It's now Thursday and we are nearing the end of our stay in Spain. Sue arrives this evening and we are then off down to Portugal bright and early tomorrow (WHAT? - how early?). It has been a very relaxing six weeks in the Rias with us rarely getting up before 10am. Tomorrow it's going to be a 7.30am alarm!
We've now done the tourist bit in Bayona. A really nice town - as always in this part of the world. Lot's of good places to eat and drink and it's not Fiesta time! We met up with Rick and Connie off Calaloo a couple of times (an American couple who sailed over to the UK to winter the boat last year and are following the same track down as us).
Ronautica (the make of our boat) is big in Bayona. The smaller 340's are made just round the corner north of Vigo and Ronautica certainly make their presence felt. There are at least half a dozen of the 30 footers around and one 400. They also have a sales office.
There are probably still more Bavarias than anything else but the Ro's are a close second.
For a tourist spot there is quite a lot to see. We went around the obligatory "Pinta".
This is a replica of one of the boats that Columbus sailed. One Euro to get on and have a look around. Probably just about worth it.
There are two marinas here. The newer one which we are in and the "posh" one. The guys on the forum had warned me about not trying to get a drink there. We walked around to have a look at the Parador (the big hotel in the fort) and went passed the MRCN clubhouse. The security guards were very keen that we walked on past. I'm not sure whether they would have let us in if we had tried hard - or even showed our PEYC club cards. The pilot book does talk of a "dress code" so probably a good job we kept out.
(The MRCN club house - red roof- with Parador hotel behind)
The walk up around the Parador is certainly worth doing with some great views all around. It had been very hot and sunny for the first few days here but today when we walked around it was clouding up ready for a thunderstorm so visibility wasn't quite as good as it had been. The photo below was taken looking down over the harbour area with the new marina in the background.
So that is almost about it for Northern Spain. We have stocked up on Estrella (well a few more days supply at least) which should keep me going until I can find the equivalent in Portugal. There is not a lot of wind forecast for tomorrow - and what there is may be on the nose - so possibly a long motor sail. It is 30 miles to Viana and 50 miles to Porvoa. The wind for Saturday and Sunday is to be southerly and a bit stronger (and some rain) so the better option is to try and get to Povoa so we can spend the weekend looking around Porto. That's the plan anyway hence an early start. Sue arrives after 10pm so it's likely we will have a late night as well.
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