Interactive map of entire 2012 cruise.
May (Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, France)
June 1st - 15th (France)
June 16th - 30th (France)
July 1st - 10th (France)
July 11th - 20th (France)
July 21st - 31st (France, Spain)
August 1st - 9th (Spain)
August 10th - 17th (Spain)
August 18th - 31st (Spain)
September 1st - 14th (Spain)
September 15th - 20th (Spain)
September 21st - 30th (Spain)
October 1st - 6th (Spain, Portugal, Spain)
October 7th - 28th (Spain)
Progress so far (Click picture to zoom)
Back in Galicia.
We spent six nights at anchor in Baiona, during which time the weather was pretty mixed, with sun, rain and wind and the fog rolling in and out. When we eventually decided to leave, we waited until the sky was blue and headed out of the bay, trying to stay ahead of the rain, which we could see coming towards us. Fortunately we managed to outrun it and motored across the Ria to anchor in a lovely little bay for lunch, and then continued up to Moaña, on the north side of the Ria, directly opposite Vigo. We anchored in the bay just outside the marina, near Eromaducs, whom we hadn’t seen since leaving O Grove in Ria de Arousa, about four weeks ago. It was lovely to see them again before they headed south to Nazaré in Portugal, where they stay for the winter.
Whilst at anchor we managed to take the sails down in preparation for our lift out at Marina Davila Sport in Bouzas, before heading into Moaña Marina for a couple of nights. During our stay we visited a local patchwork quilt exhibition. Some of the exhibits were truly stunning and the time and effort involved in making them must have been huge. I don’t think I would ever have the patience to start on this kind of thing. We also went for a river walk and came across quite a few varieties of ducks and geese, some of which we hadn’t seen before, but they mostly sat with their backs to the camera, so we couldn’t get any decent pictures of them!
After we motored out of the marina we re-anchored in the bay so we could take the dinghy into the middle of town to buy diesel, before heading back across the Ria to Marina Davila Sport, where we carried on with the boring jobs to get the boat ready for winter storage. For a few days the weather became a lot more unsettled with strong winds and torrential rain showers along with much lower temperatures.
Mistroma was lifted out on 22nd October and is now safely ensconced on a cradle in a secure yard, just in front of Vlad, who came out at the beginning of the month. All the winterising work has been completed and hopefully all will be well until we return next year. We left the yard on 26th and headed off by train to Santiago de Compostela, where we enjoyed a two night stay before flying home.
We didn’t arrive until late afternoon so only had one day of sightseeing before jumping on the bus to the airport, but found time to see most of the attractions. Santiago is the capital of Galicia and a world heritage city. Walking trails from all over Europe converge here and on arrival pilgrims can receive a certificate called a Compostela. Everywhere you look people were walking around in hiking boots and carrying a long staff with a scallop shell (symbolic) attached to the handle or wearing a hat with a shell on the front.
There’s a lovely and quite extensive old quarter with a massive cathedral in the centre, whose two towers can be seen from all over the city. The interior is equally impressive and highly ornate and we spent quite a while wandering around. After lunch we walked around the narrow streets and through several of the gardens, which still have plenty of colour, although the trees are all losing their leaves.
Tomorrow morning we leave for the airport and I really can’t believe that the sailing season has finally ended and that after travelling nearly 2,000 miles we are now on our way home. It seems no time since we were frantically preparing for our departure back in May. We’ve both thoroughly enjoyed our time out here, although the sailing is nowhere near as good as around Scotland, but the weather more than makes up for it. We’ve met some really interesting people over the summer, and hope to keep in touch with them and maybe meet up again next year. Roll on April 2013, when we’ll see what further adventures we can have!
