Ria de Vigo

After waiting all day on the visitors waiting pontoon in Baiona for the electrician to come and check out the wind vane we finally went out on the anchor after it was obvious he wasn’t turning up at 8pm. The next day we went up to Vigo and waiting 5 hours on the waiting pontoon to then be told that the electrician was not coming and couldn’t come till Mon (it was Thursday!) Keith finally worked out the problem with phone calls to the people who make it in UK and we ordered a replacement regulator to be delivered to us at Baiona.

Moana

Moana sea front

We left for Moana that evening as there is no anchoring in Vigo and we have become adverse to paying for marinas. In Moana the outboard decided to break down. We found a man who fixes everything from motorbikes to lawnmowers and he mended it. The nice thing about this part of Spain is that next to nobody speaks English, so it is usually fun trying to get what is needed with our ‘phrase book’ Spanish! Keith is really upset that we will soon be leaving for Portugal just as ‘he is getting to grips with Spanish’ (as he put it), don’t think the Spaniards would agree with that though!

Rapau at anchor in Moana

San Adrian

At anchor in San Adrian

Next stop was the top of the Ria. We sailed under the Rande suspension bridge, which carries the Atlantic highway, into an almost lake type-setting and anchored of San Adrian. It was beautifully quiet and ashore was just a sailing club hut, and slightly posher type sailing club (guess which one we frequented). I went for a walk to the shop (over an hour away) while Keith played with his nuts, and bolts. A Dutch guy called Bart came over to the boat for a chat telling us he has lived on his 74 year old wooden boat at this village for the last 4 years, he told us about the place, his life, everybody else’s life, but there was method in his m

adness as he accosted us in the sailing hut that evening and managed to relieve us of a few beers!

They keep their cement mixers in funny places here!

View from up the hill in San Adrian

Baiona

View to breakwater in Baiona

At the castle in Baiona

We motored the 3 ½ hours down the Ria to Baiona which was going to be our final destination in Spain, and where we were to pick up the regulator for the wind vane. Baiona is a beautiful place at the entrance to Ria Vigo. It is a tourist town very clean and well kept with lovely beaches. We went for a walk to the castle which used to be one of the Spanish Royal Family’s summer residences apparently. Seaya was also at anchor in Baiona so we took this opportunity for Keith and Bob to get me up the mast to put the flag up the backstay as it keeps getting tangled withthe Old Harry in its present position.

From the top of the mast in Baiona