Vilagarcia 26 September 2013

Yes it seems that the rain has now caught up with us…… It rained all day yesterday and we were very lazy and just stayed on the anchorage all day (apart from a quick trip ashore to get some essential supplies). Today we left in very calm conditions hoping to sail the 25 miles to Baiona but changed our minds when we hit 20 knot winds (gusting 24 knots) on the nose with 20 foot waves! So we made a quick turn around and we are now back in the marina at Vilagarcia.

Here is a quick summary of what we have been up to in the last week.
We left Vilagarcia on Friday 20 September after Sally arrived the night before. We sailed down the Ria de Arousa to Cambados where we anchored in the very shallow bay and settled down to a nice BBQ with massive tuna steaks we had bought earlier. The wind got up all the time we were sitting eating and just as we were finishing, a couple of local men came over in their boat and told us that the wind was due to get very stormy and change round to the west and suggested that we moved to the anchorage behind the island. So we quickly abandoned the BBQ and headed up to the other anchorage before the tide dropped even further (it was only 3m deep!). We were glad to be in a more sheltered spot as it really did turn very windy during the night.
In the morning we left as soon as we could to ensure we had enough water under the keel and headed back to anchor off Cambados as it was now flat calm! Sally and I were determined to visit one of the wineries which make the local “Alberino” wine. Andy took us ashore and Sally and I spent a lovely couple of hours exploring the beautiful old village and going on the 1 hour winery tour at the Palazo Fefinans. We sampled one of the Alberinos but wanted to keep a clear head for sailing on in the afternoon.

 

 

The Alberino wine tasting

We managed to “smuggle” a few more bottles of wine on board and then set sail in the early afternoon. Lots of local classic boats were taking part in a wee regatta and one lot shouted “Tourists” to us as they passed, so we tried our best to overtake them and even managed it! Unlike British regattas, this was a very noisy affair with all competitors shouting at each other!! We also saw some dolphins again, the first for a few weeks. Sally was bringing us luck!

That evening we dropped anchor off another lovely beach at San Vicente near the entrance of Ria de Arousa. The next day was Sunday and the beach was packed but hardly anyone was swimming. No wonder as the water was only 14.8° C! I did not go in either. I must be getting soft!

We had a lovely walk ashore in the blazing sun to the headland and a cold drink at one of the cafes. There was a considerable surf coming in to the beach, so launching the dinghy on the way back was a challenge and I took a couple of waves for the team as I was sitting in the bows. I got pretty soaked in the process, much to the amusement of the locals on the beach!!

 

On the beach before I got soaked!

 

The afternoon was lazed away (once I had a shower and got changed) and we did crosswords and read books. Last time Sally was with us we taught her to play Canasta and our Canasta challenge is continuing. We think Sally has been secretly practicing while back home as she beat us thoroughly that night.

Unfortunately We had a very rocky night that night as the swell was coming into the anchorage side on to the boat and so set off straight after breakfast to sail to Combarro, in the next Ria south (Ria de Pontevedra). This Ria is much more populated with a lot of towns and a naval base. Combarro is a very unique small town with tiny streets, houses built on the rocks  and “Horreos”  (the granite granaries we have seen in other parts of Galicia) right by the water. It is a very touristy place but, thankfully, at this time of year it was reasonably quiet.

Combarro village

So now we are back at Vilagarcia and not quite sure what we will do next as the weather is definitely getting to be autumn with gales and big seas and we will be leaving Vaila here for the winter anyway. Sally flies home on 3rd October and we fly back to the UK on the 17th October. Plenty jobs to do on the boat and we can also visit some places by train if we don’t manage to sail there this year.