Sunday 3rd August, Caraminal

Sunday (as for Saturday) turned out to be great weather again with wall to wall blue sky and 25 deg plus temperatures. We sailed from the Ria de Muros to the Ria de Arosa by the outside route - missing all of the rocks that run all the way down the coast line. It started with less than 10 knots of wind but soon turned into 15- 20 knots downwind. There was also a couple of metres of swell as we were out into the unprotected Atlantic.

25 miles of the trip was outside the Rias but as soon as we turned into Arosa the wind died to about 4-5 knots for our drift up the Ria.

Time for a bit of fishing then. We trawled a line with lures initially at 2knts of boat speed but as we trimmed the sails properly we got almost two more knots. After lunch we pulled the line in and found our first fish, a six inch long sardine. That went back in as Pam had already bought

chicken for tea!

 

By four-ish we had made our way almost to the top of the Ria and the town of Caraminal - which had been recommended on the YBW forum.

We anchored in the bay just outside the marina in around 5 metres of water. Before dinner, we took the dinghy ashore to have a look round. Looks a nice little town with convenient rubbish disposal and shops. I couldn't get an internet connection that wasn’t security protected so this blog is a few days late. We also found a trendy bar on a first floor balcony overlooking the anchorage and beach.

(this is the view from the balcony - we are the boat on the right)

 

We stayed in the anchorage for a couple of nights and had a good look around the town on Monday. Quaint place with lots of old narrow streets and a museum that said it would open at 4pm but didn't. There is also a marina in the town which seemed very busy but little in the way of facilities - and no wifi.

 

 

You can just about make out Grand Slam Too in the foreground - just before we discovered an almost terminal problem (more of that later - nothing like keeping up the suspense is it?).

 

Both nights we spent here turned out to be very windy. During the day the wind went from non-existent to around 8-10 knots - usually with a westerly component. By 9pm though it swung to the east and increased to 15-20knts. By midnight it decreased again. This anchorage was protected from south to north through the west so it was an exciting end to each evening. No problems with holding though - everywhere seems to be mud/sand with excellent holding.

 

We left Caraminal on Tuesday morning - after another leisurely start - and cruised along at around 3.5knts in not much more wind. The sky was blue, the temperature 25+ (hope this isn't too upsetting for all the poor people who have to go to work). When the wind died to zero - out with the fishing rod again.

 

 

This time I managed a reasonable size mackerel. Can you imagine doing this on the Forth? I can't. Interesting to see we are the only boat with crew wearing life jackets?

 

After 3 days anchoring we were heading for the marina in Vilagarcia - the huge distance of 5 miles away. We noticed on Monday that the dinghy had re-developed it's anti-inflation tendency - ie it was leaking again. I had patched it in Ireland after it had got a few pin hole leaks hitting some rocks. The patch kit did say it was a temporary repair however it had worked fine during our stay in the Guinness Isle. Being a chemist, and even one who had developed adhesives (that's glue to the most of us) I should have know that the single pack adhesive was not going to stand up to the heat of Spain. A professional repair was now needed using a twin pack adhesive and proper patches. So Marina Vilagarcia it was then. The five hour mile sail only took 3 hours - what with all the fishing and sunbathing. What an ordeal!

 

We arrived the marina around 4-ish and parked up on the visitors pontoon. Will this marina challenge Kilmore Quay for the best marina in the world competition? You will have to wait until tomorrow!