Aleria's Adventures

I previously wrote about being a speaker at the IS Cruising Conference. As a participant, I was fortunate to hear talks on other subjects, most notably the recent interactions between Orcas and sailing vessels off the Iberian coast. I've written about that before, as I am fascinated by the behavior. Fortunately, we didn't have any encounters ourselves on our return from Galicia in 2019.  Mónica González, Marine Biologist with CEMMA - Coordinadora para el Estudio de los Mamíferos Marinos, gave a talk at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven on the 11th of March 2023. She presented a great deal of information now available on the Orcas that have been interacting with sailboats in the past few years.  CEMMA and Orca Iberica have identified 15 orcas, of the resident population of 35 remaining animals, that are taking part in the interactions. Monohull sailboats were involved in 80% of reported incidents. It appears that the interactions, particularly with spade and double-spade r

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

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.

View over Punta Lagoa in the Ria de Vigo. Vigo on the left. Cangas on the right.  In Spain, the winters are wet and wild but not that cold. Technically, it's possible to stay in the water and enjoy sailing through the winter months. Realistically, it can be challenging as the storms can be strong and unpredictable. The Atlantic swell is perhaps the most challenging element for overwintering, so locations with the best protection from the swell are the most attractive. We have spent a couple of winters in Spain and have checked out multiple options. We often get questions from friends about where to go. I thought I'd write down our thoughts for the benefit of those wishing to spend more than a few days or weeks in the Rias.

View from the maritime museum toward Bouzas We are docked at the Liceo de Maritimo  in Bouzas, Vigo preparing Aleria for her winter at the Astilleros Lagos  boatyard. We've removed the sails and other sundry items from the deck, stowed the dinghy, cleaned out the fridge, swept up and done the laundry. Yesterday, Alberto Lagos stopped by and we reviewed all the work we'd like done over the winter. He is such a gentle and kind man. We are fortunate to consider him and all the Lagos family our friends. It is very warm and dry but not unpleasant. The climate here is much to be desired.

We departed from the Ria de Muros y Noia with the Figaro fleet in the afternoon. The wind died so we motored to Illa Salvora, our favourite island, feeling pity for the poor Solitaire fleet attempting to round Finisterre.

Customs boat approaching We were anchored alone in Salvora last evening. The other two boats had departed a short while before. When suddenly, the Customs boat made a bee line to Aleria . They pulled alongside and asked to board. We quickly deployed fenders and two men hopped across. Pretty good as it was blowing about 20-25 at the time, and kicking up quite a chop.

We were treated to an unusual sight yesterday. As we cruised from Ria de Aldan to Combarro in the Ria de Pontevedra, we noticed a helicopter hovering over a boat in the distance. We wondered if the chopper was chasing a drug runner. But it turned out to be the Policia Maritima practicing dropping a crew member onto a vessel at sea and then retrieving a person from a boat in a basket. Cool. They did this right in front of us as we sailed slowly along the Ria. The maneuver was perfectly executed. It's nice to know that there is such skill and bravery out there.

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.

Anchored in the Cies In October, Alex and I had a chance to return to Galicia and go sailing for another week. We'd spent two months there in the  Rias Baixas this summer.  The Ryanair flights from Dublin are only twice a week. We flew out on a Thursday morning and were on the boat before noon. It was a foggy, drizzly kind of day and we were wondering what to expect. Nevertheless, we trudged up the hill from Punta Lagoa to town with our trusty cart and shopping bags to provision. The Froiz was open and the bakery still had one loaf of fresh bread. Yeah!

Hosted by the Monte Real Club Nautico de Bayona Baiona, 27-29 October 2017 In attendance on behalf of OCC: Daria Blackwell, Rear Commodore Alex Blackwell, Regional Rear Commodore, Ireland Representatives from 24 yacht clubs and cruising associations from Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Spain took part in a 2½ day conference on cruising in Galicia, Spain. Several specialist media representatives also participated. Representatives from ten marina and service organisations were in attendance as were members of the regional tourism and harbour development authorities.

Bus group assembles in Noia The mayor and tour guides The day before the start of the Irish Cruising Club Rias Baixas Rally, the local dignitaries organized a bus trip to Santiago de Compostela. We had both wanted to go and jumped at the chance. Unbeknownst to us, the bus would also stop in Noia, which made it even more interesting. Noia (Noya in Spanish) was the traditional place where pilgrims coming to Santiago in the Middle Ages would travel to by boat from the British Isles. In fact, I had seen a plaque on the waterfront in Dingle commemorating the mariner's camino route. The ships would land in Noia and the pilgrims would travel up the river by small boat as far as they could, then walk the remainder of the way. Today, Noia is silted in and not navigable by cruising sailboats, but some shallow draft vessels can go part way, we've heard. Portosin is now one of the closest ports in the Rias from which to travel to Santiago.

We have just returned from Spain and I will be writing about our experience there Ria by Ria, starting with Ria de Corcubion near Finisterre and ending with Baiona. August is the month when most Galicians go off on holiday. Everywhere we went in August, there were festivals in villages with carnival rides, games, music concerts, arts & crafts, food, and fireworks. The fireworks started at 9 am to announce the beginning of the festival and get people to come to the village. At noon they would shoot them off again to announce the day's opening of the festival. At night, they would shoot them off in earnest.  A different village would be involved every day. Some of the fistas were in honour of the Virgin Mary, some celebrated sardines, others music. There were no shortages of themes to celebrate. In the meantime, while I'm compiling sense of my notes, here's a little video (4.5 minutes) of fireworks in Cee as seen from our boat anchored in Corcubion. Delightful.