Back in 2014 I left the U.K. on my sailing boat Barada ( Nicholson 32) to sail to the Canary Islands via Madeira.
Crossing the Bay of Biscay I wasn’t able to make for La Coruna due to the westerly winds I had to go into Gijon along the northern coast of Spain.
I left Gijon and sailed into Ribadeo which is a rather tricky entrance with lots of breaking water either side of the narrow meandering channel. I was extremely tired at the time going into Ribadeo as I was solo sailing Barada when I coastal sail I can’t afford to sleep due to safety considerations.
After few days in the marina I decided to leave unfortunately I ran into a moored boat which was far longer than the prescribed finger pontoon. What cause the accident?
Couple years before I had serious accident which ended up with a fractured neck. I still have not regained full rotation of my head due the way C5 vertebrae had mended caused through some previous minor arthritis caused through my previous military parachuting days.
The deck man didn’t throw my rear stern line onto the boat properly and it had gone in the water which I needed to retrieve as it might of got caught around the propellor.
I also had badly scratch Perspex spray hood. The bow was getting blown back onto the pontoon so I had to give Barada some throttle to bring her back on course. Due to my stiff neck and poor visibility of the Perspex screen I ran into the bow of a large Rodman fishing cruiser.
I thought crikey that’s boat shouldn’t of been moored there it was far too long for the pontoon length. It caused quite bit of damage to my boat and twisted the stainless steel pulpit and damaged the Selden furlex furling system for the foresail. A local mechanic told me to go to Sada to a company called Cadenote he stated ”they’re Selden agent they’ll fix things up for you”.
Around I went and Cadenote turned out to be a fantastic multi disciplined marine company in Sada marina. They did everything mechanical, electrical, rigging and had a sail loft.
Well talk about immediate service they were truly an amazing and professional company owned by Beti and Miguel with a wonderful helpful staff.
Very quickly they had new pulpit made in stainless steel, fixed the foresail furling system, sorted my aerial lead replaced the Perspex of my spray hood and I was soon on my way again to Merida.
I vowed to myself if I ever needed work doing on a sailing boat again they would be my first point of call. My shake down sail from Wales to Spain was to check what needed fixing or altering or needed tweaking and I would get it done at Cadenote.
Betti and Miguel and the rest of the team were all still busy as ever. I needed to sort out some electrical issues, water pump, tricolour light, foresail and mainsail reefing system and the repair of a couple of saloon cushions.
Gerardo told me the sheaves at the top of the mast weren’t rotating properly for main and Genoa halyard and they needed replacing which meant having the mast removed for new halyard sheaves
Which would delay me leaving but it’s very important that everything on the boat works easily and properly especially being a solo sailor. Things such as halyards need to run smoothly for mainsail and foresail adjustment whilst sailing.
Cadenote have various departments at the top of the building the sail loft , below that the rigging department on the ground floor is the chandlery and behind the main reception and office there’s a small mechanically workshop for engine service an repair. But over in another shed at the the back of Sada Marina boatyard there’s a much bigger series of workshops. Mechanical and woodworking with CNC laser cut machines for both plastic and wood. Cadenote can carry our GRP and osmosis work.
The main regular team consists of;
Miguel & Beti the owners, (Beti speaks excellent english).
Claudia on the reception who also speaks excellent English.
Gerardo Rigger and workshop supervisor,
Cesar mechanic,
Antonio electrician,
Renato mechanic,
Bea & Arturo sailmakers,
Carmen accounts.
The British sailing legend Sir Robin Knox Johnson who had to get his mast fixed at the start of the 2007 Velux 5 Oceans singlehanded race chose Cadenote to fix the problem on his mast.
Cadenote is based up the RIa Betanzos which is well protected and the marina Sada is first class and not too expensive with a good supermarket close by and plenty of bars and small cafes and restaurants it only takes about an hour on the regular bus service to La Coruna large city.
https://press.velux.com/velux-5-oceans–race-start-in-bilbao-too
Finally I couldn’t recommend Cadenote more highly both in their friendly helpful manner and their professionalism as multi- discipline marine organisation. Miguel doesn’t think of Cadenote as a business but as a passion.