Before we left Sanxenxo, Pam went for a quick para-sail.
No, only joking....but it was a nice photo! So on Wednesday morning we paid up and headed down for the Ria de Vigo. The forecast for the swell the previous day was 4-5M rather than the usual 1-2M so we had postponed our departure as part of the trip down took us outside the protection of the islands that give protection to the Rias themselves. Even today though the forecast was 3-4M.
We left around noon (never any wind in the morning) but unfortunately the wind still hadn't built up so we ended up motoring for the first hour and a half. The plan was to have a look at the anchorage by the Isla de Cies (another recommended "must see"). The swell was considerable but the wind started to build behind us allowing us to sail the last bit down to the island.
(the northern tip of the Isla de Cies)
We motored around the anchorage and although it was wall to wall blue sky, the swell was finding it's way in and the couple of boats in there were rolling about a bit too much. Rather than hope it would subside, we decided to head into the Ria and try this one on the way down to Bayona next week. Again the forecast was for another cold front to pass on Thursday afternoon so we planned on a marina stop for a few nights so we could go and have a look around Vigo and Pontevedra (now that we have managed to get a map of the place!). Lot's of marinas to choose from including 3 in Vigo itself. Again from a YBW forum recommendation we decided on the small club marina on the north side of the Ria in Cangas.
I called on channel 9 as normal but this time all I got was music played back to me each time I called. Great use of the airwaves. Once again a marinier came out, directed us to a berth and insisted on tying us up. One thing we have learnt here is that our preferred way of berthing with just Pam and I on board will not work. We normally set a spring from the midships cleat that gets thrown over the cleat at the end of the pontoon and then pull tight and drive the boat forward. This pins you to the pontoon and you can set the rest of the ropes at your leisure. In Spain, forget it! They just don't understand. There are always mariniers to take your ropes so they only use a bow and a stern. You watch - the first time we don't set up the spring - there will be no one to take the ropes.
The marinier spoke no English at all but we were surprised the girl in the office did - and they have a washing machine. The first since Portosin.
Above is a view of the marina with Grand Slam in the foreground. The showers were reasonable - clean and high pressure and there is a choice of free wi-fi!! (not in the showers - Silly). Cost for berthing is 30 Euros per night (12M) which seems par for the course in this Ria.
There is the usual sailing club with an upstairs bar but this is a bit more downmarket than we have seen. One of the guys running the bar speaks a little English and it looks like there may be a little more craic here. The bar prices are low and hence I can now announce a winner - the lowest bar price yet was a bottle of Estrella for 1.40 Euros. I was trying to do the lowest price of a round but that was getting awfully complicated. The snag is there are two variables over which one has little control. Firstly the wine served. This can vary in price and size of glass. Secondly the type of "nibbles" that are served. These can range from a dish of crisps to a tapas size dish of some interesting food. In La Coruna, such a tapas dish may set you back 1.50 Euro so a cost of a round at 4 Euros is actually very cheap. Anyway this is far too complicated. The winner of the cheapest Estrella is the club nautico de Rodeira. Nice little bar which does a mean coffee for breakfast.
All in all this marina has a nice feel to it. Not too busy and shops and bars within easy reach. The bus station (with buses to Pontevedra) is less than 100 yards away and there is a ferry every half hour over to Vigo about 150 yards away.
Here is the ferry on it's way with another load of passengers. Our plan is to have a look around Cangas tomorrow and then visit Vigo and Pontevedra on Friday and Saturday. We did however have a walk around the old part of Cangas today - I will post some pictures tomorrow. One place that did catch our eye was a Chinese Restaurant on the waterfront. Now this is the first Chinese we have seen and we were surprised what they were serving.
Have a look at numbers 94 to 98. Hope they don't burn up too many trays! 101 looks interesting but the favorite has to be number 106 "Ant goes up a tree" - what the heck is that!! It's obviously very cheap. If anyone can enlighten us, post a comment.
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