WONDERFUL CRUISING IN RIA VIGO
Aquila
Alan and Sarah Bennett
Mon 6 Jun 2016 13:49
What a fabulous couple of days we’ve had sailing the Ria Vigo and enjoying its anchorages. Saturday dawned bright and clear – again! The plan for the next 36 hours was duly agreed. The W2 gave us a sparkling beat towards the southern tip of the Illas Cies – a flat sea, an outstanding crew and delicious tapas over a late lunch made us all feel we were in heaven (phot). As the kettle went on for tea, the Manson Supreme found the bottom once more in Ensenada de Barra bay - BZ to Ron for doing the tidal calculations to keep us safely afloat overnight. A foray ashore (some swam, Robert propelled others) for an hour – nudists galore; back on board, it was ‘fixing boats in exotic places’ time (= the reality of cruising under sail) as the blubber dinghy’s rowlock needed major attention. After some arduous sawing (phots) through a piece of high grade stainless steel (ie a sacrificial screwdriver), Ron and the skipper soon manufactured a much more robust improvisation in place of the poorly designed original. As a reward and in celebration of this success, it was unanimously agreed that a barbeque dinner was called for – the phots speak for themselves!
It is rare that an overnight anchorage is ideal (wind direction / strength, tides, swell, air temperature, insects, water temperature, other boats etc can all impact adversely), but this one was - we had total tranquillity. After the usual cockpit breakfast, we elected to sail the 10 miles up the Ria. En route and in tranquil conditions just enough to fill the sails, a large pod of Bottlenose dolphins surrounded and accompanied us for some 25 minutes. Priceless. Then a 5 mile glorious beat back to Vigo – BZ Jane for applying the art of sailing a boat hard on the wind properly.
Monday morning: and, sadly, it was time for Peter and Rosalie, and Ron and Jane, to depart – their bunks are allocated to the incoming crew (Sarah, and Nicky and Hugh Ridgway). With regard to our leavers, Aquila and her skipper have so appreciated being blessed with such a superb ‘delivery’ crew (including Ken of course!) – you guys really could not have been better shipmates and sailors. And it was such fun to have the spouses aboard for a few days around Ria Vigo: exactly what boating should be all about. We really are sad to see you go (phot).
