Cruising The Rias
Tillymint.fortescue
Tue 11 Aug 2009 09:41
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Tuesday 11 August - at anchor in Ria Cedeira. All
the drama of the high seas has subsided. The crew of Tilly Mint are at rest,
cruising the Rias of Galicia in North West Spain. The coast is extra-ordinarily
beautiful, wide river estuaries with steep wooded hillsides fringed with
miles of golden beaches, quiet sheltered anchorages, Norwegian fjords with
southern European weather; picture postcard scenery. It is definitely worth
lingering along this stretch of coast and we are happy to oblige after the
adrenalin rush of our Biscay crossing. We were the only boat anchored in Viviero
and we spent our 2 night stop-over there wondering what the catch was, would a
wicked wind whip up at night and turn on the washing machine, would we awake
before dawn deafened by the activities of the nearby commercial fishing port?
How could it be so perfect and so empty? So far nothing has happened to break
the illusion; we have travelled and the world is different and this morning,
after a third tranquil night, we are begining to believe it is
real.
We've got time on our hands to indulge in the more
frivolous aspects of life afloat. We launched the doughnut in Viviero (helpful
photograph attached in case you think we've taken to sailing cakes) and I've
caught up on my Biscay laundry mountain. The boys caught two fish on our cruise
between Rias, Gary the Garfish and Mannie the Mackerel. Both now lay in state in
the fridge waiting transformation a la Rick Stein (albeit with modest sized
portions). Life is not lacking in challenges though; we are in Spain and between
us we speak very few words of Spanish. Anchoring on arrival avoided the
unnecessary fuss of working out whether the harbour master could speak
English, we know we can navigate a supermarket with our few words and Sandrine
taught me how to ask for stamps for my postcards. Sorted - almost, unless we
want to go out to eat as we discovered in Viviero on Sunday. I kept staring at
the menu expecting that the veil of confusion would lift and my ideal lunch
choice levitate from the page; next time we must remember to bring out our
phrase book! The children wisely relied on the international call sign for a
meal - Pizza. We ordered Raxo and Zorza, possibly characters from Babar rather
than food? For dinner last night we remembered the phrase book so translation
was possible (although Immy protested that, even in English, little on the
menu actually sounded like food to her). Pronounciation is another matter and we
listen attentively to the waiter's confused response as he tries to work out
what we are ordering. Just a few more ports to go and then we are in Portugal,
another language but alas we have no phrase book; bit of an oversight in the
pre-voyage planning!
Today we are all feeling super lazy, we're going to
have a walk in the woods, visit the supermercado and have a barbeque for dinner.
Tomorrow we potter off to La Coruna, then onto Camerinas, around Finisterre
to Islas Cies after that on South to Bayona and Portugal. Beyond that we don't
have a cunning plan, with just over 2 weeks left we don't have time to reach the
Canaries. To any movie buffs out there who remember Paint Your Wagon; we
have adopted the soundtrack as our anthem:-
Got a dream boy, got a song
Paint your wagon and roll along
Where am I going - I don't know
Where am I heading - I ain't certain
All I know is I am on my way
When will I be there I don't know
When will I get there - I ain't
certain
All I know is I am on my way
But who gives a dam - we are on our
way!!
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