BLUEWATERCRUISING 09
range of animals made from folded paper, they are not lit at night, so there is no up to 25-30kn and we couldn’t find a
but they got carried away at the dogs and moving around the Rias in the dark. sheltered spot, so pushed on at 7kn under
cats stage, so we ended up with a saloon genoa alone to the shelter of Baiona.
that looked like a pet shop instead. The
VILAGARCIA
produce market was brilliant and the We were lucky to get into the busy
BAIONA
children had an anatomy lesson at one marina at Vilagarcia. Baiona kept our attention during a few
butcher’s stall where all the bits of pig Once safely installed, we explored the days of rough weather.
were on display. It is said that the only town and found a major Galician cultural We walked the two miles or so around
bit of the pig that the Spanish don’t eat festival and motorbike rally in full swing the castle walls (encircling a pine forest)
is the squeak – having seen this stall, we with street games, a fair, food stalls, and watched the Atlantic breakers
can well believe it. concerts and an open air disco going on crashing onto the beaches. We researched
Once back at the boat, the children well into the early hours of the morning. Christopher Columbus and one of his
caught a bucketful of shrimps (plus some ships, Pinta, which left Baiona for the
slimy green stuff) using a net off the
RIA DE VIGO
New World in 1492.
pontoon and insisted on having them While the Ria de Arousa is considered My search for WiFi (‘wee-fee’ in
for lunch. While the green stuff was to be one of the most beautiful of the Spanish) continued, but it seemed there
probably sea lettuce and Hugh Fearnley- Galician Rias, we found it to be quite was only one place in the whole of Baiona
Whittingstall says you can eat it, I didn’t busy and commercialised. where we could plug in the laptop.
insist as I wasn’t absolutely sure. Instead we preferred the quieter, Meanwhile, David searched for gas,
It was in Portosin that we said goodbye sleepier Rias further north. Once we which involved dragging a trolley, empty
to Lawrence who was heading back to had had our fill of the bright lights of gas bottle and two complaining kids
cooler, wetter climes (Aberystwyth), for Vilagarcia, we headed south once again around Baiona for hours on end.
the sake of his sanity and to work. for the Ria de Vigo and our last stop Luckily, I had work to attend to… ■
before reaching Portugal.
RIA DE AROUSA
We passed the rugged islands of Ilas
From Portosin we motored over a sea Ons and Ilas Cies on the way to Baiona. PILOT & CHARTS
of glass the 33 miles to the next Ria to They are designated marine reserves
The pilot book that we used was:
the south (the Ria de Arousa) before and seabird sanctuaries, popular ROYAL CRUISI
NG CLUB
PILOTAGE
FOUNDATION
Atlantic Spain and Portugal:
Imray
anchoring off Pobra do Caramiñal for the with daytrippers and naturists.
Atlantic Spain
and Portugal
La Coruña to Gibraltar,
CK
night. While writing the log, we realised We would have liked to anchor for
ALKER AND ANNE HAMMI
MARTIN W
TAR
LA CORUÑA TO GIBRAL by RCC Pilotage Foundation:
that we had done our first 1,000 miles the night off one of the beaches to Martin Walker and Anne Ham,
– 1,016 miles since leaving Aberystwyth. swim and explore, but the wind got
£37.50. Imray is offering a 10 percent
All of the Rias are major shellfish
Edition discount for ST readers quoting this
Fully Revised Fifth
farming areas (the Spanish claim that
article in phone orders: 01480 462114
Galicia is now the biggest shellfish
We used the following Admiralty charts:
producing area in the world), but the Ria
1110 La Coruña and Approaches
de Arousa in particular is jam packed
1111 Punta de la Estaca de Bares to
with viveros (mussel rafts measuring
Cabo Finisterre
1113 Harbours on the NW coast of Spain
roughly 20m x 15m), often grouped
3764 Cabo Torinana to Punta Carreiro
together a hundred at a time.
3633 Islas Sisargas to Montedor
The mussels grow on ropes hanging
1756 Ria de Muros
down from anchored rafts. While there is
1734 Approaches to Ria Arousa
room for yachts to go between the rafts, 1732 Ria de Pontevedra
BOAT
The family’s yacht and home for
the foreseeable future is Cape,
a Gitana 43 that they bought in
January 2006. Launched in 1981,
she was built in GRP by Ton Cup
Yachts in Cape Town, South Africa
and measures 13.10m (43ft) overall
with a 2.13m (7ft) draught, fi n
keel, keel-stepped mast and an
after cockpit.
July 09 Sailing Today 89
ST147 Family4
RE.indd 105 12/5/09 18:31:27
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