September 15th - 20th, 2012 (Spain)
Progress so far (Click picture to zoom)
We had a quiet last night at Rianxo for a change and went around the other boats in the morning to say good-bye. In the process, we spoke to a young couple on a Spanish boat, who were very nice and it was a pity that we hadn't run into them earlier. Speaking to them was very easy as Ramon spoke very good English and Yvonne was originally from London.
After lunch we motored down towards the mouth of the Ria and anchored in a fairly large bay at O Grove, which is full of viveros (mussel farms) and rocks, so there was really only room for us. Eromaducs arrived a while later and anchored off the end of the golf course in the next bay. Later on in the evening the fog rolled in and just as quickly rolled out again. The next morning we weighed anchor and motored down to Ria de Pontevedra and anchored for lunch in a nice little bay before heading up to the top of the Ria to Combarro. We spent a very pleasant night tucked in behind a small island off the marina and then motored into the marina in the morning so we could fill up with water and do some washing. Later on in the afternoon Capisce arrived, followed a while later by Vlad. We went off for a wander around the old town which has been extensively restored and it is lovely and very picturesque, but we felt it was very touristy with lots of little shops selling cheap tat at inflated prices.
In the evening we had another pre-dinner get together, this time on Mistroma, and as well as the other two English boats, also included a Belgian boat sailed by a Swiss and Dutch couple. A good night was had by all and we finally sat down to soup and bread at 23:00, before jumping into bed.
The next morning, along with Jane & Tony, we caught the bus into Pontevedra and once there we split up to explore the old town. After visiting the Tourist Information office for maps etc, we found a nice little Tapas bar in one of the many squares where we had a very good lunch. The new part of town is pretty similar to any big town, but the old part is really attractive and much bigger than any other we’ve seen so far, although it was incredibly quiet – maybe too late in the season for tourists. We followed the route map provided by Tourist Information and really enjoyed exploring the area.
Back on the boat, we had a quiet evening and the next morning, after saying goodbye to Jane & Tony, who we probably won’t see again, set off for Ria de Vigo, hoping to be able to sail. However, as soon as we rounded the island off the marina, the wind was on the nose, although at one stage it did start to go round to the north but then came back again. As we got to the mouth of the Ria and turned south, so did the wind and we ended up motoring into a Force 5 for about ten miles. Luckily, as we entered Ria de Vigo the wind stayed where it was and we had a good but short sail, before the wind died. We motored up to the top of the Ria and anchored off the marina at San Adrián and watched the mist roll down the hill, but thankfully it stayed about halfway down before rolling away.
