Baiona!

Stargazer of Southampton
Susie and Adam (both think they are skipper)
Tue 31 Aug 2010 15:14
30:08.10   42:07.28N 08:50.29W
 
We headed down to Baiona on 29th - again only a very short trip from Cies so no 'real' sailing done at all - but there was no wind so a good job that it was short as motoring is not very interesting (we have quite a few long trips coming up so will have to practice how to actually sail more than 10 miles in a day again as we will have forgotten what the white flappy things are actuall for)
 
We like Baiona! - we're anchored in the bay with a few other boats - it hasn't been very windy so it has been pretty peaceful - hoping the forecast is correct and the wind will stay light though as we don't have much protection from the north.  We have a 5 minute zoom in the dinghy down to the sea front - the dinghy trip gets interesting at night since, in by the sea wall on the front are loads of little dinghys owned by locals - they are tied to a buoy and also tied the railings on the sea wall by a really long piece of slimy rope - we didn't notice these on our first trip in and managed to go over a couple (luckily they didn't end up wrapped around the prop with us being catapulted out of our dinghy). .  . but they provide most entertainment at night when you can't see them - if all else fails it's a case of lifting up the slimy line and going under it as quickly as possible without covering yourself in green mush.  We have improved though now and have learnt the way through the maze.
 
It has been incredibly hot in the day since we have been here - there is a big fort on a headland next to Baiona - I wanted to walk around the walls so we decided to wait yesterday until it was cool enough to do so - that took til 8:30 at night, but the wall are quite impressive.  The old town in Baiona is also great to walk around - with really nice old stone buildings and lots of little bars tucked away and since the streets are so narrow is shaded in the day so you can walk about.
 
It has been a bit of a struggle getting any internet connection and we're trying to preserve our sat phone minutes - even bars advertising wifi don't always seem to actually have it, I was loitering outside a cafe yesterday evening trying to see if I could get a signal and failing (no wifi), however - earlier in the day we had been into a nearby shop to buy a bag.  The lady who served me was sat having a drink at the cafe - she came over and gave me the key for her own internet connection in her shop.  I thought that was really nice,  she didn't speak any english at all so purchasing a ruck sack in her shop had tested our spanish to the max but she must have thought we had tried!
 
It has been very very hard to not eat too much here - there are so many ice cream shops and also a waffle shop which smells amazing as you walk past, we have resisted so far but may not be able to resist for too much longer
 
Some Pictures. . .
 
The Fort at Baiona and Isles of Cies in the distance
 
Looking from the fort over the town and bay
 
Adam wondering about in ye olde Baiona (with newly purchased ruck sack)
 
Stargazer anchored happily in the bay