Ria Views

When we met William and Nicola in Santiago complete with two large suitcases and a hatbox, containing a new hat, we wondered if these landlubbers were going to hack it as we cruised the Rias on the northwest coast of Spain. The Rias are a series of 3 main and many smaller estuaries that indent the coastline on the top left hand corner of Spain and boast some of the most lovely cruising grounds in this neck of the woods with secluded beaches (some with ria views), national park islands and plenty of mussel farms which produce some of the most amazing mussels I have ever seen – a real meaty number … We were however delighted with the contents of said suitcases; curry spice mixes, haggis and a bottle of Clitoria, an interestingly named gin, which is a vivid blue in the bottle, but turns a gentle shade of pink on contact with tonic. A real party piece :-). After unpacking and sorting out the new guests on board, we pottered across the Ria de Muros to spend the night at anchor and spent time considering where we were gong to source fish for the first curry. William and Nicola are pretty dab hands at the curry and the skills of bhunaoing thrice and applying dunga (method No. 3), which are all explained in the little known curry bible “The Cooking Delights of the Maharajas’.

We had already pre-registered for access to the national park Islands of Isla Ons and Islas Cies, the former of which which protects the Ria de Arousa from the Atlantic swells, which roll in from the 3,800M deep Atlantic Ocean and deliver the west coast of Portugal and Spain with some of the best surfing beaches in Europe, but don’t do a lot for those of us who want to have a gentle sail down the coast in the direction of the Med.. To get to the next Ria, we had to put to sea; out of one Ria and into the next. After a few hours of relative calm, during which WIlliam and I calculated the volume of water in the earth’s oceans in cubic km (with ~1% accuracy), the wind got up and we christened the landlubbers with tacking into 25-30knts of wind with 2-3M of atlantic swell, which Nicola somehow slept though with the aid of some serious sea sickness tabs, but gave the rest of us and adrenaline fuelled afternoon. We arrived safely in Riveira, just up the Ria in good time to get the first curry on the go; an awesome fish in fenugreek. Sadly Riveira was pretty much closed for one of those fiesta things, so we headed for the beach on an isolated island in the middle of the Ria, which happened to be home to 1001 seagulls and their chicks, keenly protected by their screeching parents. So much for picnics on idyllic secluded beaches; to the contrary, Toby was in danger of becoming luch for the gulls. We did not stay long enough for that! The next day, off to Isla Ons, which I have to say is very beautiful and pretty much un-touched save the eucalyptus trees, which I am sure are not a local species and a couple of really great restaurants overlooking the beautiful bay below and a beautiful view of the protected Ria. Every anchorage in the Rias seems to have a high proportion of Irish boats from Cork or Schull. What is it about Ireland that the Irish feel the need to be somewhere else so much of the time, setting up pubs or just sailing the Rias?

At the end of the week, we sailed up the Ria to Combarro with its proximity to Ponteverde and public transport links said Tschuss to William and Nicola and hello cobber to our guests from Sydney, Henry and Kate. The previous month, Henry and Kate had been practicing sailing in the Whitsundays in Queensland on a cat, but were now on a proper boat with only one hull, albeit with a scent of indian curry. We returned to Isla Ons, found a mooring amongst the Irish boats walked up to the lighthouse after another lunch with a Ria view. On to Islas Cies via Portonovo, where were anchored in the prefect spot both for the lovely beach and the perfect sunset. It is very comforting that getting together with old friends (I have known Henry for almost 50 years, but not really seen him for 40 and it takes a boat in Galicia to motivate us both to rekindle the connection), just seems to just work, with no effort, you just slip back into a great friendship and even the partners get on well. It was getting hot in the Rias. 40oC; so we went past Vigo, under the bridge and into the virtual sauna with no wind but with the fabulous Restaurante Mauro (don’t miss it if you are in the area), with white table cloths and great food, where we were drawn inside for the aircon. Henry and Kate sadly left us in Vigo to return to the members bar of the Cricket Revival Australia Pub Interesting acronym); El Tobos wept and we sailed on .. destination Portugal via Baiona, where we collected our next guest after a short stop in Barras Bay, which is one of the first dog friendly beaches we have visited and certainly a lovely spot where the forest sweep down to the sea on a protected anchorage where the ria views were certainly all on display.