Tag: Spain

We last left you in Muros, having survived the coast of death. Since then we have continued to move ever southwards and taken in a couple more of the Spanish Ria’s. The Rias truly are safe havens from the might of the Atlantic Ocean and we have really enjoyed visiting them.

From Muros we enjoyed another downwind sail, past the Ria Arousa and through the gap between the mainland and Isla Ons and in to much more populous Ria De Pontevedra where we anchored at the top outside the old town of Combarro

John on Rival Spirit was already anchored there and it was great to meet up with him again after leaving A Coruna.

The Ria itself was quite different to the others we had visited. It was much more populated, and the banks were lined with beaches and hotels. It looked much more touristy. In contrast, the busy little own of Combarro was picturesque and the old town was well worth a visit. The wind in the anchorage was pretty crazy in the afternoons, blowing in at 30 knots. Its when you need your dinghy to work well, so we were a bit annoyed with ours when the engine battery went flat! Out with the charger, and we were soon up and running again.

We visited the town and took a walk around the old town. Lots of narrow street and old grain stores on stilts.

The rest of the time we enjoyed the views from the anchorage and watched the kite surfers…. I need to get me one of those!

A couple of days later we moved South again this time to the Ria de Vigo, which would be our last Galician Ria before we move to Portugal.

To split up the journey we stopped the first night in the North of the Ria entrance at a pretty beach called Ensenada de Barra, and then headed down towards the city of Baiona where we anchored for several days.

Baiona was a great place to visit. A bustling town with lots to offer the cruising sailor and plenty of history to absorb. Baiona was was Columbus’ first mainland landfall in 1493 after returning from his masacre of the people of the New World! They have commemorated this with a replica of his ship ‘Pinta’ permanently berthed in the harbour which we took the chance to visit

Given the choice of crossing the Atlantic in Azimuth or Pinta, we firmly decided that Azimuth would be more preferable!

The town is dominated by the medieval walls surrounding the Parador Conde do Gondomar on the northern headland which is a huge and still complete fortification commanding the harbour and its approaches. A visit is well worth the effort and we walked right round the wall with views in all directions

Baiona also has a superb old town where you can get lost in the narrow streets and we stopped for lunch at a great restaurant.

And then heading back to the anchorage later we wonder why its a bit smoky in the bay only to spot a forest fire developing on the slope! It seemed to have gone out by the next morning we think.

Join us again soon as we head down to Portugal!

Apparently this coast earned its name from the hundreds of shipwrecks on the sharp jagged headlands pounded by the Atlantic Ocean ….. throw in the modern phenomena of sailboats being attacked by Orcas round here and we think the name does this area of Galicia in Spain justice!

We start in A Coruna. You will recall that is where we arrived after our Biscay crossing. It took a few days to recover and catch up on the sleep and that gave us a chance to meet up with John from Portishead, who was recuperating in the local marina after his crossing of Biscay.

John was our local guide, since he had been through the arrivals process already! So he showed us to the customs office, where we checked in to Spain. This was the first time we had actually checked in to another country. The Irish didn’t show any interest in us at all! In the end the process was very simple, fill out a form and have your passport stamped.

After that we spent the day exploring A Coruna. Its a modern city wrapped around a really old port town. The modern port gets a visit every day from a huge cruise ship which discharges a few thousand tourists and makes the place vibrant and multicultural.

We visited the Tower of Hercules, the worlds oldest lighthouse that dates back to Roman times stands over the whole city on a rocky promontory. This light had guided us in to A Coruna, and we could see it from our anchorage.

On the way back we went up in to the Old Citadel and wandered around the narrow streets with lots of little plaza’s. Some of the churches dated back to the 14th century.

A good deal of our time in A Coruna was actually taken up with fixing stuff! The genoa took a battering on the way across Biscay and the UV strip that protects the sail when furled away was looking worse for the wear. So we spent 3 days sat on deck stitching seams! Its looking good again now and was well tested on the next couple of legs….

Bizarrely the weather was not what we expected for Spain. It was certainly not as hot as the UK, and the wind patterns were all over the place. Eventually we were getting a little stir crazy of our current anchorage, and decided it was time to move on. The talk in the marina and of all the sailors around the area was of Orca’s! Everyday on the coast around A Coruna, at least 4 to 5 sailboats were being attacked. The attacks consisted of the Orca’s biting on to the rudders of the boats and in some cases damaging them badly enough that the boat was incapacitated and had to be towed to port! Its a scary prospect. There are a number of websites that track these attacks and A Coruna was a high risk. Our friend John had done his research and managed to obtain some ‘flashbangs’. These are underwater bangers that divers use to scare off unwanted visitors. He very kindly gave us a few in case the worst happened. Apparently, they do scare away the Orcas that are currently hanging on to your rudder, but they don’t harm them.

So armed with our explosives we set out to explore the coast of death!

Orcas!!!!

The weather didn’t play fair. First day we had 20 knots of wind on the nose, and short seas. It was like being in the Bristol Channel again! So we fought our way south. All of a sudden on the radio is a ‘Pan Pan’! A boat called Selma that we had been tracking on AIS about 2 miles from us was being attacked by Orca’s! That really focussed the mind for us. We listened for about 30 minutes as it unfolded and a rescue boat was sent to intercept poor Selma. The woman on the radio genuinely sounded terrified. In the end though they followed the instructions from the coastguard and the orcas departed, leaving them unscathed. Where had the Orcas gone though? They can move fast and were still only a few miles away … so we spent the rest of that day with eyes peeled looking for large fins! Nothing appeared and we pulled in to a little anchorage off the town of Laxe.

The book described Laxe as a small quiet fishing village with delightful beaches. That was not entirely our experience! That weekend was the celebration of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary. So a potentially cultural religious festival experience? However, we had no idea that the Virgin Mary was actually big in to Spanish Rave music?? The speakers were already blasting this out when we arrived, and continued to do so until 5am the next morning. This was interspersed with some crazy bloke on the Quay launching bangers at regular intervals. Add to that a rolly sea and death rolls onboard Azimuth and we didn’t get a lot of sleep!

The weather still wasn’t playing fair, but a rolly anchorage can be worse, so by the next afternoon with the music starting up again, we decided enough was enough and time to move on. Another upwind sail took us further South. The sea state was again like the Bristol Channel, and gusts up to 30 knots lashed us. Then the heavens opened as we were trying to negotiate the narrow entrance to the Ria. It was a little scary…. the fishing fleet was just leaving port. We were ripping along at about 9 to 10 knots. The visibility was a hundred metres in sheet rain. Azimuth was heeled over hard. But somehow we managed to negotiate our way in dodging between the fishing boats. We both got soaked to the skin dropping the anchor with the wind still howling, and then proceeded to drag towards the shore. Two further attempts later and like drowned rats we managed to find a spot that held…. phew. Time to collapse! Peace and quiet … except for the howl of the wind and the sound of lashing rain!

The next morning, in bright sunshine, it couldn’t feel like a more different place. The little port of Camarinas and its surrounding Ria is a beautiful spot.

We visited the town for a wander, and the next day we went for a walk and explored the local area around the anchorage. Here’s some pics. Two river estuaries, pine and eucalyptus forest and big vistas

Feeling re-invigorated then we set off to conquer the rest of this coast, and round Cape Finisterre which along with Cabo Tourinan marks Spain’s most western point.

It was a perfect sail…. direct downwind, 20 knots behind us, and surfing down the waves at about 8 knots. The sun shining, and the amazing scenery going on by …

That afternoon we dropped the hook in Muros and enjoyed a meal out and the next day we went out for lunch to enjoy the delicious Zamberlains (Galicia Scallops) cooked in garlic oil, and battered Calamari. The Spanish know how to enjoy their seafood!

Muros is definitely a hit and well worth a visit. A delightful town with very old stone houses, narrow cobbled streets, not big enough for cars.

The coast of death almost feels like a distant memory now… we made it through certain death!

Adios amigos, see you next time as we continue our journey South