From Portugal to Galicia, and minor setbacks on route

In the past three weeks, we have come all the way up the west coast of the Iberian peninsula, from Cabo San Vicente at the bottom to la Coruna, at the top.  

Dolphins near Cabo San Vicente

We had a few technical issues on this leg of the trip. On the very first day, the autopilot stopped working. Dave went to investigate and found that the motor driving the system had stopped. He diagnosed worn brushes, and kicked himself for not bringing spares along. He had asked about getting some when purchasing the unit, but the owner of the shop seemed convinced that, “You’ll never need to replace those!” Famous last words! A quote for new ones was £180 plus delivery, which would mean waiting somewhere for them to arrive.

We decided to pull into Sines and see what we could find in the fishing harbour. After a long search for the correct store, then an even longer search through the store’s ‘spares’ boxes, Dave came up trumps. The brushes weren’t quite the right size, but after a little filing, and re-welding the springs, Dave had the whole thing back up and running the same afternoon, and for a fraction of the cost!

Keeping amused at sea

The next morning, as we set out to sea there was a strong smell in the boat, a strange sort of antiseptic TCP smell. We stopped at the threshold of the harbour while Dave checked everything out. He couldn’t find anything wrong but still this smell lingered. We continued on cautiously while trying to sniff out the problem. Was there a problem with the new brushes or had some chemical or paint tin leaked? We were completely baffled. It wasn’t until mid-morning that Dave found the culprit – an LED light in the kitchen had burnt out! No major damage and a relief to identify the cause.

We continued north in light winds – stopping overnight at Cascais, Nazaré, and São Jacinto. By the time we reached this last harbour, the wind was not so light and the entrance was rather hairy with sizeable waves rolling in and clashing with a strong outgoing tide. I was glad Dave was at the helm and not me as we surfed our way in. I didn’t want to put him off by going to get the camera but the fact that there were waves inside the entrance gives a good idea of what it was like outside! Suffice to say we were happy to drop anchor and stop for a few days while the north winds picked up.

walking out to the beach, Sao Jacinto

Reuben mastering rowing at Sao Jacinto

Here we met up with our friend Rafe, who was heading south in his aluminium yacht ‘Silver Lining’. We spent an evening ashore together, and ate in a local restaurant. The seabass was delicious, but the ‘chips’ took us by surprise again when presented with half a plate of crisps! We never will understand that one. But the meal was rounded off nicely with a Magnum ice cream in honour of Rafe’s dad, ex-Topsham artist David Eddington.

Magnums with Rafe

We visited the tallest lighthouse in Portugal, across the entrance at Barra, and also an old cod-fishing boat, the ‘San Andres’, which has been turned into a museum. It was an impressive sized ship, with enormous holds for all the fish. One half of the catch was refrigerated, and the other half salted – salt cod is still a big part of Portuguese cuisine, and is available in every supermarket (even Lidl have a salt-cod section!)

I particularly liked to see the huge wheelhouse, with its many radars and fish-finders, and drawers full of charts ranging as far as the Grand Banks and Greenland. The kitchen was also impressive, with an enormous electric mixer, huge bun-tin tray and a vast pantry. The wooden dividers on the table to keep each seaman’s plate and drink in place give an idea of the conditions they would have been cooking (and working) in!

271 steps to the top of the Barra lighthouse

bit breezy at the top!

San Andres - ex-codfishing boat, with its prop off

Reuben at the helm

A short day-trip took us to Leixões, near Porto, where we again got stopped by strong northerlies. We weren’t too worried as the sun was shining and we had both Father’s Day and Reuben’s birthday to celebrate. Reuben was missing his friends but he had a lovely day, with a trip to the local playpark to try out his new roller-blades, a picnic lunch and an afternoon on the beach jumping over the waves and splashing in a warm inshore pool. There was certainly a lot of cake eaten that weekend!

Reuben getting brave on his new roller-blades

Yum!

braving the waves at Leixoes

Another long day trip and we crossed the border back into Spain. The third casualty of this leg was the Ipod for our music, which has given up the ghost after 13 years. We are now reduced to old-fashioned radio or having to swap the CD's!

Changing the courtesy flag as we enter Spanish waters

We spent two nights in the lovely town of Bayona. Here, Reuben picked up a late birthday parcel and searched for tiny cowrie shells on the beach. Katie and I clambered out over the rocks and braved seaweed to swim in the deep patches of sea.

Reuben getting lowered over the side

Katie, after a sea swim at Bayona

sunset, Bayona

Suddenly, the weather turned balmy and hot with little to no wind – perfect for swimming. Katie has proved to be a patient teacher and got me (who is scared of heights) and Reuben jumping in off the bowsprit!
Unfortunately, it was also perfect weather for mosquitoes, and after one hot night, where Reuben slept without covers or a pyjama top, he woke up covered in mosquito bites. Katie circled them all in pen as they counted them – 33 in all. 

Jump!

We set off to visit our favourite places in the Spanish rias. First stop were the beautiful Islas de Cies, a nature reserve opposite the Ria de Vigo. We remembered how cold the water was from our last visit so we went ashore armed with wetsuits and were able to spend a long time in the water without freezing! Dave had bought an underwater camera since our last trip so we had fun snapping each other while up to our necks in water – it’s a weird feeling to wade into the sea with your camera!

Dave thru the underwater camera

Pristine beach at Isla de Cies

The next day we took a walk up to the Pedra da Campa, a huge rock with a hole eroded in it. Reuben was delighted to spot lots of lizards on the way – 36 in total, including 5 of the big green ones he loves. We also spotted a couple of robins, and several baby seagull chicks, which I had never seen before.

seagull chicks

big, green lizard

Katie at the Pedra da Campa

Next stop was Pobra do Caramiñal, in the Ria de Arousa, for our third trip to the stunning natural waterfalls. With temperature warnings of 85 degrees from 2 until 8pm, we set off early, but it was still a hot and sweaty cycle to the base of the hill, followed by a twenty-minute walk up through the woods to get there. By the time we arrived at the top, we were desperate to strip off and jump in.

Reuben, with no rucksack, was the first to arrive.

“There’s people there!” he shouted back, disappointed. He had been praying that we would have the place to ourselves.

There was one couple, sunbathing on the rocks. The kids jumped in the water immediately, while Dave and I chatted to the Spanish couple. Despite living in the Ria de Arousa, they had only just discovered these waterfalls.  

pool with a view

waterslide!

They left not long after, and we had the whole glorious place to ourselves. We all swam, splashed and hunted for the frogs we could hear croaking. On our first visit two years ago, Reuben had been in armbands; now he and Katie were diving to the bottom to collect handfuls of sand! We clambered down to the next pools below, where we slid down the mossy rocks into the pool – a natural waterslide. Normally the water is quite chilly, but the sun was so hot it had warmed the rocks which in turn warmed the water running over them. It was heavenly!

At 3pm, it was just too hot to stay out in the sun and we packed up and headed home. We passed two groups climbing up to the pools – a hard slog in the afternoon heat - and were doubly thankful for our early start.

natural swimming pools

That evening was the Fiesta de San Juan, the Spanish celebration of Midsummers Day. We went ashore in the evening to grab a beer and watch proceedings. The shore road was cordoned off and people lined the sea wall, where a barbeque was set up, offering grilled sardines, pork and mussels. At midnight, the big fire was lit and further along various groups of people made smaller bonfires for themselves. Apparently the tradition is to jump over the fire four times for luck for the coming year. We left at half past twelve and by the time we woke, there was no evidence of a fire on the beach at all!

Fiesta de San Juan

the big bonfire

Our next stop was Finisterre. This is a final, ‘extra’ destination for pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago, and I had always wanted to walk out to the end of the headland. It was getting late by the time we dropped anchor, so we cheated and caught a taxi out to the lighthouse. The view was underwhelming, to say the least, as the mist was rolling in, but at least we had been there! The taxi driver also recommended a decent local restaurant, where we had a lovely meal out, with proper chips!

stunning view at Finisterre!

Pilgrim's bread for walkers

The next Ria was Camariñas, where we had planned to have a bonfire. For some reason, the water in the ria was a strange red/brown colour, not the clear blue we remembered. We weren’t sure if there had been a pollution spill, or if it was the ‘red tide’ that plagues American shores. In any case, it didn’t look tempting, and the skies were cloudy, so we postponed the bonfire.

It was here that we realised our phones had stopped working. We had thought maybe the signal was poor in Finisterre as it was such a remote headland, but when we reached Camariñas and still had ‘emergency calls only’ on both phones, we realised there was a problem. It was exactly a year since we signed up with EE and we thought maybe our contract had run out.

The following morning, I hooked up to wifi in a café and spent a frustrating couple of hours going round in circles just to try and make an online call. Finally, I got through to EE and established that we hadn’t been cut off. I just managed to note down technical suggestions before the battery ran out. Thankfully, the suggestions worked and we were soon reconnected. Surprising how we have got so used to ready access to the internet on board. We didn’t have such luxury on our first Atlantic trip!

In the next ria Corme, we bumped into a French boat we’d met two years previously, and finally had our bonfire, just outside a cave on our own little stretch of beach.

beach bonfire, Corme

saving a baby starfish

Our final stop on the west coast were the Islas Sisargas, an uninhabited group of islands off the coast. We had never been able to stop here before due to swell, so it was lovely to visit the island and swim off the tiny sandy beach, despite the nesting seagulls that tried to bombard us as we followed the path to the top. 

looking for a sandy spot to anchor

anchored at the Islas Sisargas

Islas Sisargas,looking to the mainland

We have done a lot of motoring on this leg, and have all enjoyed travelling slowly in flat, calm seas this last week. It makes me wonder if we are really 'true sailors', especially after hearing that out friend Martijn was knocked to 80 degrees of heel on his way back across the Atlantic. That doesn't appeal to me in the slightest!
We are now planning to follow the north coast of Spain a little way along while keeping an eye open for a good weather window to cross the Biscay. We aim to join the maritime festival at Douarnenez at the end of July.