SEA BEAR

Departed the Scillies Friday morning under a gentle NW breeze, too gentle really. Had the cruising shute up for the first time ever, but handed it just before dark. A 24 hr run of just 64 miles which took us into French waters disappointingly slow progress really. Sometimes one needs the patience of a saint to be a sailor. More dolphins and yes out here the water really is blue. On the 2nd day I had changed the yankee for the big genoa but by afternoon of the 3rd day I had a struggle to hand it and rehoist the yankee. Got a bit of a scare when heard tale end of shipping forecast with bad reception Sole gale F8 perhaps storm force 10. Slightly relieved when heard later forecast that this was for NW Sole but bad enough was NW Biscay SW 5-7 and gale 8. I was glad that I was 50 miles or so to the Atlantic side of the continual shelf with plenty of sea room.

It was unpleasant enough as it was but I did see a whale which surfaced alongside. I was first aware but a mist or spray past the sprayhood as it blew and there it was about 15 feet off amazing.

Monday late afternoon I was lured into thinking the worst was past, the forecast had predict it to ease and for some hours the wind had been a manageable 20 to 25 or so knots and the sea state had eased and I had shook out the third reef in the main. It saved the worst for a dark night and winds of 30 – 35 knots, a particularly low point was having to put in the third reef back in.

However by Tuesday things were improving though I was still losing westing. All this time I had intended Coruna as arrival point but Weds SW winds look like putting paid to that. In the end I made it to Ria Ribadeo and motored into the marina with the last light in the sky. A helpful marina hand waved me to a pontoon and helped with with my lines. Formalities soon completed a much need shower was taken. Sitting in the cockpit  a beautiful 15 year old single malt, given as a departure gift from a true friend was broached as a celebration of a single hand Biscay crossing.

The Rias Atlas are sunken estuaries and have been compared to Scottish sea lochs.  Maybe so, they are a bit more developed, no midges and warmer. Still sailing in shorts and t shirt in September. I hadn’t planned to visit them but I am very glad that I did. They are very beautiful and the coast is somewhat rugged. I spent several nights at anchor in Ria de Viveiro and Ria Cedeira. Meet an interesting  French Journalist, Jean Mitchell who used to work for Le Figero. He swam across from his anchored Wharram cat and invited me across for drinks. Sounds rather grand don’t it – invited aboard a yacht for drinks. Like me he is headed south.

Leaving Coruna under a grey sky a notable landmark was the Tower of Hercules. This was built by the Romans and is the oldest functioning lighthouse in the world. A sail of some 35 miles some engine assisted as the winds were so light lead me past more rugged coastline and past the rocky islas Sisarga  and then having passed Punta del Roncudo I turned into the Ria de Corme Y Laxe. Here I anchored of the beach at Laxe for the night.  I woke in the night to thick fog but it had cleared by morning and it looked like a lovely day  was in store.  Sailing past more rugged coastline was the order of the day and with plenty of unmated offshore rocks about due diligence must be paid to careful navigation. Rounding the spectactual headland of Cabo Villane I entered Ria de Camarinas. The fishing village of Camarinas is in another of the delightful rias atlas. It is more or less unspoilt and less developed than previously visited ones. That eve I ate barbecued sardines  at a bar. But you wouldn’t get these sardines into a tin, they were about 8 inches long. They cook them on the roadside outside the bars and serve them on a plate with just some fresh bread, no knives or forks just eat with your fingers. They were  delicious.