Beyond Biscay and West to World’s End!

It took us 48 hours to cross the Bay of Biscay, mainly motoring with light winds so it was very benign. We dropped anchor in a wonderful anchorage in the Ria Viveiro at 9.30 am,

and spent 24 hours reading, sleeping and recovering from our alternating 3 hour watches before heading into the marina at Viveiro. We explored the delightful medieval walled town which is traditionally Spanish with narrow streets, tall houses with balconies, churches, cafes and shops.

Two things we really enjoyed, firstly a walk up the hill La Roque. (Directly behind Celtic Star in the first picture.)At only 500m high it took an hour uphill on a track through undergrowth of bracken and brambles, we even found blackberries and mint! Almost like Wales except the forest was mainly tall eucalyptus trees.

At the top was a park with stone BBQs and stone tables with seats. A church dedicated to San Roque, and a cave where he and his dog hung out!

Also a great view down to the Ria!

Secondly, the same evening we went to an open air concert in the town square and sat in a cafe drinking and eating tapas while the orchestra played. There were families and friends and children running about all enjoying themselves. We did not feel like tourists, we had joined the locals in their Friday night festivities!

The following day we set off heading west into our first big seas, waves kicked up by the big storm that battered the Uk last week. We sailed upwind around the first headland a distance of 25 miles before we anchored at a beach outside a small , modern, colourfully painted town.

However, we couldn’t escape the swell which followed us in and the boat rolled a lot overnight, so we left at 7am. Spain is an hour ahead of the UK though several degrees further west, so it was barely light as we made our way out of the bay, avoiding pinnacle rocks above and below the water!

We have continued sailing Westward alternating anchorages and marinas and

visited the city of La Coruna, 12 years after we first sailed there with the 3 kids on board! An interesting city.

The coastal scenery here is dramatic! We have navigated past high cliffs and verdant mountains, headlands and lighthouses until we reached the furthest West Point of Europe, Cabo Torinana and Cape Finisterre where as it’s name implies the world ends!

As you can see it is quite grey and cool, the sea has the same colour as Conwy Bay, so it is quite like sailing in Wales!!

Taking care not to sail off the edge of the world we have turned south and are heading for Ria de Muros. We have 5 guests joining us on Saturday for a 7 day cruise of the Rias of Galicia!