News from Caladh

A' Coruna to Baiona

We finally left A Coruna on 8 July with a forecast of light westerly winds. We slipped from the marina at 6.40am into a grey dawn and motored out of the harbour into a 2-3 metre swell left over from the stronger winds of the previous few days. However, as the sun rose and we motored further offshore the sea eased and it became a beautiful sunny morning. The wind remained very light as we motored west to clear the Islas Sisargas and then bore away towards Cabo Vilano and our planned destination of the Ria de Camarinas, some 48 miles west of A Coruna. 

By 3pm we were sailing towards the ria in a light breeze, mooring up in the small yacht club marina in Camarinas to find ourselves surrounded by large shoals of grey mullet that seem to breed there in large quantities. We nicknamed them the laughing fish of Camarinas as they lie on the surface of the water and stick out their mouths, as if laughing at us – maybe they were!

A laughing fish in Camarinas

The ria is on the north western tip of Spain, just north of Cape Finisterre and has beautiful beaches and pleasant anchorages, so after a night in the marina we headed off with the aim of anchoring for a night or two and enjoying the peace of the ria. However, it was not quite the idyllic time we had hoped for as the wind freshened to force 5-6 overnight and then it rained all of the night and most of the next day! The anchorage was comfortable and safe so we just stayed below catching up with e-mailing, reading, navigation for the next part of our trip and practicing the guitar. The sun returned the next day and after spending a couple more days in Camarinas, we left on a bright and breezy morning to round Cape Finisterre and reach the first of the southern rias, the Ria Bajas.

With a forecast of N 2-4 increasing 5, we sailed away from the ria on a beam reach in a fairly lumpy sea, with the wind blowing NW 3-4 and then bore away towards Cape Finisterre. The wind came dead astern and gradually freshened to N 4-5 and we ran downwind with a preventer on the boom and half a knot of south going tide helping us along until well south of Cape Finisterre. Hardening in our sails to close the Ria de Muros, we had a good sail on a beam reach into the ria. Here the seas were flatter but the winds gustier as they funnelled down between the headlands and we beat into Muros with force 5 -6 winds on the nose. We anchored in the Ensenada de Muros about half a mile from the small town and enjoyed a well deserved gin and tonic to celebrate the milestone of being south of Cape Finisterre at last! Until Christopher Columbus discovered America this most westerly point in Spain was believed to be the end of the world (hence its name) and it remains a formidable landmark for sailors.

Rounding Cape Finisterre

Although the winds remained fairly fresh for the next couple of days, the Muros anchorage was sheltered and secure and we enjoyed our stay there. The old town has an interesting network of narrow streets and old buildings and was celebrating a fiesta while we were there. The ria is sheltered and unspoilt and we enjoyed a hot sunny day at anchor off the beautiful sandy Playa de San Francisco – our first swim in the sea. After 3 nights in Muros we lifted our anchor on a sunny morning to head south into the next ria – Arosa.

Caladh at anchor in Muros

The forecast was N 3-5 and we sailed downwind for the first couple of hours with the wind gusting up to force 5 but by late morning the wind had died completely and we motored in hot sunshine and flat calm (a real novelty on this cruise!) into the Ria de Arosa. This ria is much more built up than Muros, with a number of towns on both sides of the ria and a strong emphasis on fishing, as well as some commercial traffic.  However, the scenery is picturesque with many small islands and beaches, all backed by tree covered hills. We stayed at the yacht club marina at A Pobra do Caraminal and took the opportunity to reprovision, do our laundry and clean the boat over two hot, sunny and windy days, before heading south again into the Ria de Pontevedra, where we hoped to spend a few days on the beach.

After a sleepless night in the large, new and expensive marina at Sanxenso, a lively seaside town with a nightclub that boomed out until 7am, we left in search of quieter anchorages. We spent a hot and relaxing day anchored off a pleasant beach on the south coast of the ria before motoring in the evening to Combarro, a picturesque fishing village at the head of the ria, with, according to our pilot books, a sheltered anchorage. We were therefore surprised to find a large new marina still partially under construction. However, we opted to anchor off overnight and enjoy some peace and solitude. The next morning we went into the marina and treated ourselves to Sunday lunch ashore, with some of the delicious seafood the area is known for – gambas, calamaris and meaty razor clams we had never tried before but much enjoyed. The restored fishing village was very picturesque and quaint, with many horeos lining the shore. These raised stone grain stores built to protect the crops from damp and rats are typical of Galician architecture and seen in villages throughout the area.

Simon and a Galician horeo

The following morning dawned sunny and breezy as usual so we headed south again to the Islas Cies, a small group of unspoilt islands with beautiful white sand beaches, lying off the Ria de Vigo. As a Danish sailor we met earlier in the trip told us, “It looks like the Caribbean until you put your foot in the water!” Yes, the sea was certainly bracing but anchored only 50 metres from the shore on a hot sunny day we could not resist swimming to the beach and back. In the late afternoon we lifted our anchor and sailed downwind in a NE 3-4 breeze into Baiona, an attractive seaside town about 15 miles north of the Spanish/Portuguese border. It was here that news of the discovery of America first reached Europe when the Pinta, one of Columbus’ fleet, returned from the new world. A replica of the ship sits in the harbour today. 

We have enjoyed our time in the Spanish rias tremendously and would recommend them as a cruising area. The scenery is beautiful and the sailing more relaxing than the exposed north coast, with sheltered waters and flatter seas. There is plenty of choice of marinas and anchorages, interesting towns, beautiful beaches, a warm climate and not too many other boats, even in late July. 

For us Baiona is a turning point as we now have the choice of continuing south into Portugal or returning to Rochefort for the winter as originally planned. After much deliberation we have decided to continue south towards Lisbon and then possibly leave the boat in the Algarve for the winter. Although this will complicate arrangements for laying up the boat, as our van is still in Rochefort, we feel it is an opportunity to see the Portuguese coast which we really should not miss. This, coupled with the challenges of sailing back to France with the winds continuing to blow strongly from the north, helped us reach our decision. As we write this on 25 July, we are at anchor in the Ensenada de San Simon (well we had to come here!) at the head of the Vigo ria, waiting for a short spell of wet weather to blow through, but hope to head off towards the delights of Portugal in the next few days. So far we have covered a total of 826 nautical miles since leaving Rochefort in early May. 

Simon and Jo