Tag Archives: broken

Muros and Portosin

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Taking on fuel at Portosin

I was running low on fuel and my wallet had a measly 10 Euro left in it, so I persuaded myself (after much discussion), to investigate the possibility of diesel and an automatic bank teller at Muros.

As I tied off to the outer pontoon I was met by the port police and immediately told that there was no fuel to be found here for the likes of me. Funny, I hadn’t noticed the “Solitary yachtsman, please abuse” sign pinned to my back this morning…

I suppose that the mention in Imray’s Atlantic Spain and Portugal guide, of subsidized diesel being sold to pleasure craft here, had led to a rush the authorities are still fighting to dissuade.

Fortunately, I was permitted to stop for the few minutes it would take to visit a bank, and not wanting to antagonize any additional officials by my mere presence, I made my tour of Muros notably brief.

Tiller in hand, (for no apparent reason, my ST-2000 tiller-pilot died this morning), I motored the 4 miles to Portosin in search of regular diesel. A shame really, because the weather would have been perfect for rounding Finisterre and now I am stuck in port waiting for the next weather window. I almost made a run for it this morning, but conflicting weather forecasts and the prospect of rain quickly dissuaded me.

I guess I’ll be visiting more of Portosin, and who knows, perhaps one of my north bound 3-day friends will catch up with me.

With free Wi-Fi, comfortable marina cafeteria at hand, and a fee structure based on boat size, I am in no rush to move on.

R.I.P. Raymarine ST2000

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Between Crete and Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes the winds are Force 7, and having put up with a gale upon my return from Egypt, I was in no mood to relive that sopping experience.

My Tiller Pilot ST2000 never recovered from the gale. Despite my patient attempts at electronic resuscitation, the unit stayed unresponsive. Having opened her up (my Autohelm was so temperamental she warranted gender designation, but I draw the line at that. In my opinion assigning all the inanimate objects on my boat familiar names such as “Tilly the Auto-Pilot” is carrying things a bit too far), I discovered that the casing is not so waterproof after all. I’ll wrap the next one in plastic bags when conditions deteriorate.