After our crew had left us in Leixoes
near Porto we had to wait another three days before conditions were suitable to
leave for our next port of call which would be Viana de Castelo, our last port
in Portugal. At last the weather seemed to be warming up on this coast and we
set off with a good prospect of fine weather. Leaving early again so we could
avoid the strong north westerly afternoon winds, we set off at first light. We
experienced variable conditions with some sailing and some pure motoring. Sailing
this coast is a nightmare because of all the fishing marks, often small, barely
visible but a serious hazard if you picked up a rope on your propeller. You sit
with your eyes glued to the water ahead ready to deviate to avoid them and it
can be very tiring. We arrived in Viana after 34.7 miles in hot sunshine
and tied onto the waiting pontoon in the river just downstream of the road and
rail bridge designed by Eiffel. I eventually found the marina attendant and had
a long walk to the office even after he had managed to get the pedestrian
footbridge working. He apologised for the bridge but said it was because this
was their first hot day of the year and it had stuck! Viana is a picturesque
town with many 16 th century buildings. We were fortunate enough to be in the
town at the time of their flower festival and every shop was adorned with
floral creations in a kaleidoscope of colour, which enhanced the appearance of
every street.
The English first traded here
selling fishing nets to the locals and in return buying Portuguese wine, (
sounds like a good deal to me ). It was here that Port wine was first developed
but owing to the river silting up, the trade moved to the city of Porto on the
Douro river where the Port trade now flourishes.
Another dawn start for us was
made slightly more difficult because a French yacht had tied next to us in the
night, but they awoke to my knocks and pleasantly moved their boat. We had
another 35 miles to go to Bayona in Spain.
The trip started with the
usual 2 metre swell and no wind but as we approached the entrance to the Minho
river, the Portuguese Spanish border, a wind off the shore swept out at force
six and speeded us on our way. It later faded away again and the sea flattened
as we turned into the large sheltered bay in which Bayona sits. We arrived
early afternoon having logged 33.1 miles. We had been here twice before
and it was good to renew our acquaintance with the attractive town set in the
shelter of the old fortress.
This was the town to which
Christopher Columbus returned in 1493 having discovered the new World in the
Caribbean and a replica of his ship the Pinta resides here. The weather was
warm and sunny and we enjoyed walking the narrow streets off the waterfront. We
had also made good progress and could swap our Portuguese courtesy flag for the
Spanish one.
It looked as if we had a
forecast weather window for the next four days to get us to La Coruna so we
decided as we were both tired to do a shorter leg the next day and start later.
It would also be within the more sheltered waters of the Rias, the deep river
estuaries on this coast protected by offlying islands. The Marina at Sangenjo
was our chosen destination and our course took us winding through the islands
and up to the little holiday town and beach on the north coast of one of the
Rias. We sailed 18.5 miles on seas with low swell and sunshine to accompany
us. We had been warned that this holiday town was noted for its noisy
night clubs and indeed we had been here seven years ago to experience it. It
was a huge marina and not very busy although it did fill up later that night as
it was a Saturday. The town beach was crowded with sun worshipers enjoying the
summer sun at last! It is a fabulous protected sandy beach but the backdrop of
unsightly houses ruins the image.
We went to bed early for
another early start the next day and managed to get some hours sleep in before
the night club noise woke us and continued until 0500 hours when we got up.
We had spotted in Reeds
nautical almanac that a new marina had opened in Muros town and it was a quaint
old town on the north shore of the Muros Ria. This would be our next logical
step north before Finisterre and the right distance. The course had to be
carefully plotted so as to pass through some narrow channels through the
islands. Setting off again at dawn we motored to the first narrow channel and
then a good wind came up on our starboard beam at force five to six and we flew
along at up to 7.4 knots for half the trip. We managed to keep a favourable
breeze almost all the way to Muros where we arrived early afternoon in a
lovely, almost empty new marina having logged 32.1 miles. At one point a racing
pigeon landed on our stern seat obviously in need of rest and settled down to
sleep whilst we carried him further north. He was obviously a nautical pigeon
because he had a red tag on his left leg and a green tag on his right
leg!
He stayed there until I
disturbed him when getting our fenders out of the stern locker, at which point
he reluctantly flew to the shore. There were some fishing marks to avoid but
not nearly as many as in Portugal. Muros town looked quaint but upon inspection
is was run down and lacking in care. Some lovely old buildings were set amongst
newer blocks that spoiled the appearance.
Another early start to leave
the marina at first light was planned to do the next big challenge and get
around Finisterre point, up to the Ria of Camarinas. Sadly the sky
was overcast and it was very cool, but the winds were forecast to be southerly
in our favour. Within a short distance of leaving the wind came up in the right
direction and we were able to sail towards Finisterre point. This is now the
third time we have passed Finisterre and on the last occasion the weather was
good enough to anchor behind and walk up to the lighthouse, but not in today’s
conditions.
Having made good time to the
point we turned north around the headland and indeed the wind treated us kindly
and turned with us. We therefore had a romping sail past Finisterre at up to 8
knots in a rare but welcome south easterly breeze. We made good time to the Ria
Camarinas where we docked in the port of Muxia. The marina was virtually empty
and almost new which makes you wonder why they put us on a berth as far from
the office and facilities as possible! They were very pleasant and helpful and
we had time to walk the town and do some shopping. Spain insists on having
their siestas and shops close in the afternoon and reopen from five to nine
p.m. which is good for us but I would not like to work those hours.
Our final leg of this stage
was to be 50 miles around the north west coast of Spain to La Coruna. The
forecast was for easterly winds, light and backing to the north as the day
progressed. Again we set off at first light and the sky was clear but with low
grey cloud gradually spreading in from the sea. We hoped it was not going to be
foggy again. We motor sailed in the light winds as we progressed north and then
north east. The wind never got above force 2 and the swell was just small and
lazy. We passed many yachts making their way south to the sun but only one
other going our way. As usual there were many fishing buoys to avoid, most of
them little more than a couple of old plastic bottles and hard to spot. We
nearly ran into what we thought was a net as it consisted of six small orange
floats in a circle very close to one another. Fortunately we saw them and
quickly turned to pass them safely. At one time I saw what I thought was a
black stick just lifting out of the water occasionally directly in front and
after a swift course change we passed alongside it only to see that it was a
small sunfish basking on the surface and waving a fin at us. These weird fish
can grow up to two metres across and weigh over a ton but this was a small one
and the only one we have ever seen. The weather gradually cleared to sunshine
and the visibility improved as we coasted along the north coast to the point
where the Torres de Hercules lighthouse marks La Coruna bay. This lighthouse
was started by the Romans and is the oldest working lighthouse in the World. We
had been watching the sea carefully for eight hours and when we docked having
logged 49.4 miles we were both pretty tired.
This ended the second part of
our trip home and we wait here for Beverly and Ann to join us for the Biscay
crossing to Ireland. We have logged 504 miles so far this trip and apart from
getting a few things fixed on the boat we intend to get some rest for a few
days.
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