Camaret to Spain 43:32.0N 07:02.2W
Toucan
Conor & Marion Wall
Sat 17 Jul 2010 23:34
I have never liked sailing to deadlines but Jacky
and Veronique our Breton friends were waiting for us in Spain and we promised to
be there to meet them.
We left Camaret at 0400 BST on Saturday 10th
July knowing that the winds were not going to be from a favourable
direction but progress had to be made so we sailed off in a westerly
direction out into the Atlantic for most of the day before we tacked. First
tack gave us a track towards San Sebastian which would have been OK if not for
the fact that we had to be in the NW part of Spain not the NE part. So
the battle of Biscay began. We finally arrived in a place called Ribadeo just
before dark on Monday night 12th July, (a Ria approximately 50 miles
East of La Coruna). Not where we had intended to be but jolly glad it was
Ribadeo and not some other remote Ria. It was a hard crossing with SW winds
all the way and many hours of 25knots of wind or more, very large seas,
sailing mostly with just the staysail and a reefed main. A tough crossing
with lots of tacking hence the Ribeadeo visit. Here we found a very
modern marina, a bit pricy for North Spain but worth every penny. A lot of money
has been spent recently modernising the whole of the harbour area and
it was a delight to find an impeccably clean and modern marina.
The town also was a delight and there were plenty of sights to
see.
Jacky and Veronique (our Breton friends) arrived by
bus from Vigo on Tuesday night after a long bus trip (we had hoped to be closer
to Vigo on arrival in Spain but alas the winds were against us) and on Wednesday
we took a taxi to see the Cathedral rocks/cliffs some 7 miles or
so from Ribadeo. You must go at low tide to see some spectacular rock cave and
arch formations. Durdle Dore on a grand scale, quite spectacular.
Nite
Nite |