Leaving Asturias for Galicia
Pleasant sailing with the Code D
Our next leg was westwards to Ribadeo on the opposite bank of the river that marks the border between Asturias and Galicia. After a bit of a re-fuelling adventure (payment issues, theirs not ours) we headed out onto an almost windless sea. We had a couple of hours of motor sailing before we were finally able to hoist the Code D again and get some very pleasant hours of downwind sailing. Again, however, as the wind gusted up to 23kt we decided to change that down to the genoa to make for an easier time of it.
Somewhere beautiful along the way in Asturias.
Oh no, orcas…??!
As we approached Ribadeo we got a bit of a fright as we got a glimpse of a large patch of white breaking out of a wave off our port quarter. Then, from below the boat a big white patch came up from the dark water. For a moment it looked for all the world like an orca swimming upside down to inspect the bottom of the boat; the way we’d seen them do in other parts of the world.
No, ‘just’ Risso’s dolphins
Happily though, it quickly resolved itself into a big, pale, boof headed dolphin of some other kind. It was joined by half a dozen or so other animals and they were accommodating enough to swim alongside us for a few minutes giving us good looks at their big, blunt heads, shapely dorsal fins, and pale, spotted grey colouration. Two of them even gave us a series of ungainly breaches that sent them clear of the water before they all disappeared beneath the surface and we lost them. These were Risso’s dolphins, a first for both of us.
Bridge over the Ría de Ribadeo, connecting Asturias and Galicia, with Ribadeo on the right.
Two days in Ribadeo
Ribadeo provided us with a pleasant day while we waited out some strong winds. The town itself is interesting enough and its setting, high above the River Eo and its estuary, is very pretty.
Street scenes of the historical centre of Ribadeo.
Strangely enough for a town that claims to have pegged its future to tourism it isn’t a particularly friendly place in comparison with towns in Cantabria and Asturias. Apparently, so we heard from an Asturian, “they are different across the river in Galicia”. Ah well.
A Galician ‘horreo’ near Ribadeo, a traditional, raised barn for storing grain, vegetables, and/or corn.
We did some nice long walks and even a bit of laundry (exciting!) before heading on with the arrival of better weather.
Plenty whitecaps coming into the river entrance. We departed Ribadeo once they had subsided.
Rounding four Capes
The next day saw us on a boisterous four Cape down-wind romp. We were able to hoist the sails almost as soon as we were clear of the mouth of the Eo River and with a 16kt wind on our starboard quarter made NW towards Cabo Burela. Our destination was initially going to be Viveiro but we figured that if things went well we might get further.
Downwind sailing along the Galician coast.
Things went well and so having cleared Cabo Moras and decided that the northerly swell would make Viveiro uncomfortable, we headed NWN for Cabo Estaca de Bares. Rounding Cabo Estaca de Bares we were still making good time with good seas and wind and so, rather than heading into Espasante, we put a little more south into our heading and made for Cabo Ortegal.
Rugged coastline along the way.
A fast downwind sail
Here the wind backed and picked up, and as we turned SW began a very quick downwind run with good following seas (and a pod of perhaps 10 bottlenose dolphins!). We had sustained true wind speeds of 26kt and were doing over 10kt through the water and more than 11kt over the ground, even reefed down.
More rugged coastline with following seas.
It was a fun sail and in short order we were gybing across the wind and into the calm and protected waters of the Ría de Cedeira. Here we dropped anchor a little to the east of the town and enjoyed a very pleasant and calm night at anchor.
And one more, because the coastline was rather spectacular.
Arriving in A Coruña
The next morning, we motored out of the Ría and, picking up a brisk NE wind, headed SW before gybing S for a long straight run into A Coruña. Here we ensconced ourselves at the Real Club Maritima de Coruña, a pleasant, if rolly, marina in the very centre of the city, until the weather would allow us to go around Europe’s most western point, Cabo Finisterre.
