The beautiful Rías Baixas in Galicia on the north-west coast of Spain make a glorious cruising ground and a great place to have guests on board who might not enjoy the rigours of the Atlantic!
There are four big Rías – Muros, Arousa, Pontevedra and Vigo, stretching from Cape Finisterre to the Portuguese border. They look rather like fjords, but are in fact flooded valleys with less steep sides. They have a mild, moist climate and are rich in marine life. The waters are generally calm and smooth as the Rías are protected from the Atlantic by several islands which form a designated National Park and conservation area.
We spent quite a few weeks exploring this area at the end of last summer and the beginning of this season and enjoyed several visits from family and friends.
Muros
Our first view of the charming little town of Muros
View of the town from our berth
The main square in Muros
It’s good exercise to take a walk up through the steep streets of Muros
This is just a regular flight of steps in the town, but nicely decorated with patterned tiles
This is the little Church at the top of the hill
View from the bell tower across the Ria
Inside Muros Church you are supposed to feel like you are under an upside-down boat! The roof with its slightly pointed arches and wooden slats in between is reminiscent of the shape of an upturned boat. Typical for churches on the Galician coast, especially in fishing villages on the coast.
Pretty balconies in Muros
Muros Marina from the promenade
These rafts are just outside the harbour at Muros. They are ‘viveros’ for cultivating mussels on long ropes hanging beneath them. It is a method of mussel farming which is typical of this area of Galicia and started in the Ría de Arousa in the 1940s. There are hundreds of viveros all over the Rías, particularly in the three more southerly ones. From time to time we saw working boats like this one doing some maintenance or harvesting the musssels.
We headed out to anchor in several of the lovely sheltered bays in the Ria. Not only does this save a considerable amount of money, as marina fees are not that cheap, but it’s also wonderfully peaceful to be at anchor.
Ensenada de Bornalle
I swam into this beautiful beach – it was perhaps a bit further and rather colder than I expected! I dozed off on the beach until Charles arrived (by dinghy) with a bottle of wine, by which time I was as chilled as the wine!
There is no warm Gulf Stream here – the Atlantic currents can sometimes be very cold in an area of sea that was quite warm the day before. I’ve now learned to test the water before leaping in! And we’ve fitted a new seawater temperature thermometer on the boat.
More views of Bornalle – it really is a beautiful spot …
We went for a walk to have a look at the local area …
I rather liked the traditional stone framing the windows on this house …
… but sadly some formerly attractive properties are left empty and uncared-for
Sun setting over Bornalle Bay
Ensenada de Esteiro
We moved round the corner to the next lovely little bay and were incredibly lucky to encounter a pod of dolphins who treated us to a wonderful display!
There were a couple of dozen dolphins playing and jumping round the boat
Sometimes swimming round and under the boat
We anchored in Ensenada de Esteiro, another lovely bay …
… and an idyllic spot to enjoy dinner in the cockpit
Next day we headed further up Ria Muros towards the small town of Portosín – it’s so empty – there’s hardly a boat about!
The marina is part of the Real Club Nautico de Portosín. This is the view at dusk from the Clubhouse.
This is the marina by day.
We were given a complimentary bottle of the local Albariño wine and a free drink when we arrived.
If you’re not careful, though, there’s always someone around who’d like to share your drink and crisps!
Lovely little beach just next door to the marina at Portosin – just 5 minutes walk away!
Typical houses, with a little raised grain store (hórreos) in front
The main beach at Portosín
Beautiful views of the Ria seen from the bus …
… we are on our way into Noia – the full name of this Ria is the ‘Ria de Muros e Noia’.
Noia
Noia has a lovely paved promenade with shady palms and lots of nice cafés
The Tourist Information Office is situated in the cloisters of a church
This is the Igrexa de Santa Maria, known as the Church of the Tombs
It contains a number of ancient tombstones, some dating back to the 14thcentury
The cemetery of the Church of the Tombs
One of the bustling streets in the old town
A nice square in the old town to stop for coffee
Old stone cross – Jesus is depicted on one side, the Virgin Mary on the other
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago is famous for being the last stop on the Way of St James (Camino de Santiago) and attracts thousands of pilgrims each year who have walked many miles to reach it.
The famous Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and queues of pilgrims
The remains of St James are supposed to be buried here
The western facade of the Cathedral and the huge Praza do Obradoiro in front of it
The Praza do Obradoiro (Workshop Square) is where stonemasons set up their workshops while the Cathedral was being built.
Attractive buildings round the square, part of which is now a Parador Hotel
Beautifully carved doorway
Playing traditional bagpipes
Once the queue of pilgrims had died down we went inside the great Cathedral …
Inside we found it rather dark and over ornate – we couldn’t help being a little disappointed after all the build-up – not helped by the scaffolding, of course
By contrast, I was in England soon afterwards and loved the simple lines and light colours of Guildford Cathedral
This is a close-up of the elaborate golden altar
And the rather bizarre organ in Santiago Cathedral – with cherubs crawling all over it
One of the more tasteful chapels
Plenty of opportunity to confess
Outside again, we wandered through the streets of the Old Town of Santiago and found a nice place for lunch a bit off the beaten track
View over the rooftops of Santiago
Ensenada de Aguieira
Back in the Ria Muros, we discovered the Ensenada de Aguieira
An idyllic bay – the rock-star style house on the island actually belongs to a rich dentist – obviously teeth are good business in Spain!
Still the Ensenada de Aguieira – but a bit of a change in the weather!
The Rio Cans runs into the sea through the sand dunes
You can see the river to the right and the sea to the left here with the dunes in between
View of Astraia at anchor in the Ensenada de Aguieira from the dunes
The next morning the bay was back to being perfect azure blue again!
New Crew arrives
Eleanor chooses the best seat on the boat
We headed straight for the beach …
… and everyone jumped off the bow! Well, nearly everyone – Charles had the good excuse that someone had to take the photo!
We had a lovely peaceful anchorage …
… and got down to the serious business of opening a bottle of Champagne!
My brother and his family – L to R: Richard, Eleanor, Ashley and George
Setting off for the beach – a full dinghy!
Beach games, Astraia at anchor in the background
Playing Kubb – you throw sticks to knock over the other team’s ‘kubbs’
Action shot – Eleanor and George in charge of the winches
A lovely sail in Ria Muros – it’s big enough to get the sails up, tack upwind, heel over and get a real taste of sailing without having to put up with the unpleasant Atlantic swell
Eleanor and George enjoying heeling over
Nice pic of Ash and the children
Els in charge and the crew at work
Peace and quiet in the cabin!
George found an abandoned lobster pot and was determined to catch something!
He set off in the dinghy with Charles and laid the pot using a fender as a marker buoy and left it overnight
They retrieved it the following morning
The catch! Two small crabs and about a dozen whelks!
Setting Sail for the next Ria
At sea – we had a good day and quite a pleasant sail without too much swell
We navigated the narrow channels through these rocky islets
We entered the Ria de Arousa and anchored in a beautiful bay with turquoise sea, amazing clear azure sky and a long sandy beach – idyllic – but that’s for the next episode!
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