The Yeo Valley Organic Big Pot is unveiled

As the wind eased as we approached the Spanish mainland there was a VHF radio conference between Maunie and Stormvogel: "shall we try the light wind sails?"

Stormvogel hoisted her 'Winakker' first:

We then launched our Parasailor (the two designs are very similar and both feature an inflated wing, which adds stability to the sail, and a vent which allows the sail to absorb sudden wind gusts). Our sail proudly flies the Yeo Valley Organic logo:

The sail is 125 square metres, roughly 4 times the size of the mainsail so it's quite a beast! Happily it has a launching system which uses a 'sock' which allows it to be hoisted and lowered relatively easily. The following photos show it in action:

Many thanks to Peter Wiedekamm for these photos.

Back to the present and we've had a busy day in La Coruna - lots of chores such as cleaning the boat and doing two loads of washing in the launderette but we've also had a good walk round the city. It's a really interesting place, straddling a promontory. On the east side, where we are, there's a big commercial dock but just half a mile away on the west side there's a long sandy beach facing out towards the Atlantic where, on a Saturday afternoon, the locals lie out to absorb the sun.

There's no wind forecast tomorrow so we'll stay here and do the sights and practice our Spanish (we're on Module 3 of 'Spanish for Beginners'!). We need to watch the forecast carefully to get round Cape Finisterre to the west before we head south down the coast; there are local wind acceleration zones which can make it a bit of a challenge.