Wednesday 11 – Saturday 14 September
We left the Ria de Muros with almost no wind but in lovely sunshine. Once out in open water, we were able to set the gennaker with the wind behind us, but after a couple of hours it became too strong, and the beautiful red sail was furled away again, and replaced by the staysail alone [if the wind is far enough to our stern, the mainsail blankets the foresail, and sometimes just a foresail can move us along very comfortably at a reasonable speed].
It became a day of sail changes: at lunchtime the wind veered a little into the NNE, and was blowing 23 knots, a good F5, so the mainsail went up with two reefs, and within the hour the wind eased so one reef was shaken out. At the mouth of the Ria de Arousa we enjoyed a lovely sail through the first of the National Parks, the Islas Sálvoras, with white sand beaches and beautiful pink granite rocky islands – just like parts of Brittany. We’d picked out a nice-looking anchorage off a pretty beach near Palmeira, on the NW coast of the ria. As we approached, a horse and foal were being given a workout through the surf, and the fragrance of warm pine and eucalyptus wafted tantalisingly across the water.
It was so lovely, we stayed a couple of nights, enjoying peace and quiet (after the locals buzzed off in their noisy motorboats – why do they have to anchor so close to us?). We motored the dinghy into the tiny harbour, where she tried to look inconspicuous amongst the traditional fishing craft, and wandered in the heat of siesta time around the desultorily vacant small town.
The next day we paddled the dinghy to the beach, to stroll along the water’s edge, and even swim along the shoreline.
On Saturday morning we decided we needed to replenish the fridge, so we pottered a couple of miles further into the ria to another anchorage off the beach at Pobra do Caraminal, just outside the marina which lies behind a small but noisy and smelly commercial quay. Again, we paddled ashore and pulled the dinghy well up above the high-water line, crossed the road and were in the supermarket – how convenient! Having stocked up, we moved a few miles away from civilisation to anchor again off Playa de Carregeros.