Yacht Pipit

      

A bit longer in Camarinas, rounding Finisterre to Muros, 4th August 2011


Firstly, our latest (short this time!) contribution to the Bavaria Owners' Association magazine has been published - you can see it here. We enjoy writing the articles and we've had a number of emails from other BOA members who have read them and subsequently followed our website ramblings - it's gratifying to know that at least some people find them worth reading, and indeed we have made new friends through this route. We're also a bit surprised at the hit rate on the website - there must be more people with nothing better to do with their lunchtimes than we thought - and it's not just you Robert...

As predicted last time, we stayed in Camarinas for a few days, until Sunday in fact as the winds were still quite strong and not ideal for rounding Finisterre. This was really no hardship as although the town itself is not especially picturesque, it's perfectly pleasant, the people seem friendly and the Club Nautico is very welcoming.

We've been watching Rick Stein's Spain - a timely new series that's given us some inspiring ideas for cooking with local produce and some dishes to look out for when out and about. We still haven't found razor clams for sale, although Ann did say she'd seen some razor clam airholes in the sand when we took the dinghy to the beach the other day. At least I think that's what she said... She also told me to beware of catching my b*llocks on the rowlocks when beaching the dinghy...



Oh and they had some nice cars parked outside - some gratuitous photos follow, skip if you're not interested!

A stunning example of a Bertone GTV (apart from the non-period wheels, although they did look good!)


Never owned one of these Alfas, although my Spider was mechanically related...


Difficult to spot a bad line really.


And then there was this monster - a Wisemann, something I've never heard of.




Anyway, we rounded Cape Finisterre on Sunday 31st July and sailed into Ria de Muros, the first of the Rias Bajas. As we left Camarinas, there was virtually no wind but thankfully, as forecast, very little sea and quite a low swell. As we neared Finisterre, the wind freshened, enabling us to have a great sail around the symbolic Cape Finisterre - another significant point on our journey to the Med. As we were approaching the Cape, a beautiful Dutch yacht, Missy, caught us up and overtook us close enough to take some nice photos of them sailing past Finisterre. We shouted to ask if they were heading for Muros, which they said were, except they were going to Portosin and we were going to anchor off Muros for a few days. Three days later when we came into the marina at Portosin, they had gone, so we used our detective heads and the www and managed to find their website! We have sent a message that we hope they receive so that we can exchange photos of our boats rounding Finisterre. In the meantime you can catch a glimpse of Pipit sailing round Finisterre at the start of this video.

Cape Finisterre, a significant point but perhaps not as imposing as we were expecting.


The beautiful Missy


We had read that the Rias Bajas are warmer and softer, but as we'd heard 'better weather around the next corner' stories before, we were a bit sceptical. As we sailed into Ria de Muros though, the wind freshened a bit, but it was a warm wind! By the time we approached Muros, it was blowing F5, but still warm. There are several anchorages in the Ria de Muros and we chose the one east of the Isla de San Anton (a tiny rock really) which we had all to ourselves for 3 nights. It was a bit further to dinghy into town, but a secluded and peaceful setting. Our only visitors were occasional fishermen and some dolphins who popped by one evening as we were sitting in the cockpit about to enjoy dinner. We had seen dolphins in the ria the previous night, feeding between the shellfish beds, but these came within about 50 metres of Pipit! To watch the dolphins or retrieve the now ready chicken, courgette and roast potatoes from the Cobb - what a dilemma, but what a treat!

Visitors to 'our' anchorage.




At anchor at Muros.


Sunset at same.


We took the dinghy ashore to do some shopping in Muros and found there is a brand new marina nearing completion. Talking to some people aboard a boat there, it seems that they and others were moored for free as the water and electricity aren't connected yet and the facilities block hasn't been built. We decided there was no point going in as we were happy in 'our' anchorage and were planning to go to Portosin marina in a couple of days time anyway. Once complete however, this will no doubt be another great marina.

After three nights, we moved into Portosin marina to make use of their excellent laundry and shower facilities, plus sit out the weather which has now, as forecast, changed to grey cloud, showery and SW winds. The weather is due to improve and the winds turn more northerly by Sunday, when we hope to head south to explore the Ria Arousa, the largest of the Galician rias.


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