This sailing season started at a fast pace. We arrived in Sada on Thursday the 3rd of May and already at the same afternoon she was back in the drink. From there started busy two-week long spring maintenance period and on Sunday the 20th of May we cast off the lines in Sada. What a start of the boating season of 2018.
Galicia is one of the rainiest areas of Spain. We were a bit unsure how much moisture there is inside the boat? However, Suwena was in an excellent condition after the winter. So we started with regular spring maintenance items and full cleaning for making her ready for the summer. Mostly everything went as planned. Additional repairs were replacing of an inverter and a carburettor of Pikku Suwena’s 9 year old outboard.
Again, we can include one excellent wintering marina to our list. Already while asking for quotations the marina staff was good at responses despite of small language barrier as we do not speak Spanish. Nothing that we could not solve by Google Translate. José Manuel and Begoña were always very helpful with big smiles. In addition, José Manuel delivered numerous spare parts deliveries, that Andrus ordered last minute online to our pontoon berth. We have always received parcels in all marinas but here is Sada they were delivered to the yacht directly. What an amazing service. Thank you!
Sada seems to be quite popular wintering location among long distance cruisers. There were boats from several European countries and even from Australia and the USA. For storing a boat for extended time and making service, Sada is an outstanding location. Even the supermarket is next to the marina 🙂
The only negative side was the north-western swell from Atlantic entering ría and somewhat entering the marina swaying the boats. Of course, during our stay there was NW swell for the whole week of those two. One of the mooring lines went almost completely chafed broken despite protecting it with rubber hoses from the cleats. It was quite a ride 🙂
Also the food service was hearty. The restaurant of Club Náutico de Sada, Mercado del Puerto offered amazing lunches. Fortunately we did not stay in Sada for many weeks as Suwenas live weight would have gone up for sure. The lunch that costs 9 € included both two appetizer and two main course choices served to the table. Both dishes were really huge. In addition, we got a basket of bread, dessert or coffee and a glass of wine or beer like it is typical in Spain. Usually the morning chores onboard supplemented by this lunch necessitated a good nap afterwards 🙂
This year Suwena’s lines were cast off rather early when we started the summer voyage in marvellous sunshine today on Sunday the 20th of May 2018.
