Ria de Arosa

We spent one or two days longer in Muros than we originally planned because we woke to find rain and fog on more than one occasion.  But on Monday morning the low cloud seemed to be burning off and a little later than we hoped we weighed anchor only to discover a south west wind, on the nose yet again.  AAArrghhhhh!  We knew Zephyrus was also going to venture round at some point and about an hour after our departure they radioed to say they were on their way.  

There were a number of yachts about, a large catamaran called Guru seemed to be heading our way.  By about two o'clock, however, his mast seemed to vanish and once again the fog shrouded us in its veil.  On went the radar and we made contact with Zephyrus, sharing information as and when required.    Sailing, (or motoring as the case may be) in company certainly has its advantages.  

Zephyrus soon overtook us and the fog seemed to clear until we were close to the Ria's entrance.  Typically, just as we want good visibility to follow the buoyage it goes again!  It was like pea soup but our hearts were lifted by a call from Zephyrus who reassured us that once we were through the narrowest part of the river, close to a large ship, the visibility improved.  Sure enough, just as I was watching for the lighthouse the mountaintops came into view and I called down to Chris, "A castle on a mountain! Look."  He came up and laughed . . . .  It wasn't a castle at all. It was the ship!  An hour later, with lovely sunshine and calm water, we anchored off Isla Cortegada, within easy reach of the marina at Villagarcia.

Chris dived off the back of the boat for a quick swim that evening but I thought getting dinner cooked was a priority. (And the water seemed too cold!)  The wind really got up at about 1900 hours and we ended up tying Charlie (the wind generator) because he seems to make the wind sound ten times worse than it really is.  We were the only boat on the anchorage but as long as we looked towards the island rather than Villagarcia it was quite attractive.  There were many small boats hurrying about, busy with the nearby shellfish beds which, we discovered as darkness fell, were floodlit at night!  We had a visit from the Aduanas (Spanish Customs) at about 9.30p.m.  They seemed a little disappointed that we were English, but they were friendly enough and the form was completed swiftly and we were left in peace.  Apparently the English are not really in to drug running hence their disappointment!!

The following afternoon we went into the marina, I was dying to wash my hair, and we knew it would be a secure place to leave the yacht for our planned daytrip to Santiago de Compostella on the Wednesday.  There is a lot of building work going on at the moment and the shower block turned out to be a portacabin with corrugated aluminium shower units!  It was clean though, with plenty of hot water.

Ian and Jo from Zephyrus had investigated train times and found the station.  So, bright and early Wednesday morning (9 a.m!) we set off on our "pilgrimage" to Santiago.  Apparently people have been visiting Santiago since the middle ages and so, as forty thousand Frenchman can’t be wrong, not to mention the Spanish, Portuguese, English and Italians that also have been visiting for over five hundred years we decided to pop along and see what all the fuss was about.  Once again we were impressed by the rail service, cheap, clean, efficient and, we discovered having been turned out of one lot of seats, a reserved seat system!  Within forty minutes we were in Santiago and following the map provided by the friendly man on the information desk at the station we set off towards the old part of the City.

Unlike many of the "pilgrims" Chris and I were not particularly interested in the religious aspects of the visit and so did not bother to join the immense queues to see the urn containing the remains of Santiago, Spanish for St James.  To us it was a beautiful historical city, with interesting architecture and despite the obvious trappings of tourism it maintains a sense of calm.  We wondered at the sheer wealth of the church and its overwhelming influence on the lives of people in times gone by.  Judging by the numbers of tourists receiving communion and their Pilgrimage Certificate it continues to wield a certain power today.  Apparently several hundred years ago a friend of the Pope found some bones and got his mate in Rome to declare them to be those of St James, the apostle.  The site thus became worthy of pilgrimage and so the enterprise grew exponentially over the years.  Surprisingly, even the church seems to share this overly cynical view these days judging from their literature!  

As far as city visits go, we had learned our lesson at Bordeaux that it is important to take regular breaks.  So having planned to meet back up with Ian and Jo for lunch, Chris and I soon found ourselves a cafe in a quiet street and tucked into morning coffee and a slice of Tarta de Santiago!  Lunch, a few hours later, was selected from the Menu del Dia in a little restaurant Jo and Ian had discovered on their wanderings.  It was a hot afternoon and despite sitting outside for our meal, under an extending canopy, Chris and I found better relief from the heat in the park after lunch, with beautiful views of the Medieval City's rooftops.

That evening, back on La Premiere, we planned our route to Islas Cies, a small group of islands which are now nature reserves off the Ria de Vigo.  According to the pilot book they are a very popular place to anchor but, as it was midweek, we thought we would be able to find a spot to drop the hook.