Ria de Arosa
Cambados to Puerto Meloxo
26/May/2007 14:37
We left Cambados-Tragove at 09:40. A 20kn wind was blowing us hard onto the pontoon which made getting off interesting. having done so without incident we had a fast sail round to Puerto Meloxo where we arrived at 11:50.
The pontoons here have been installed for about two years and are occupied by mainly small craft. We slotted into one of the empty berths I had seen earlier. Puerto Meloxo is a small rock fringed bay occupied mostly by fishing vessels. The approaches are occupied by densely moored Viveiros through which one has to thread to reach the port.
Spent the afternoon with Chris and Carrie returning to the boat early in the evening.
O Grove, the connecting bridge and Isla de Toja seen from the north en route to Puerto Meloxo.
Approaches to Puerto Meloxo with moored fishing boats which must be passed to reach the pontoons.
The pontoons here have been installed for about two years and are occupied by mainly small craft. We slotted into one of the empty berths I had seen earlier. Puerto Meloxo is a small rock fringed bay occupied mostly by fishing vessels. The approaches are occupied by densely moored Viveiros through which one has to thread to reach the port.
Spent the afternoon with Chris and Carrie returning to the boat early in the evening.
O Grove, the connecting bridge and Isla de Toja seen from the north en route to Puerto Meloxo.
Approaches to Puerto Meloxo with moored fishing boats which must be passed to reach the pontoons.
Cambados
25/May/2007 14:36
First up was a visit to the local library. Most libraries in Galicia have broadband internet access for all (European Union Regional Fund) where one can log on using their machines or ones own. One username /password is valid throughout Galicia.
Today I was able to visit one of the local Albariño wine producers. Fefiñanes. They have been winemakers since 1907 but the Palacio de Fifiñanes where the wine is bottled was built in the 17th century. Their website has the complete history and details of the wines, of which I bought a mixed case. They require groups of minimum 10 for a full tour but I was able to have a look araound and sample the product.
Winery courtyard.
Product samples.
Cellar
Antique labelling machine. Now they use a very clever Italian machine which bottles, corks and labels the wine.
Pontoons at Cambados which are not shown in any guide. They have been in place for at least 2 years.
Back on board I got a call from Chris, a friend from Cheltenham, who is holidaying on Isla de Toxa. He and Carrie dropped by the boat for a quick visit and we agreed to meet tomorrow.
Today I was able to visit one of the local Albariño wine producers. Fefiñanes. They have been winemakers since 1907 but the Palacio de Fifiñanes where the wine is bottled was built in the 17th century. Their website has the complete history and details of the wines, of which I bought a mixed case. They require groups of minimum 10 for a full tour but I was able to have a look araound and sample the product.
Winery courtyard.
Product samples.
Cellar
Antique labelling machine. Now they use a very clever Italian machine which bottles, corks and labels the wine.
Pontoons at Cambados which are not shown in any guide. They have been in place for at least 2 years.
Back on board I got a call from Chris, a friend from Cheltenham, who is holidaying on Isla de Toxa. He and Carrie dropped by the boat for a quick visit and we agreed to meet tomorrow.
Caramiñal to Cambados
24/May/2007 14:11
An early night last night and up reasonably early this morning. Sad to say the quality of the marina shore facilities does not reflect the high beth cost.
Today it is one year since we left Dartmouth on this trip. We have sailed 2487.2 miles, visited 6 countries and called at 55 different ports and anchorages.
Had a quick run ashore for a coffee and a look around. A beautiful sunny day in a nice little town. El Pais reported this morning that the Spanish Americas Cup team had achieved third place in the qualifing rounds having been defeated by New Zealand 5-2. This is a very impressive achievement. They did better that the Americans who were beaten by Italy 5-1 while other sailing big hitters, the UK, France and Australia were nowhere to be seen. Well done Spain.
Back on board I left the mooring at 12:50 and anchored off the Playa Caramiñal for an hour or so while I sorted the boat out and plotted the course for Cambados. To quote the Galicia harbour guide "Entrance to the harbour entails quite a lot of difficulty, as you have to clear a large number of unmarked shoals and rafts, which requires expert knowledge of the area". This is overstating it a bit but I use a large scale paper chart and my Navionics electronic charts. Since I got the new display and Navionics charts last September they have proven to be much more up to date and accurate than the paper charts.
Isla Guidoro beacon and the rocky shoals behind
and on our starboard side Isla Rua with it's little lighthose.
With a NW 10kn breeze I was able to sail off the anchorage at 14:55 using the Ghosting Genoa. There followed a lovely sail all the way into Cambados-Tragove harbour where I furled the sail and motored 2-300 metres to the berth arriving at 17:50. Pilotage inwards was pretty straight forward but there were some nasty rocks and shoals along the way. The wind increased to 17kn at times, a bit above Ghosting Genoa speed but I left it up anyway.
The pontoons in Cambados-Tragove were designed for Med style mooring with haul-off lines. However, the marina is so little used that the 3 other yachts there were moored fore and aft alongside using haul off lines to stay a metre or so off the pontoons and avoid wash damage from passing fishing boats. I did the same although the haul off lines were heavily encrusted with weed.
I took a quick run ashore but rain threatened and I got back just before the first of several thunder storms passed through.
Today it is one year since we left Dartmouth on this trip. We have sailed 2487.2 miles, visited 6 countries and called at 55 different ports and anchorages.
Had a quick run ashore for a coffee and a look around. A beautiful sunny day in a nice little town. El Pais reported this morning that the Spanish Americas Cup team had achieved third place in the qualifing rounds having been defeated by New Zealand 5-2. This is a very impressive achievement. They did better that the Americans who were beaten by Italy 5-1 while other sailing big hitters, the UK, France and Australia were nowhere to be seen. Well done Spain.
Back on board I left the mooring at 12:50 and anchored off the Playa Caramiñal for an hour or so while I sorted the boat out and plotted the course for Cambados. To quote the Galicia harbour guide "Entrance to the harbour entails quite a lot of difficulty, as you have to clear a large number of unmarked shoals and rafts, which requires expert knowledge of the area". This is overstating it a bit but I use a large scale paper chart and my Navionics electronic charts. Since I got the new display and Navionics charts last September they have proven to be much more up to date and accurate than the paper charts.
Isla Guidoro beacon and the rocky shoals behind
and on our starboard side Isla Rua with it's little lighthose.
With a NW 10kn breeze I was able to sail off the anchorage at 14:55 using the Ghosting Genoa. There followed a lovely sail all the way into Cambados-Tragove harbour where I furled the sail and motored 2-300 metres to the berth arriving at 17:50. Pilotage inwards was pretty straight forward but there were some nasty rocks and shoals along the way. The wind increased to 17kn at times, a bit above Ghosting Genoa speed but I left it up anyway.
The pontoons in Cambados-Tragove were designed for Med style mooring with haul-off lines. However, the marina is so little used that the 3 other yachts there were moored fore and aft alongside using haul off lines to stay a metre or so off the pontoons and avoid wash damage from passing fishing boats. I did the same although the haul off lines were heavily encrusted with weed.
I took a quick run ashore but rain threatened and I got back just before the first of several thunder storms passed through.
Vilagarcia to Caramiñal
23/May/2007 15:20
Time to leave Vilagarcia. I've really enjoyed it here. The Marina has excellent facilities, is very central and has friendly, helpful staff. All for €11 per day. There are good transport links to other towns on the Ria and to Santiago, La Coruña and Vigo. An excellent place to stop.
Just a short run today and a bit of a grumble.
Said goodby to Gerry and Isolde on "Northern Sky" and had a gentle sail down the Ria to Caramiñal. A distance of just over 7 miles.
A pattern is beginning to emerge with marinas built and owned by Ports Galicia and operated under contract by various Club Nauticos as is the one in Caramiñal. They charge like wounded bulls. The clubs say they are told what to charge by Ports Galicia but I'm not so sure.
My cost tonight for an 8.5m boat is €18 and it's not yet high season. Actually it's the cost for a 12m boat and that's what I have to pay even though they chose to put me in that berth and there were a lot of smaller berths that were empty. This cost ranks amongst the highest I have paid on the European mainland including Holland, Denmark and Germany. Ribeira and Portosin were similar. It does not encourage one to stay and spend some time and money. Had it been a bit earlier I would have gone back to Vilagarcia or anchored.
In future I think I am going to have to anchor a lot more to achieve my daily port cost target of €10. A third element to my observations on moving south. The palms get taller, port entry forms get bigger and marina charges increase.
I've also managed to lose my mobile phone. Not the best of days.
Caramiñal is a very pretty little town and I'm off to have a look around.
Just a short run today and a bit of a grumble.
Said goodby to Gerry and Isolde on "Northern Sky" and had a gentle sail down the Ria to Caramiñal. A distance of just over 7 miles.
A pattern is beginning to emerge with marinas built and owned by Ports Galicia and operated under contract by various Club Nauticos as is the one in Caramiñal. They charge like wounded bulls. The clubs say they are told what to charge by Ports Galicia but I'm not so sure.
My cost tonight for an 8.5m boat is €18 and it's not yet high season. Actually it's the cost for a 12m boat and that's what I have to pay even though they chose to put me in that berth and there were a lot of smaller berths that were empty. This cost ranks amongst the highest I have paid on the European mainland including Holland, Denmark and Germany. Ribeira and Portosin were similar. It does not encourage one to stay and spend some time and money. Had it been a bit earlier I would have gone back to Vilagarcia or anchored.
In future I think I am going to have to anchor a lot more to achieve my daily port cost target of €10. A third element to my observations on moving south. The palms get taller, port entry forms get bigger and marina charges increase.
I've also managed to lose my mobile phone. Not the best of days.
Caramiñal is a very pretty little town and I'm off to have a look around.
To O Grove and Isla de Toxa
22/May/2007 16:45
Later this week I will be having a drink with some friends holidaying in O Grove and I wanted to explore berthing possibilities.
This was a bus ride of about an hour and a quarter. As we came into O Grove we passed the bridge to Isla de Toja of which more later. O Grove is a popular holiday town but it was still off season as many restaurants were closed and not too many people were about. O Grove harbour was full of fishing and tourist boats with only a few local yachts on buoys. No mooring here then.
A brochure I got from Cambados tourist office yesterday said there were yacht berths at Porto Meloxo further round the peninsular. Under estimating the map scale I ended up with a 70 minute walk. Again, where the charts and guides show a shallow harbour for fishing boats, there were two newish yacht pontoons with most of the berths taken up by very small dinghies and runabouts. There was plenty of water and several empty berths. In common with Cambados there was open access to the pontoons but no sign at all as to who and or what the visitor would pay in the unlikely event that a visiting yacht made it's way to one of these harbours. Perhaps I will try as the only alternative is to anchor off near O Grove and dinghy in.
I walked back to O Grove and crossed the bridge to Isla de Toja. This bridge has been recently restored having originally been built in 1910 as the first concrete arch bridge in Galicia.
Bridge to Isla de Toja at low tide looking towards O Grove.
Isla de Toja came with something of a build-up. My friends in La Coruña had circled it on the map. My pilot book refers to it as a holiday destination for the very rich, Franco was known to take holidays here and there are two thermal spas, two large hotels, a conference centre and a casino. I must confess to being quite underwhelmed.
The island is not large and can be walked around in 80 or so minutes. At the bridge exit there is a private security office and security guards patrol the island in yellow vans. Along the south side of the island is a publicly funded Paseo Maritime built only 9 years ago but already bits of it have fallen onto the rocks below.
First large hotel looked fine but the Casino looked tired and next door was what appeared to be a derelict Spa.
A church with an exterior clad completely in seashells was quite charming.
The Gran Hotel Hesperia de Toja, said by one guide to be most expensive (2 person suite €262.15) in Galicia, looked lovely.
It's beach less so.
The Beach and Tennis Club was closed and very run down.
There were no sandy white beaches. The Convention Centre looked closed and the approach road was breaking up. The Gran Hotel had a jetty but there was no dock for visiting boats. There were lots of big expensive houses.
Some with tired paintwork. Apart from the Gran Hotel and the Hesperia Isla de la Toja Hotel and Spa much of what was there needed at best some tlc and at worst major refurbishing. The words faded and glory sprang to mind although there was a lot of building activity and new developments.
O Grove was quite a nice spot with a lot of restaurants and hotels which I suspect will be very busy in the summer.
Back in Vilagarcia the festival Santa Rita had begun.
Part of a busy street had been closed off and two huge sound stages erected. Later in the evening there was free entertainment from two "Orchestras", though I would use the term show band, "Paris de Noia" and "Gran Parada". The music might best be described as latin swing and the street was filled with mostly older people dancing. The brass sections were particularly good.
This was a bus ride of about an hour and a quarter. As we came into O Grove we passed the bridge to Isla de Toja of which more later. O Grove is a popular holiday town but it was still off season as many restaurants were closed and not too many people were about. O Grove harbour was full of fishing and tourist boats with only a few local yachts on buoys. No mooring here then.
A brochure I got from Cambados tourist office yesterday said there were yacht berths at Porto Meloxo further round the peninsular. Under estimating the map scale I ended up with a 70 minute walk. Again, where the charts and guides show a shallow harbour for fishing boats, there were two newish yacht pontoons with most of the berths taken up by very small dinghies and runabouts. There was plenty of water and several empty berths. In common with Cambados there was open access to the pontoons but no sign at all as to who and or what the visitor would pay in the unlikely event that a visiting yacht made it's way to one of these harbours. Perhaps I will try as the only alternative is to anchor off near O Grove and dinghy in.
I walked back to O Grove and crossed the bridge to Isla de Toja. This bridge has been recently restored having originally been built in 1910 as the first concrete arch bridge in Galicia.
Bridge to Isla de Toja at low tide looking towards O Grove.
Isla de Toja came with something of a build-up. My friends in La Coruña had circled it on the map. My pilot book refers to it as a holiday destination for the very rich, Franco was known to take holidays here and there are two thermal spas, two large hotels, a conference centre and a casino. I must confess to being quite underwhelmed.
The island is not large and can be walked around in 80 or so minutes. At the bridge exit there is a private security office and security guards patrol the island in yellow vans. Along the south side of the island is a publicly funded Paseo Maritime built only 9 years ago but already bits of it have fallen onto the rocks below.
First large hotel looked fine but the Casino looked tired and next door was what appeared to be a derelict Spa.
A church with an exterior clad completely in seashells was quite charming.
The Gran Hotel Hesperia de Toja, said by one guide to be most expensive (2 person suite €262.15) in Galicia, looked lovely.
It's beach less so.
The Beach and Tennis Club was closed and very run down.
There were no sandy white beaches. The Convention Centre looked closed and the approach road was breaking up. The Gran Hotel had a jetty but there was no dock for visiting boats. There were lots of big expensive houses.
Some with tired paintwork. Apart from the Gran Hotel and the Hesperia Isla de la Toja Hotel and Spa much of what was there needed at best some tlc and at worst major refurbishing. The words faded and glory sprang to mind although there was a lot of building activity and new developments.
O Grove was quite a nice spot with a lot of restaurants and hotels which I suspect will be very busy in the summer.
Back in Vilagarcia the festival Santa Rita had begun.
Part of a busy street had been closed off and two huge sound stages erected. Later in the evening there was free entertainment from two "Orchestras", though I would use the term show band, "Paris de Noia" and "Gran Parada". The music might best be described as latin swing and the street was filled with mostly older people dancing. The brass sections were particularly good.
To Cambados
21/May/2007 17:17
According to my charts and pilot books a lot of the ports scattered around Ria Arosa are not really suitable for yachts. This includes several otherwise desirable places.
Today I caught the bus to Cambados. The route followed the coast and even crossed over to Isla de Arosa during the 40 min trip. Cambados is a very pretty little town and is the capital of Albariño wine. A very tasty white.
I arrived around 14:30 and had a good walk around. There were a number of shops selling Albariño wines but I held off buying until I have a bit more information. There are the remains of a lighthouse originally built in the tenth century and two ports primarily dedicated to fishing. Cambados had a much more groomed town centre than many I have visited. The streets and paths were paved in stone and the entire waterfront was bordered by an impressive promenade.
Galicia has many many beautiful sandy beaches but the Ria de Arosa does not seem to have got it's fair share. Here many beaches have a very shallow slope and the tide recedes a longway often leaving a rocky weed covered area frequently with a good deal of rubbish and of little merit.
Beach near Cambados with two large hotels on Isla de Toja in the distance.
When the tide is in, however, the waterfront looks lovely.
A walk over to the larger of the two fishing harbours confirmed my suspicion that a lot of the recent investment by the Galician Xunta in yacht facilities has yet to find it's way onto to the charts and other guides. A smallish modern yacht pontoon had been installed and was virtually unused. The few yachts there were looking very unloved but the berths looked fine with plenty of water. The chart shows only 1.5m but there was clearly a lot more water than that.
There is no security but it looked like a good place for a quick stop.
I also came across another of the water troughs that I had first seen in Redes. They are public laundries although where clothes can be washed, rinsed and hung out to dry.
Caught the bus back around 18:00 and later had dinner in the Club del Mar with Gerry and Isolde from "Northern Sky". An all sea food meal as well. The baby squid and pulpo was particularly nice as was the Alboriño wine which washed it down.
Today I caught the bus to Cambados. The route followed the coast and even crossed over to Isla de Arosa during the 40 min trip. Cambados is a very pretty little town and is the capital of Albariño wine. A very tasty white.
I arrived around 14:30 and had a good walk around. There were a number of shops selling Albariño wines but I held off buying until I have a bit more information. There are the remains of a lighthouse originally built in the tenth century and two ports primarily dedicated to fishing. Cambados had a much more groomed town centre than many I have visited. The streets and paths were paved in stone and the entire waterfront was bordered by an impressive promenade.
Galicia has many many beautiful sandy beaches but the Ria de Arosa does not seem to have got it's fair share. Here many beaches have a very shallow slope and the tide recedes a longway often leaving a rocky weed covered area frequently with a good deal of rubbish and of little merit.
Beach near Cambados with two large hotels on Isla de Toja in the distance.
When the tide is in, however, the waterfront looks lovely.
A walk over to the larger of the two fishing harbours confirmed my suspicion that a lot of the recent investment by the Galician Xunta in yacht facilities has yet to find it's way onto to the charts and other guides. A smallish modern yacht pontoon had been installed and was virtually unused. The few yachts there were looking very unloved but the berths looked fine with plenty of water. The chart shows only 1.5m but there was clearly a lot more water than that.
There is no security but it looked like a good place for a quick stop.
I also came across another of the water troughs that I had first seen in Redes. They are public laundries although where clothes can be washed, rinsed and hung out to dry.
Caught the bus back around 18:00 and later had dinner in the Club del Mar with Gerry and Isolde from "Northern Sky". An all sea food meal as well. The baby squid and pulpo was particularly nice as was the Alboriño wine which washed it down.
Vilagarcia
18/May/2007 16:15
First stop today is Caixa Galicia. My Van Morrison ticket has arrived. They check my ID and hand it over. The system worked well in the end. It's a shame they can't resist preying on customers who can't order online.
Then I visited the internet cafe to upload this site to the new servers provided by MacHighway. I had been having some difficulties uploading to the old server which I attributed to the software I was using. Perhaps not. The upload was very fast and achieved at the first attempt.
After lunch I tackled a couple of jobs. Kiriwina has a Par automatic bilge pump which can be triggered manually or via a Par Hydro-Air switch. The latter had not worked for some time. I last looked at it in Dartmouth and found that the air tube was disconnected. It still did not work when the tube was put back. I removed the switch for closer inspection and found that the rubber gaiter connecting the air tube to the switch was split. This was why the tube had originally disconnected but the split was not visible with the switch in situ.
Not having a new gaiter I sealed the joint with tape, filled the bilge and bingo off it went. One problem solved but another emerged. A small fuel leak has developed from the primary engine filter. This was serviced last September and it may be that the filter is not seated properly. This will be messy to pull apart so I put a container underneath to see how bad the leak is before doing anything.
Then I visited the internet cafe to upload this site to the new servers provided by MacHighway. I had been having some difficulties uploading to the old server which I attributed to the software I was using. Perhaps not. The upload was very fast and achieved at the first attempt.
After lunch I tackled a couple of jobs. Kiriwina has a Par automatic bilge pump which can be triggered manually or via a Par Hydro-Air switch. The latter had not worked for some time. I last looked at it in Dartmouth and found that the air tube was disconnected. It still did not work when the tube was put back. I removed the switch for closer inspection and found that the rubber gaiter connecting the air tube to the switch was split. This was why the tube had originally disconnected but the split was not visible with the switch in situ.
Not having a new gaiter I sealed the joint with tape, filled the bilge and bingo off it went. One problem solved but another emerged. A small fuel leak has developed from the primary engine filter. This was serviced last September and it may be that the filter is not seated properly. This will be messy to pull apart so I put a container underneath to see how bad the leak is before doing anything.
Vilagarcia - Fixing the Eberspacher
17/May/2007 15:14
Today is a public holiday with lovely weather. I was chatting again with Gerry from "Northern Sky" had explained some details of how Eberspacher boat heaters work. Mine had not worked since last summer so I was very interested to see if I could fix it.
I went through the procedures he had outlined and some items from the user manual. A long and very fiddly process. Nothing untoward was found was found and when I turned it on not a lot happened. Gerry had been very insistent that patience was required with Eberspachers. I waited. Then it began to fire up and after a few minutes was running properly. I suspect that the battery connections were slightly corroded. Brilliant, thanks Gerry.
I went through the procedures he had outlined and some items from the user manual. A long and very fiddly process. Nothing untoward was found was found and when I turned it on not a lot happened. Gerry had been very insistent that patience was required with Eberspachers. I waited. Then it began to fire up and after a few minutes was running properly. I suspect that the battery connections were slightly corroded. Brilliant, thanks Gerry.
Vilagarcia - New Servers
16/May/2007 15:14
While having a morning coffee in the marina restaurant I meet Gerry and Isolde from a 39ft Beneteau "Northern Sky". They are Canadians who are off on a round the world cruise.
This website has now outgrown the server arrangements I put in place a couple of years ago. I need to find new servers. Not an easy decision given how many there are. I spent far too long online researching this and drank too much coffee but in the end I got a result.
Realmac Software who produce RapidWeaver which I use to create this site have a very useful user forum. A section of this discusses hosting arrangements for websites and from there I was able to source a company that use only Apple servers, MacHighway.
The transfer procedure appeared to be very easy so I went ahead. It looks as though I will have to pay around same as before but the capacity available to me is much greater.
This website has now outgrown the server arrangements I put in place a couple of years ago. I need to find new servers. Not an easy decision given how many there are. I spent far too long online researching this and drank too much coffee but in the end I got a result.
Realmac Software who produce RapidWeaver which I use to create this site have a very useful user forum. A section of this discusses hosting arrangements for websites and from there I was able to source a company that use only Apple servers, MacHighway.
The transfer procedure appeared to be very easy so I went ahead. It looks as though I will have to pay around same as before but the capacity available to me is much greater.