Aleria's Adventures

Yannick Lemmonier, sailmaker from Galway, aboard his Mini.  The MiniTransat fleet pulled into Baiona, Spain to avoid heavy weather and orca attacks. The Minis were being thrown around like dinghies by the whales and apparently, the aluminium mini 650 support boat was attacked. They had a nasty go at his rudder.  Several other yachts have been towed to Baiona, a UK vessel to Vigo and a Swiss boat to Cangas. The activity of the whales is very high off Galicia, Spain right now. The current advice is not to transit these waters until later in October.  Many thanks to Rhys Walters for the report and photos. Severe weather warning for fleet Map of latest Orca interactions

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.

Tim and Cath Bridgen in Baiona The weather forecast had suggested that it would be flat calm for two more days, after which time the Nortada – northerlies blowing 20-25 knots – would set in making any northern progress difficult and uncomfortable. So we bit the bullet and decided to push north from Cascais to Baiona, a distance of about 220 NM. If we left in the morning, we’d arrive the next day in the evening before sundown. We thought that would be perfect. We calculated the fuel it would take to motor all the way and concluded that we had enough to go all the way with enough to spare to make it a comfortable margin. We did not refuel in Cascais where it is very expensive.

Leaving Baiona just after dawn in cold mist. We had accomplished all we'd set out to do in Spain for this year. We said our good byes to the Lagos family and to Oscar Calero and Noelia at the MRCYB, leaving them a copy of the Spanish-English boater's dictionary by our friend Kathy Parsons. Showers along the coast of Portugal.

Aleria heading out the Ria Vigo toward Baiona. Photo by Alberto Lagos.  Nice photo of Aleria by Alberto Lagos. After we got all the canvas in place, we took off from Vigo as the afternoon wind was filling in. We hoisted the sails and quickly realized the sheet had been incorrectly led from the staysail. First fix. We were lazy and decided to sail along slowly without the yankee as it was not very far from Vigo to Baiona. We dodged several ferries and a powerboat came straight at us. We soon realized it was Alberto coming out to take pictures of us sailing out. He took some great shots though we felt bad we hadn't raise the full complement of sails. When we arrived in Baiona, we were assigned a berth right next to the President's yacht about as close to the clubhouse as we could be. Easy to get in, too. Someone had made a welcome sign that was secured to the dock in our slip. Oscar Calero, the manager of the club, was there in a flash with a bottle of wine and gre...

Baiona as seen from the Virgin of the Rock Our last stop with the Irish Cruising Club Rally was in the most impressive destination of Baiona (Bayona in Spanish). We were booked into the Monte Real Club de Yates in Bayona (MRCYB). The last time we tried to book in there years ago we were told it was not possible and were turned away rather gruffly. They begrudgingly let us leave our dinghy tied up on their property for a few hours. This time was a very different story. We had heard that after the economic downturn, most of the yacht clubs had declining membership numbers and revenue, while having sunk significant monies into infrastructure. To survive, they had been forced to open their clubs to visitors. I must say, they did so with great welcome. The staff were genuinely nice and accommodating. There were large signs welcoming us and informing members that the Irish were coming! Many of the local members stayed away while we were there. We returned several weeks later wi...

Galician Celtic musicians Over the past month, we sailed down from Ireland along the wild west coast, then crossed to Spain via the Bay of Biscay to sail the Rias of Galicia with 60 boats from the Irish Cruising Club. To say that it has been an absolute delight would be an understatement. I will tell each of the stories individually, but this is the introductory opening.