SEA BEAR

Leaving Muros it was  a bright and sunny morning. However I’d not gone far when I ran into one of the areas renowned mists. The sun could still be glimpsed overhead but the visibility was not good. Several times I thought of turning back but soon I was outside the ria and so I carried on. Thank goodness for GPS and AIS. Experience had shown over the past days that almost all Spanish fishing boats were fitted with and used AIS so that was some reassurance but the trouble with fog at sea sometimes is you just cannot tell how far you can see, is it 50 or 200 meters? Needless to say a nervous watch was kept. Later the visibility did improve and then it eventually cleared altogether, another hot sunny day of the Spanish coast.

As if I hadn’t enough excitement for one day I decided to take the Canal de Norte to enter Ria Arousa, it all looked straightforward enough with care and indeed it was all going well apart from no port hand red mark visible  as on the chart and pilot. The white and green tower starboard mark  on  Pedras del Sargo was clear enough though and I watched several fishing boats go through. Then the rock awash to the channel side of the tower was spotted. Dead slow, give the tower a wider berth, but how far since no other marks, watch that forward echo sounder closely, were are past . That was a nasty surprise.

Further up the ria, which really should be named Ria de Mejillon, from all the vivaros used for cultivating mussels, we anchored off Playa Arena de la Secada at the northern end of the Isla de Arousa. A very pleasant spot indeed. I should explain vivaros are big floating rafts from which they hang ropes on which the mussels grow.

It seemed the thing to do whilst in the area to pay a visit to Santiagio de Compostello.  Accordingly next morning I put into the marina in Villagarcia de Arousa just a few miles further up the ria. The marker on the end of the breakwater is a huge mussel stood on end.

I then took the train to Santiagio de Compostello to play at being a proper tourist. I was impressed by the train, fast and cheap and with more leg room than on British trains.    Santiagio de Compostello is of course famous for its cathedral and the old town with its narrow streets between stone buildings and is a site of pilgrimage. So as you would expect very touristy and full of tourists. I’m pleased I went but glad it was just an afternoon. My last  bit of time there was spent drinking beer next to an impromptu session with a Venzualian and a Spaniard who were playing guitar and singing traditional songs – lovely. After the train back I ate outside a tapas bar along with crowds of chattering Spanish. By the end of the day my head was just full of noise.

I quite liked Villagarcia, an unpretentious working town. There were parks, a good beach from which I had my first swim in the sea for many year and the marina was cheap I could have stayed on for much longer but it was time to move on to the next ria. The day started with a gentle sail, beam reaching down the ria but turning southwest past the Illa de Arousa it was a beat. Past the Isla de Rua which just seems like a heap of gigantic granite boulders we had a mad half hour where I went from yankee, staysail and full main  down to 2 reefs in main and just a furled yankee in 3 stages with 25 knots of wind oh yes and heavy rain too. It kicked up quite a sea too. Soon the wind was back to normal and I was back to a full set of sails but the sloppy sea and now light winds made sailing difficult. I rounded the Peninusla de O Grove and headed fro the gap between the Illa de Ons and the mainland. Eventually it was just one tack too many and if I wanted to make the anchorage at Bueu before dark I accepted that I would have to motor so I finished the passage by motoring past Picamillo tower and into the Ria Pontevedra. Crossing the ria and passing through lines of vivaros I arrived at Bueu where I anchored off the beach in time to watch the sunset.

In the end I stayed at anchor at Bueu for 3 nights. There were 3 other boats here, an interesting contrast in style. A big old wooden Norwegian Gaffer, a Halberg Rassy 50 all mod cons and power hungry, they were running the engine to power the machine washing, and  Wyloe , these seem the boat of choice by a number of livaboards. Next day I inflated the dinghy  rowed ashore and swam from the beach, it was lovely. Next day was a rainy morning and although it cleared by early afternoon I thought I’d stayed another day, whats the rush when you are in such beautiful places. It was a lovely bay backed by wooded hills scattered with houses climbing the hillsides, there were a number of beautiful beaches and behind the rest of the ria, always with these beautiful wooded hills. But then it was time to move on  so I weighed anchor and set out for the Illas Cies.

There has been a low sort of stuck of the coast of Portugal for the last fortnight or so which has been giving us either no wind or persistent southerlies. Not so good when you are trying to go South. So after reaching out from the ria it was another beating to windward session again. It all started out so well but then where does this wind suddenly spring from, one minute  a lovely 15 to 17 knots then its 20, 25, hold on a minute 30 plus- more sail shortening practise. I had wanted to anchor of the islands but it was far too windy and the sea too rough so decided to press on to Baiona, a shame for the islands, rocky and rugged look truly beautiful. Into the Enseadia de Baiona after rounding the Ilas Serralleiras and you wonder what the fuss was all about, a gentle breeze and flat sea. You feel a bit silly with 3 reefs still in the main. So I anchored in the bay along with a dozen or more yachts, obviously a popular spot.