OCTOBER 5th, 2016
During the past few days, we've sailed from Fisterra to Baiona. It has been a true adventure along the beautiful Galician coastline. Sunday morning the two of us left the fishermens port of Fisterra, a primitive port without water, electricity and other facilities. We were aware most yachts prefer to anchor in this area. Because our dynamo isn't working, it was a relief to discover that the marina in Muros was relatively new with all imaginable facilities. Here our crew/friends from home, Silje and Karen, were joining us.
We were quite anxious to be four people onboard Paloma for the first time. Luckily we know both Silje and Karen well, so we were more excited than concerned. Sunday was spent organising and cleaning, blowing up the dingy, eating and catching up. Monday morning we left Muros to head for Ria de Arousa, a fjord further south. We had an amazing day with the sun shining from a clear, blue sky, the hammock on deck, and no one got sea sick. We ended up anchoring in a bay at Illa de Arousa, among fishing boats at buoys. The wind changed direction during the night on low tide, and our anchor alarm app went off as the perimeter was set too tight. We were all excited to have been on the boat for more than 30 continuous hours. It was spectacular to see the sun set and rise from the cockpit.
One of the activities we had been especially excited about was wine tasting at one of the local wineries in the area. We've tasted some local wines at bars/restaurants and were impressed with the white wines from the Albariño grape. While in baiona we visited the Terras Gauda winery, and got a private tour of the facility and tasting of two of their wines.
During the sail from Illa de Arousa Karen got to try steering a sailing boat for the first time as an adult. And we actually sailed for the first time since a corunã, there simply hat not been enough wind. Even with the limited wind we did get, there can be fairly large sized swells from the Atlantic, which makes for an interesting day. Both crew members have handled themselves amicably, both as sailors and company.
Baiona truly is a very nice little town, with a rich and interesting history. Wednesday afternoon we walked around the Parador de Baiona, a fortress that dates back to the 10th century. It's placed on a tongue of land with magnificent view of the Atlantic and where we had sailed the day before.
Tomorrow we'll go to Porto in Porugal. We're expecting it to be a 14-hour trip, and will test our new crew in a new way. The weather forecast tell us it'll be a quiet and sunny day. Life on Paloma with the two+two of us has been better than any of imagined. As we are leaving Spain behind, we look back at a week of good local food and drinks, amazing beaches, beautiful weather and accommodating locals. Galicia has truly impressed us, and we are excited to see what Portugal has to offer.