The weary crew of Saffron Star arrived at 0800 on 3 June after a wet and dreary night. The Celtic peninsula of Galicia is living up to its reputation as a kindred spirit of Ireland and Wales.

At least we are in the ‘Royal Yacht Club’ of La Coruna (A Coruna in Galician) where last time we stayed an impeccably turned out old gentlemen asked us which club we had arrived from. We sensed that ‘Brighton Marina’ was not the right answer.

It started raining on Sunday night at 0200 and by the time we arrived we were ready for churros and hot chocolate. We have covered 474 nm so far and now we have a crew change. It’s adios to Mike and Bill and Hola to David and Paul who arrive on 5 June to crew Saffron Star across the Bay of Biscay and home to Gosport.

At the moment there are weather systems moving across Biscay creating 3.7 m waves with 50 mile gusts. We hope to be able to leave La Coruna at the weekend and make for Brest. Then Roscoff by the 12th, St Peter Port on 14th, Alderney by the 16th and then home by the 19th June.

We are going to have to spend some time here so we might as well have some seafood, drink some Albarino and check out the local tattoo parlours to get a nautical reminder of our trip.

While we have been battling the mirror like Atlantic we have had donations form dozens of friends and family for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund in memory of Jerry. Thanks to everyone. And a big thank you to the A Capella group who raised £60 busking on the notorious streets of Edinburgh.

We arrived at 0900 after three nights at sea and 303 nm . We checked into the poshest marina in town, the Monte Real club de lates de Baiona for some well deserved R&R.

Baiona is the playground of the NW Spanish city of Vigo and is beautiful with islands and sandy beaches. And, of course, Spanish food.

On the way, we saw our first dolphins. At first, all you see is the lead dolphin a mile away and then the whole group races towards the boat to play in the bow wave.

The sailing was not too demanding. We even managed to get the dinghy out to take some shots of Saffron Star.

We have 157 nm to go to La Coruna. But first, we need some rioja………

Saffron Star safely arrived in Cascais (Lisbon) 24 hours after setting out from Portimao, as per the passage plan.

We managed to achieve a speed of over 6 knots over the ground enjoying light winds from the east with some motoring and motor sailing into northerlies at times. We kept on the move to avoid a strong low in the Strait Of Gibraltar.

Having re-fuelled in Cascais the plan now is to head up towards Baiona in Spain, stopping in Figueira da Foz if necessary. Crew all fit although Bill had a spot of mal de mar en route. Might need to break out the ship’s rum.

As the strong northerlies (the infamous Nortada winds) are forecast to die down today Saffron Star should start out on Leg 1 of her journey from Portimao on the Algarve to La Coruna in Galicia on the NW tip of Spain.

The plan for the first two days is to sail from Portimao, the round the St Vincent Cape at Sagres and head to Cascais near Lisbon to refuel. She will be crewed by skipper John, Mike and Bill.

Remember: You can follow our progress here:

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:3416473/zoom:14

We have entered Saffron Star in the 2019 Round the Island (RTI) race in memory of Jerry. As of 29 April we have raised over £2800 from 64 friends who loved him for Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. To see the latest total and to donate visit:here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chilverschallenge

Jerry loved sailing, windsurfing, kite boarding and paddle boarding. Here are some photos of him on RTI:

But first we must bring Saffron Star back from Portimao, Portugal to Gosport.

The crew for delivery across the Bay of Biscay back to the UK will be John ‘JR’ Digby, Paul ‘The Boy’ Stewart and me – the original crew when we raced around the Isle of Wight with Jerry.

You can follow our progress on Marine Traffic here:

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:3416473/zoom:14