Camarinos to Portosin
andromeda of plymouth
Susan and Andrew Wilson
Fri 21 Aug 2009 07:37
We had a bright early start to the day and left our anchorage at 8am just
as it was getting light, we motored out from Camarinos and got the sails
up. It was a glorious morning and wind started to build nicely. As we
approached Cape Finisterre we had 25 to 30 knots of wind behind us and was
belting along nicely and then literally as we rounded the Cape it was as
if someone had turned the wind machine off as we suddenly had only 4knots.
We played around with our wind vane but you do need some wind to make it
work, put sails out, in, out, practically did the hokey cokey and then
decided to have lunch and put the motor on......not what we were expecting
at all.
However during our lazy drift along we saw some sun fish, very wierd
creatures that appeared to be waving at us as we went past (they first
looked like tiny sharks or dolphins but were moving much too slowly). We
also saw lots of crabs swimming along too.
We then had the challenge of getting someone to answer either the phone or
the radio, I carefully wrote out what I wanted to say but no one wanted to
hear, Andrew picked up the hand held and got a response straight away and
in English. Anyway we were soon moored up in Portosin and made very
welcome by the very helpful and delightful marina staff.
Now we did a bit of tourism, and on Thursday went off to Santiago de
Compostela for the day. They are very laid back in Spain, and even though
the bus was 15 minutes late no one seemed at all surprised or worried. We
got off at the bus station in Noia and caught another one to Santiago,
going up through the hills and green countryside to the city to a fairly
deserted bus station. Getting directions was fun, and asking for help even
more fun but we made it to the centre and looked around the Cathedral. It
was quite mind blowing, it is so old, and so huge with so many parts to it
and gold everywhere. We were surprised at the sheer amount of pilgrims of
all ages around the city. Some with rucksacks on their backs, walking
sticks with shells with crosses on, singly and in groups and even some on
bikes, many singing as they made their way to the Cathedral.
We had lunch in a plaza off the Cathedral and then headed off back the way
we came successfully negotiating the buses again and even getting some
shopping on the way. Once back in Portosin we went for a walk to the beach
and I had a paddle in the Atlantic Ocean, brrrrrrrrrr.......but as it was
so hot very refreshing as well and a nice end to the day.