Dice Done Good!
W2N 'Where to Next?'
Rob 'Bee' Clark
Sun 12 Oct 2008 08:19
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Wow, what a night!
Well, the wind died away completely last night but
I didn't really want to come into the Ria de Vigo at night so I watched the sun
set and ghosted along at walking pace. Then, just as I started the engine to
boost the batteries for an hour or two on the computer, I noticed a dolphin
breaking the surface of what was, by then, a pretty settled Cape Finisterre. It
was then joined by two more and they stayed with me for about fifteen minutes
playfully jumping through the bow wave and generally larking about. One of them
was even showing off with a strange sort of leap out of the water landing
tail-first.
 They're incredibly hard to photograph particularly
when they're in a playful mood but I was lucky with this shot. I was sitting
right up at the bow just over their heads and little more than an arm's reach
away as I watched them play. This really was a refreshing and special
moment in an otherwise frustrating leg of the voyage.
So despite my failed efforts to arrive in daylight,
I had no problem at all navigating in through the well marked channel and
approached the Ria de Vigo accompanied briefly by yet more dolphins. I had given
the dice six options within the area of which five were anchorages and one was
the marina in Vigo. 'Four' was a small bay on the east side of Isla Del Faro
just south of Punta Muxieiro and that, according to the dice, was my
destination. It was still fairly dark as I approached but I had read that the
island was a picturesque nature reserve so I expected it to be pretty busy with
tourists anchored for the weekend. Imagine my surprise and delight then as
daylight finally arrived having anchored to reveal such a perfect place with
only two other boats to be seen...
  So, I'm going to inflate the dinghy and row ashore
later today to explore this tiny island but the weather is fantastic and
Canasta is in great shape so I don't feel the need to go looking for
urban civilisation just yet. I may stay for a few days before moving on - a
decision that I think will depend entirely on how long this high pressure system
is likely to stay. Perfect conditions are rare when sailing and as you might
expect, I feared the storms and the big seas but what I underestimated is the
frustration of bobbing around with limp sails when the wind drops as it did for
two days during leg 3.
I've logged 1001.68 Nautical Miles so far on this
journey but relatively speaking, I've only just begun.
More later...
Bee
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