Small steps
Before welcoming Inelsamo into our family, I would never have imagined sailing Atlantic France or Spain, but as circumstance would have it, Inelsamo’s home port of Lymington kind of determined the path we have taken over the last month - from the UK to France, through the Channel Islands and across the Bay of Biscay. This last couple of weeks has all been about Spain, and the amazing Asturias and Galacian coastline. This coastline is just awash in history and I'm ashamed to admit it, but most of which I never knew. It has been been fought over and occupied by everyone from ancient Celtic people, to the Romans, Visigoths, Moorish invaders, the Normans and the French. Consequently, there is much to be enjoyed and absorbed for those who love history, archaeology, art, culture, food and the great outdoors.
Our first stop was Gijon which was just perfect after the couple of sleepless nights crossing the Bay. A really interesting city which was tragically pretty much destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. As a result, little remains of what was clearly once-upon-a-time a magnificent and wealthy city. There are however some lovely remants of the old city left that give you a sense of how beautiful it must once have been. But notwithstanding that, we found Gijon super friendly and welcoming, incredibly clean and on the cusp of a new era. It appears to be a really progressive and modern city and it is surrounded by the most beautiful mountain ranges and beaches making it an attractive place to visit.
From there we sailed to a tiny fishing village called Luarca. The pilot book made it sound oh so simple to enter but the real thing freaked both of us out. An incredibly narrow entrance surrounded by cliffs and rocks and two enormous breakwater walls. The 'following sea', as Craig called it, pushed us through into the outer harbour which was scarily small and at low water. It was our first effort at mooring balls with stern line to the shore. An amusing experience to say the least, aided by all these young lads jumping off the breakwater wall who were quick to compete in assisting Craig climb the 30 or 40 metres up the wall to tie off! Once securely moored, we relaxed very quickly into the place and fell in love with it. A colourful fishing village that is quirky, a little funky and gorgeous. We made the most of the amazing fresh 'straight off the boat' seafood, cerveza and wines, along with cured meats and cheeses. We chilled out for a couple of days and even made a pathetic attempt to walk part of the Pilgram's Way before gaming that harbour entance once more.
Tracking along this truly spectacular coastline, we then made our way into Ribadeo estuary or Ria where we anchored in a little cove just inside the headlands. The best way to describe the Spanish Rias is that they are river systems leading from the mountains down to the sea, creating gorges and fjord-like harbours. The Ribadeo Ria is considered to be the first of the Rias heading west along the Galacian Coast. Again, the magnificence of the coastline here is quite breathtaking. I can see that it would be terrifying in big seas! We spent on night on anchor here before sailing for the day over to the next Ria, Viveiro.
Viveiro is another historic old walled town sitting at the mouth of the Rio Landro. It has a wonderful ancient centre with stone buildings and cobble stone streets, most of which are pedestrian only. While here, we took the opportunity to stop in a marina for one night and charge batteries, fill water tanks etc before then anchoring off a beautiful beach for another night.
Then our last stop was the beautiful A Coruna. A large port city on the tip of Northwest Spain. Its famous for is Roman lighthouse - the Torre de Hercules. But its the old medieval walled city that drew my attention. Its just fabulous. It has all those wonderful old narrow winding cobbled lanes and alleys that are just chock full of fabulous restaurants, pulporias, jambonarias, etc. Surrounded on three sides by fabulous beaches and coves it reminded me a little of Sydney harbour. Again more history than you can poke a stick at and most of which I didn't know. It was from here that the Spanish Armada set sail!
So what have we learned this last month?
Craig’s passage planning and pilotage is improving each day and that makes for a much less stressful or apprehensive journey.
We nailed an ‘eye of the needle’ harbour entry with a following sea.
We hoisted our Code 0 sail which was interesting but made for beautiful sailing.
Fresh water in your bilges is definitely better than seawater and particularly so in the middle of the ocean at midnight!
We pumped up Jac (our kayak) and managed to actually coordinate our rowing!
I now know how to remove, repair and re-bed a stanchion.
Craig can catch a fish....and a tuna at that!
And we successfully extracted a long line at sea that was drifting and found its way around our rudder.
Inelsamo is being very patient with us and is treating us well. She is beautiful, elegant and moves with finess!! We are absolutely in love and hooked on this gig!
