stop imaging all the possible scenarios that could happen.
The good news, later in the afternoon the Coast Guard finally up-anchored and disappeared into the sunset.
The weather decided for us, we have to get to the safety of a marina
Wednesday, The weather as forecasted changed to a southerly so staying on anchor in Ares simply wasn’t an option! There was no choice but to risk checking into the marina a short thirty-minute hop across the bay. All the while hoping like crazy that they wouldn’t ask too many questions relating to our health or the paperwork we hadn't been able to complete.
Arriving at Club Nautico De Sada, Marcel carried out excellent maneuvering backing Kiri into our berth through a very narrow channel between two rows of boats, even so, due to how windy it was, there was no way we could have tied up to the dock without the help of three linesmen. It was such a relief to have Kiri tied securely in our berth it took a while to realize we had a bit of a problem! there was a flaw in Marcel‘s passerelle (the plank to get on and off Kiri) yes it fitted nicely in the locker but it was too short to reach the dock. There was a massive pole at the rear of Kiri stopping us from backing any closer to the dock. Luckily there was a finger alongside Kiri that we could step onto.
Upon arriving at Club Nautico De Sada all the worries of the last few days were instantly lifted off our shoulders. The Mariners were very welcoming and happy to see us. Luck was on our side with just the normal check-in formalities required. No health declarations or Covid testing. Obviously, we still kept to ourselves and kept our distance from everyone. Nice surprises keep on happening, the marina was very reasonably priced 28 euros a day water and power included as well as a nice clean toilet block, laundry & lounge area with free Wi-Fi. Everything was very nice we were really happy we chose Club Nautico De Sada as our first port in Spain.
The marina was very quiet, actually, we were a bit disappointed as it appeared Kiri was the only foreign boat in the marina, probably due to it being quite early in the season.
The great thing about being in the marina was being to be able to step off Kiri & straight onto land. Basically, we had been boat bound apart from one twenty-minute walk in Ares for ten days. After, a quick walk around town with masks on, of course, we stopped at a garden bar for a beer. Another nice surprise two beers a small bowl of olives and chips for a grand total of 4.40 euros approximately $7NZ., not our estimated price of 18 to 20 euros.
What surprises would present themselves in the coming days?
