Cruising Galicia Rias

It was sad leaving La Coruna – a place we had quickly warmed to and enjoyed being in the friendly marina in the centre of town.  With the wonderful dinner from the previous night still fresh in our minds, (and heavy on our stomachs!) and having just waved Judy off in a taxi, we made our way out of the exposed harbour and back into the wild Atlantic.   

The sea was confused with waves hitting us from the front and side, so we made our way out into deeper water before hoisting the main with one reef and unfurled the yankee (biggest jib).   With the wind on our beam (side) we headed south, chasing a couple of other boats who were heading in the same direction.   I loved the sail and hand steered for the eight hours we were at sea, the skin on my face feeling tight after a full day of wind and little sun.    I can’t describe the feeling of arriving in a new place, happily exhausted from the exercise and sail, while fully in the moment and enjoying the surroundings of an unknown bay.  Easier to say, I was well inside the margins of my happy place! 

We had arrived in Camarinas, a small fishing town on the ominously named Costa da Morte, so called due to the lack of safe harbours to take refuge if the weather changes, resulting in many sailors losing their lives in days gone by.   Fortunately, we did not add to the number of shipwrecks and avoided the numerous navigational hazards in the entrance into Ria de Camarinas.   Ria’s are large fjord-like bays with several inlets and towns located within the sheltered haven.  

We spent a quiet night in the sheltered and shallow bay of Pta de la Vasa before leaving early in the morning to continue our journey south, ahead of some bad weather that would bring southerly winds the next day.   We wanted to get around Cape Finisterre in calm conditions as it has a reputation of being quite nasty and is the most westerly point of mainland Spain.  Named by the Romans Finis terrae means , “the end of the World” and it is quite a foreboding and isolated place.    Sadly, for us there was no wind and we had to motor sail for six hours (with main sail up and engine on) to make sure we arrived in a safe place before the weather changed the following day.   We had entered the long and beautiful region of Rias Baixas (the x is pronounced like a “J”) and, avoiding the many “Bajos” (shallow banks) on the approach, we motored into Ria de Muros just as the weather started to turn.    Wanting a safe place for a couple of nights, we booked into Portosin marina and were shown to a berth close to the entrance and facing the small town.   

As we sat on the boat watching children sailing dinghies in the small harbour, we were surprised to see a large dolphin leap out of the water in front one of the boats with a girl and boy on board.   There were lots of shouts and manoeuvres as it became clear the dolphin was chasing the dinghy and playing with their rudder.   Far from being excited, the girl helming seemed very annoyed until a rescue boat came to her aid.   We were fascinated and then in awe as the dolphin came over to our boat and started swimming under and around us.   It responded to shouts and laughter by coming back and entertaining us for a long time, until we had enough!   Later in the night we were woken by a bubbling sound as the dolphin released oxygen under the boat and then surfaced with a gasp a few seconds later.   This, along with the occasional tap on the side of the boat, continued most of the night and throughout the following day!  The young dolphin made itself resident here eight months ago and has been named Manolo.  He loves human contact and as soon as he hears someone entering, or close to the water, rushes to be with them!   We watched as it spent some time playing with the mooring rope of the boat next to us, scratching itself along the rough line that skirted the top of the water before disappearing under our boat!

Over the next couple of days we explored Portosin with it’s beautiful beaches, took a short bus ride to the busy hub of Noia and then sailed across the bay to picturesque Muros.   We anchored in a small bay close to the town centre and spent a wonderful few hours meandering through the very narrow cobbled 15 century streets.   The distinctive buildings have arched covered walkways to give protection from the rain that is common at the moment!   As we ducked into narrow streets we suddenly found them opening into a large square, bordered by old stone houses with metal balconies overlooking a fountain or statue centred piazza.   We loved the town and stayed for delicious Tapas at a waterfront café before jumping in the dinghy and returning to the boat.    On the short ride back we noticed a large official looking launch hovering around Cerulean.   We waved to the uniformed men on deck as we motored past and was surprised to see them following us.   As we climbed on board they carefully came alongside, asking for our papers.   They informed us they were customs and were not interested in coming on board, only making sure our paperwork was correct and giving us an official form showing we had been cleared so would not be bothered again.   Nice!

In the morning we were woken by a chorus of happy voices, seemingly quite close to us.   We poked our heads out of the hatch and saw a long line of people wading, chest deep in the water just in front of our boat.   They had long cage like rakes in their hands which they scraped the sandy bottom with, scooping their catch into a floating container behind them.   They were collecting shellfish – clams, the local delicacy.

We left our lovely anchorage and headed out of Ria Muros into Ria de Arousa, the next inlet along.  The wind was blowing from the north and we had a wonderful sail until we turned into the Ria when the wind was right on the nose and gaining strength.   We changed our plans as our preferred anchorage would be too exposed with the direction of the wind, so headed to Ribeira on the West side of the Ria.   The deserted sandy beaches stretched from the town and we found a sheltered spot between a couple of islands where we dropped the anchor in the clear water and spent a very relaxed afternoon reading in the sunshine.  

We spent a few days exploring the towns that border Ria de Arousa.   A stop in Pobra do Caraminal, near the top of the Ria, where we stocked up on fresh fruit and vegetables at a market that stretched along the waterfront.    The municipal market sells fish off the boats and there was a long queue for bread which was baked in a huge loaf and the baker cut off the portion wanted.   When we tried it, we found it very dry but very cheap!   The baker could see we had no idea what we were buying so threw in another white loaf for free!  

To shelter from the strong winds, we headed to the top of the Ria and anchored off Rianxo beach, sharing the bay with one other boat – an English couple from Cornwall who had spent the last 16 years living on board their beautiful catamaran, VMG, and cruising the Atlantic and Med.   The weather improved so we enjoyed the hot weather and deserted beach for a few days, relaxing in between catching up on boat jobs!  I varnished our outside table while Steve fitted new cleats in the cockpit. 

We have found this part of Spain a hidden gem, particularly Ria Baixos with its numerous unspoilt beaches, clean water, lots of dolphins, beautiful towns and tree covered hillsides.   Admittedly the weather is not as settled as other regions of Spain, but the landscape and history more than makes up for that.   We know we have been lucky visiting at a time when tourism is almost non-existent.  We have met a number of French boats but very few other visiting nationalities which is very unusual but means we often have anchorages to ourselves and only very seldom see other boats sailing in the same direction!

As we continued our Rias hopping, we stopped off at the beautiful “uninhabited” National Park of Isla Ons.  We had applied, and received, permission to visit and anchor on the small island that lies at the entrance to the next Ria we were heading for.   It is visited by day trippers from nearby holiday resorts but the majority of the people seem to stay near the ferry pontoon and do not venture to the beautiful beaches and bays further north .   We anchored off the white sandy beach of Playa de Melide – a nudist beach, as it turned out – with turquoise waters marking the shallows close to the beach.   We were visiting on the hottest day we had experienced so far in Spain, so it was the perfect time to visit!    We rowed ashore and walked to the lighthouse and part of the way around the approx 5km long island.   It was not uninhabited as we had been led to believe, with a growing community establishing itself close to the ferry terminal.

We decided not to stay overnight on the island as the anchorage was not very protected from the forecast NE winds, so headed to the entrance of Ria de Pontevedra, anchoring close to Porto Novo at a beach that was in stark contrast to the others we had gotten used to in the other Rias!   This one was packed with people and a buoyed safety line prevented boats from getting too close to the beach.   We anchored next to the buoyed line and watched the beach people watching us from afar!  

People remained on the beach until gone 10pm when it is still very light and Tapas were probably only just being served in the local restaurants!    The mornings are dark until 7am, so when we decided to explore the town at 9am the next day, we had the beach to ourselves and most of the shops were firmly shut!    It may have had something to do with the blanket of fog which had descended earlier, leaving a damp and chill morning, but we did manage to find the market which was buzzing with people and lots of fresh fish and vegetable stalls. 

We sailed off our anchorage and made slow, but sedate, progress up the Ria with the wind behind us, towards Combarro, weaving through a yacht race and Viveros (rafts for farming mussels) as we dropped the hook in the lee of Isla Tambo ready to explore the old town of Combarro the following day.   We had just finished dinner when all the other boats sharing the quiet anchorage, pulled up their anchors and left us alone in the calm bay, sandwiched between Combarro with yachts returning to its busy marina, and Marin on the other side of the bay with a large port and naval base.   As we sat on deck, watching the daylight slowly fading, a dolphin came into the bay and slowly swam around us, feeding.  No sooner had the dolphin disappeared when an enormous bang erupted from Marin followed by a number of flashes, puffs of smoke and delayed sound of military firearms.   This continued for about 10 minutes with the firing practice increasing in intensity and then abruptly finishing at 9:00pm just as I had yelled out, “OK, we surrender!   You win!”.  Coincidence or revenge…..?

We left the boat in the island anchorage and motored across to Combarro in the dinghy.   Combarro is an old fishing village, the heart of which has been restored and rejuvenated using historic horreos – small stone storage buildings built on stilts – to house restaurants, bars and shops along the waters edge.  The village is a destination for Spanish tourists but 10am is too early for most Spaniards to start their day, so for a good part of the morning we shared the narrow lanes with only a few other intrepid early risers!    By mid-day the streets were getting busy so we de-bunked back to the boat and prepared for the next day’s departure.  

We had a wonderful sail out to the next Ria, Ria de Vigo, by far the busiest and most built up of all the Rias, but this is primarily due to its warmer climate and close proximity to Portugal.  We had arranged for some spares for our watermaker to be delivered to Vigo and we had heard they had arrived, so were keen to collect them.   We dropped anchor in front the long golden stretch of Cangas beach, across the bay from Vigo and, spent an evening exploring the old centre of town.   This small town was the scene of a Turkish pirate massacre in 1617, leaving many women widowed.  A few years later these widows were charged with being witches, or “Meigas”.  As the sole survivors of a family that had sponsored a church, the women were able to draw income  from the church – their only means of income since their husbands/fathers/sons were killed by the pirates.   The Spanish Inquisition argued these women had used their powers to ensure they were left better off and were charged and tortured.  There are many symbols and a big festival in July to honour these women.

We caught a ferry into Vigo, leaving the dinghy tied to some stone steps in the marina adjacent to the ferry terminal, and walked through this fast growing city to collect our packages.   Vigo is a major port and one of the fastest growing cities in Europe with a population of over 750,000.   It is a sprawling city, spread out along the waterfront with tree covered hills behind and a very large fishing fleet based here.   We weren’t keen to spend too much time in the city so finished our shopping and headed back to the boat, returning before the afternoon wind started to increase, like it does every day.    On returning to the dinghy we discovered our attempt to ensure the dinghy painter had enough scope to float as the tide went out had failed, leaving the inflatable dinghy wedged between some stone steps and the sea wall.   We had to laugh as we walked back, feeling slightly embarrassed as we unwedged the boat and lowered her into the water below!

We decided to stay one more night in our anchorage and shared it with an Irish boat, Toby too, owned by Loulou and Greg.  We had a lovely evening on board their boat drinking local wine and they came for breakfast on board Cerulean in the morning before we both lifted our anchors and headed out the bay, us making for Islas Cies and they set a course for Baiona.     Islas Cies is a group of unspoilt islands at the entrance to Ria de Vigo and have long white soft sand beaches all along the eastern side of the islands.   It was a hot day as we sailed over to the islands and dropped the anchor in a long bay on the south eastern side.   The water was beautifully clear and went from green to dark blue and then turquoise as we got closer to shore.    The island is a bird sanctuary but we sadly saw very few birds other than seagulls.   As we walked to one of the lighthouses, several lizards scampered infront or into the lush foliage that bordered the dusty pathway.    The views from the lighthouse were spectacular and we could see a lot of the coastline we had sailed down as we had made our way south, as well as the hills of Portugal unfolding in the other direction.

With a southerly wind forecast in a couple of days, t was time to prepare to leave Spain and head south to Portugal for the next step on our slow journey home.   Atlantic Spain had been full of surprises, beautiful towns, excellent sailing, great adventure and we leave with wonderful memories from our first taste of this adventure.