Ria de Vivero

The sail from Ribadeo to Vivero was our first in company with other yachts.  We left the harbour shortly after Zephyrus and Lycka, after extricating ourselves from the two French yachts we were rafted between.

Leaving the Ria was a great deal easier than entering for the first time.  We knew where to look for the leading lines and there was very little wind or waves.  Once we were out to sea and pointing towards the West what little wind there was was about thirty degrees off the starboard bow, so, we left the engine on and hoisted the main.  Out in the deeper water there was a really smoothly running swell, only one or two metres in height, but with a very long wavelength, giving us a very pleasant ride.  The weather was gorgeous, deep blue with the odd white fluffy cumulus punctuating the sky.

We motor-sailed most of the way, only switching the engine off for the last six miles as we entered our second Spanish Ria.  The scenery was beautiful, steep sided, wooded hills dropping straight to the waters edge and then dropping yet further below the water leaving the entrance deep and clear of obstacles.  We dropped the sails and motored slowly in picking our spot to anchor.  Deep inside the ria, in the western corner, we found a small cove with a couple of sandy beaches beneath steep, wooded cliffs protecting us from the Northwesterly wind.  We circled around to check the depths and swinging room, dropped the hook and listened to the glorious silence as the engine went off.  A couple of beers later we commenced the ritual of turning La Premiere from a ship-shape yacht into a home once more and then stripped off and went for a swim!  Neither Chris or I are particularly keen on cold.  When swimming, as with sailing, we don't do 'cold and wet'.  Since we left Southampton at the beginning of April we have been watching the sea temperature gauge climb from six degrees up to the heady heights of fourteen!  We would have preferred twenty and I am sure that as we turn the northwestern corner of Spain and start heading south again the temperature will start to climb quite rapidly.  Nevertheless, after briskly circuiting the boat a few times we rinsed off with fresh water from the solar shower and dried in the sun, infinitely superior to even the best marina showers.

Later that evening Hanna and Jochen anchored Lycka close by.  They had been anchored further out, near to the ria entrance, but I suspect it was a little too exposed to the swell for comfort.  After dinner we rowed over to say hello, were invited aboard, and didn't leave until the early hours of the next morning!  They had set sail on June 10 and had done some fairly large hops to get down to Spain but were now cruising the coast at our sort of pace; leisurely!  Hanna and Jochen's English was excellent, which is just as well as I speak none and Chris has spoken none since school.

We spent a lovely couple of days in this beautiful anchorage, enjoying an afternoon tea party on the secluded beach with Jochen and Hanna and so it was only a nagging feeling that we had to keep the pace up to be south for winter that made us plan the next hop, five miles further along the coast into the next ria, Ria de Barquero.