Oysters & Tapas in Vigo
Trip Start
Aug 21, 2009
1
7
99
Trip End
Dec 06, 2009
Where I stayed
Marina Davila Sport
Vigo, Galicia, Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, August 28, 2009
The marina is just about as unattractive as a marina could possibly be. It is located at the very tip of the commercial port with no trees or grass to be found. Then, to leave the Marina, you must travel through all the commercial warehouses and wind around the bay until you arrive at the city center. The only thing going for it is the view of the city, especially at night.
In the afternoon we went to the top of the Castillo de El Castro that has excellent views of the city by and harbor below. For lunch we bought oysters from a street vendor and then took them to a bar nearby where we ate the oysters with Lemon and drinks. Vigo, although larger than many of the neighboring towns is a much laid back city.
Crew Schedules and Hours
We had a crew change today. It occurs almost every other Friday, where two crew go home for a month and two other crew arrive.
Most large yachts operate seasonally for their owners or are available for charter. In both these situations, there are periods of time when the crew can return home to visit their families. Since we live aboard our yacht all year long, the crew doesn't have the flexibility they might otherwise have. One of the solutions to this problem is a rotating schedule where the crew lives aboard for a nine week period and then return home for four weeks. A crew rotations system is not common on luxury yachts, but frequently used in the merchant marines. From what I’ve heard, the typical work schedule on a Merchant Vessel is working four weeks, then home for four weeks. Then, while they are at work, they will frequently work shifts of between 12 and 16 hours per day. On our boat, since the responsibilities of each position vary considerably from one another, most of the crew are also trained in other areas. So, when guests are aboard and the Steward/ess’ are crazy busy, the deck hands can help in many of the areas to lighten their load, and when there are few guests aboard, but we just finished a crossing, then the Stewies will help out the deck crew to clean and prep the yacht after arrival in port. Out Captain is very good about getting everyone to work together to complete all the tasks at hand and to avoid a lone steward from being stuck in the laundry room for 18 hours in one day while the deck hands are off work and playing by 2 in the afternoon.
For dinner we ate Tapas in the city as well and returned to the yacht around midnight. We departed for Porto, Portugal a few hours later.
