Aleria's Adventures

Aleria next to superyacht Valoria Sanxenxo (pronounced Sanshensho) is a holiday resort town on the north shore of the Ria de Pontevedra just east of Portonovo. We decided to stop into Nauta Marina, the closest point to the vineyards and winery of Paco & Lola, which is only about 6 km from Sanxenxo where there is a big marina. It's usually crowded with a big private club and disco in the marina which hops until the wee hours. We've known people who left in the middle of the night to avoid it. But it's early in the season and the club is still closed. The town doesn't really have much to offer except a remarkable old church with an intricately ornate interior and lots of Marys. There are lots of restaurants and shops beneath postmodern apartment buildings lining the waterfront strung with smaller beaches.

I heard the surf crashing in the distance. The birds were singing at high volumes. As the sun began to set, the dog chorus began. One dog in one corner of the Ria sent out a message. 'Hey, Bros, how's it hanging?' They responded, in tandem, first one, then another, then many more talking back and forth in conversation, planning their next moves. It was clearly coordinated and has been every time we've been here. Doggie comms are definitely a part of daily life. Forget about the internet, they've got doggie power.

Islas Cies on the Summer Solstice We spent just one night in the Ria de Aldan without going ashore. Three other Irish boats, all dark hulled, drop anchor near us, two with children aboard all of whom went ashore for dinner. The boats were Growler and Coirin and the third was Zig-Zag, who we heard hailed on the radio by a passing freighter, " Zig-Zag, Zig-Zag what are your intentions." Peter responded that he would pass behind the freighter. Right answer.

We departed Bouzas on an outgoing morning tide just after high water.  We were heading for Ensenada de Barra with just the Yankee and mizzen up. It started as a gentle sail but the breeze kept building and veered to the south, kicking up a swell that would have made Barra uncomfortable.  So we did as cruisers do. We edited our plans and turned toward Ria de Aldan instead.

It was Sunday and sunny again. We never did get the promised rain despite seeing dark clouds on the horizon much of yesterday. Things are closed on Sundays so we were prepared to continue with boat projects. Alex wanted to empty out the aft locker because it was full of sawdust from one of the deck repairs. I was going to wash the decks of the sawdust and bird poop.

We decided to take a break on Saturday morning to visit the Museo de Mar where there was a special exhibition of the Camino Voyage. The Camino Voyage was the story of four men (and a fifth later on) who rowed a curragh from Dublin to Santiago de Compostela. It was a recreation of the Celtic Camino by sea route in a traditional Irish vessel made of wooden ribs covered in animal hides. They made a movie about the trip which was really excellent and I've written about that before. We loved the museum when we visited last year and we wanted to see the exhibit while it was on.

We met Alberto Lagos at the gate of the boatyard Astilleros Lagos in Bouzas, and he led us the secret way along the shore to the Liceo Maritimo. This time we were on the pontoon closest to the cafe, so a much shorter walk into town.  He said he'd been working till 3 am most days to get everything done, and he was two months behind in paperwork, including billing. He gave us a fob for the gate and left as they were launching two more boats that day.

Our boat overwintered in Galicia at Astilleros Lagos, where they did a bit of work on her. New batteries and charging system, fixed a few deck leaks, serviced our engines, had our sails repaired, etc. When we left her, we flew out of Vigo to Dublin. But in the meantime, Ryanair cancelled service to Vigo and so we had to fly to Santiago de Compostella, which of course extended our journey by many hours and complications. We don't understand Ryanair's decision as the flights to Vigo were always full. On the plane we ran into ICC members Peter and his wife from Zig-Zag who we may see out on the water in the next couple of weeks.