A break in Baiona
ULA
John & Jackie Richards
Tue 12 Aug 2008 10:41
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Position:042:07.236N 008:50.612W
As John blogged yesterday, after getting the
weather forecast en route from Fontan, we decided to press on overnight
Sunday to get to Baiona. We need to be in Povoa, Portugal by Wednesday pm to
pick up John's brother Andrew and Laura's boyfriend Tom who are joining the crew
for a while. John was concerned that the weather on Monday would possibly make
it difficult to get around Cape Finisterre and South within the timeframe. We
were sorry to miss out on Las Camarinas and also to say adios to Libertad, but
hopefully we will meet up again on our respective journeys
South.
The weather as we came round Finisterre was
gloomy but fortunately not windy and the seas were benign. The coast
was shrouded in cloud most of the way, but just before sunset, there was a break
in the cloud and we were treated to a dramatic sunset with some amazing skies.
Looking astern, Cap Finisterre had come out of the gloom and we got a great
view.
Laura and I on watch together from midnight to
3am experienced some drenching squalls - we could see them coming on the radar-
and got well and truly soaked! I think we both had a few 'Why are we here?'
moments! As John put in his blog we encountered a lot of commercial traffic
coming out of the Rias, and had one particularly close encounter at around 2.30
which had my heart racing a bit quicker than I would have liked! The weather
cleared for a while and we had a leisurely sail past the Islas Cies. As we
closed Baiona the wind got up to the forecast SW Force 4, the viz went
on us again and we sailed in using the chart plotter and radar! As we rounded
the Southerly cardinal and in to the bay, things improved and we made our way
round to the Puerto Deportivo where we were met and shown to a berth by
the marina staff.My evening class Spanish is still rudimentary and has not
included all things nautical so we are grateful that the staff speak good
English and are very helpful!
After a quick cup of tea and two hours sleep
John and I hit the town for a wander leaving Laura still asleep. We really
like it here - a very pleasant place to stop over. At 11.30BST we located a nice
bar and as local time is one hour later did not feel too bad at having a beer
quite so early in the day! As Tim on Libertad would say, it was 'beer o'clock!'
A bit later the three of us enjoyed a slap up lunch at a nice restaurant which
in true Spanish style started around 2pm and lasted till around 4pm - a treat
from the skipper for his hard working all-girl crew!?
The rest of the day was spent catching up with bits
and pieces although the weather hampered any cleaning up - it poured down for
the whole day. Laura and I were promised sunshine/bikinis/suntans and there may
be a mutiny if the weather doesnt improve soon. After a meal on board and a good
bottle of Spanish red we watched 'The Break Up' on DVD and crashed out early to
catch up on our zzz's. The forecast for the next few days appears to be north
west/northerly winds which hopefully should give us a great sail down to
Povoa.
Jackie
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