Swallow Yachts Association
Swallow Yachts Forum => Sailing and Events => Topic started by: Robin on 27 Oct 2017, 14:51
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I have recently returned from a month sailing in the Rias Bajas, Galicia, North West Spain. For those who have not visited this area I cannot recommend it enough as a base for small yacht sailing. Think Cornwall with more sun, somewhat less rain and considerably fewer people trying to get to the water!
The forum posts are too short to allow a lengthy narrative but for those who might be interested for the future...
The Rias are a number of 'estuaries' but picture something more like a Fjord, 40-50M deep at entrance. These are distributed to the North of Fisterre (rather exposed and damp but beautiful) and to the South (much better weather and more protected from Atlantic swell but busier).
Ferry to Santander and a pretty easy 6hr drive with the boat to the area.
There are harbours and fishing villages dotted along the Rias with a good choice of marinas to choose from as a base. Pontoon moorings in most are a fraction of cost compared to popular UK south coast equivalent. Facilities generally good. I had e few predictable technical issues and the boatyard was extremely helpful.
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The sailing is wonderful for a 20' lightweight boat. There are numerous places to visit and the conditions within the Ria, compared to my usual North Wales coastline, are fairly benign. I enjoyed everything from two reefs to no ballast plus spinnaker, all on a fairly flat sea. I stayed within the Rias having been slightly put off by the Imray Pilot books descriptions of mountainous swell outside. The outboard motor seems rather small when moving along a lee shore.
Add to this beautiful scenery, wonderful seafood, wine and friendly people.
I decided at the end to leave the boat there (very competitive price for winter keep) and explore afresh next year.
Robin
BRe Cerys
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Robin,
Sounds great perhaps you give a bit more detail and put an article in the library?
Bob
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That is a good idea - I haven't worked out how to do that yet but I will compose something more substantial as we while away the grey winter weeks.
Robin
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Robin,
I am planning on a trip to the Spanish Rias the summer of 2020. Did you ever write that article? Can I communicate with you to take advantage of your experience in this waters?
Regards
Mark
Bayraider 20 (wooden) "Pippin"
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Anyone else have experience cruising the Western Spanish Rias?
My brother Richard took his 38ft sloop there in 2017 and said it was one of the best and most relaxed cruising grounds he has been to. I wonder how it is for a much smaller day boat (20 Bayraider)?
Are there also interesting rivers that can be explored and which remain navigable at low tide?
For me a ferry from Plymouth to Santander gets me much of the way there, with a drive which I have done without a boat along the northern coast and as far south as one chooses to go according to which Ria one explores.
Info and stories please!
Mark
"Pippin"
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Hi Mark
My family and I sailed there last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I made a few notes on the trip in the thread below:
https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php?topic=1554
Pontevedra is on a river but I don't think it's navigable much beyond the town, I have a feeling there was a low bridge just upstream of the marina. I don't remember any other rivers that caught our eye.
Drop me a message if you'd like to borrow the guides and the chart we got for the trip.
Charlie
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Take a look at the Rio Minho too. Best with Google Earth satellite view. We were considering having a Raid there following the successful first Raid on the Douro. There's a (club) slipway at Tui.
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Charliea,
Thanks for your offer. I read your other post and would be grateful for the loan of charts, guides etc. (My elder brother, Richard, may also have some as he was down there 3 years ago.)
However I won't be back in the UK until some time shortly after April Fools Day! My email is markdarley@mac.com if you want to be in direct contact.
Mark
"Pippin"
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Re Mark's post below.
I have never sailed my own small boat in "Green Spain", but have spent many weeks in the area for "business purposes", over a period of maybe 5 years. including two 6 week summers with the family in tow; rented wayfarer type thing a couple of times.
One small problem is the use of a multitude of languages here (Spanish/Galleago/Basque) can be confusing in place names; OK once you are aware. There also seems to be some sort of Asturias/n? dialect?
Galicia; What a fantastic place! can't recommend highly enough!
If you enjoy Falmouth, this is a bigger & better version - As has been said before - think of South coast Cornwall but with bigger Rias (Rias Baxias are the ones further South, onto the Atlantic proper) better weather, food and wine; beer not so good tho ;-).
Lovely friendly folk - even more so if you are one of their Celtic brethren (as a Cornishman it was noticeable - that currency is also valid with many of the Basques, I found out!).
Not as busy as we have had to become used to in the UK.
Roads excellent. Port facilities generally excellent compared to ours.
Rias Altas, the ones along the N coast opening out onto Biscay , are also beautiful and of interest, as is much of the N coast in Asturias, Gijon ( industrial), and over as far as San Sebastian, Pasajes (Pasaia) etc.
However, can be dodgy up there on N coast - with dangerous access for small boats in poor weather; think more N coast of Cornwall - StIves/Hayle, Newquay, Padstow style). Beware.
You will drive past all this en-route to Rias Baxias from Santander/Bilbao.
Take the chance to go to Santiago de Compostella - but park well away from the city; no chance in city if towing. I was paying more to park my car than to rent it x 2.
Anywhere close to Cabo Finisterre has been brutal when ever I've been any where near, even on a "calm" day; not for me in a Swallow!
Old Pontevedra is a hidden gem. Don't be put off by the stink of the paper works just down the river.
We have been back to the Pontev area on holiday since my period working there - it was that good.
there were cheap flights (EasyJ?) from Stanstead to Santiago.
We plan to take the boat once time allows - retirement?
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Robin,
if you are still on here?
noted your original post was 2017!
How did 2018 go?
How was the over winter storage idea?
This really appeals to me, given the pricey ferry with trailer; then would do two consecutive years
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Take a look at the Rio Minho too. Best with Google Earth satellite view. We were considering having a Raid there following the successful first Raid on the Douro. There's a (club) slipway at Tui.
This thread has really got me reminiscing...Some very happy memories from Galicia/ N Portugal....
We also did Vigo/Tui area, and as I recall one year went "home" (Santander ferry) via Leon & Valladolid; all worth seeing. Perhaps not when towing a boat tho? :-\
Moledo beach just over the border from Tui, on the Portugal side of the mouth of the Minho was one of the windiest places I've ever been. We practically had to tie the children down to stop them blowing away.
Big breaking seas, and a spectacular bar at the mouth of the river I seem to recall?
That was in August! Perhaps we were just unlucky?
Another small detail to remember when driving about that area, is that Portugal is in a different time zone to Spain (Portugal is on UK time); much confusion re hotel mealtimes etc :)
We're clearly not "natural Europeans" and the lack of any real border, or "sense of occasion" when changing countries/time zones was quite odd.
Sorry if rambling...time on my hands!
Hopefully will be useful/interesting to someone?
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Update:
After a bit of research on nice old villages/ small towns we have decided to base ourselves in Cambados on the Ria Arousa, a couple of weeks before the Albarino wine festival. Apart from the wine festival it seems like a smaller less touristy spot.
There is no commercial marina but, after a communication with a local AirBnB owner who is a small boat sailor, I am hoping to work something out with the local captain of the port to allow us to either dry out on the town beach on a temporary trot, or tie up to the harbour wall with a stern anchor. The plan is to day sail on the Ria, returning to the comforts of a house ashore and the local restaurants in the evening.
Failing working out something with the local port captain in Cambados, it looks like there is a commercial marina in Vilanova de Arousa, 15 minute drive to the north. Of course launching daily is always an option if we cannot find a spot afloat.
Anyone who has sailed in these waters.....please keep sending words of advice or warning!
Thanks
Mark
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2020 saw us cancel our trip to the Rias Bajas but we have rescheduled to leave on the Plymouth-Santander ferry July 12th for 3 weeks based in Cambados.
Any and all advice gratefully received!
Mark
"Pippin" wood Swallow Bayraider 20
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MD. Very jealous! Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures in Galicia.
Q. How much was the ferry please?
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Simon,
The ferry cost is approx £1600 return with private cabin both ways from Plymouth to Santander on Brittany Ferries. Portsmouth route also, and you can also come and go from Bilboa.
Charts just arrived. Lots of protected shallow water but also lots of marine farms. We look forward to eating pots of mussels with Albarino wine!
Mark
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Also, my brother Richard is coming down with his Dufour 36ft sloop. He loves the rias of western Spain as a cruising ground. He has good crew for the Biscay passage (but often singlehands Channel crossings) and his wife is flying down. We hope to do some daysailing in company and might cadge a couple of nights on his relatively luxurious yacht!
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trying to find an emoji for "envious"...this will have to do...
:'(
I'll try to console myself with a couple of bottles of Albariño and some "Pimientos de Padron".
Both now available from Lidl, strangely?
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Well the Rias Baixas are full of surprises especially with the weather at this time of the year.
When we first arrived it was blistering hot for three days. Then the fog rolled in for the better part of a week while the UK toasted! Each day it looked like it would burn off but did not. Nevertheless with the aid of a fog horn at times we did some exploring to lovely coves and small ports.
The last two days were forecasted for rain but have been glorious beach days, and the next week looks to be fine hot weather. Basically the weather is so local that the forecasters seem stumped. When the marine layer comes in no one knows how far in it will roll, or when and if it will burn off. So go sailing anyway!
We have just moved to Combarro where we found BRe 20 “Carys” hiding under a cover in the boatyard where we have left our trailer. See you on the water Cary’s?
Looking forward to exploring Ria Pontevedra this week. So far the food, the wine and the people have been very good to us!
Going sailing,
Mark
“Pippin”
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The weather forecast sounds about as reliable as the west coast of Scotland!
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A short report on our trip to the Rias Biaxas, mid July to mid August 2021.
***Be warned, local large scale paper charts of the rias appear to be nearly unobtainable in the UK and even in most of Spain. The chandler in Vigo was the only one I found who stocked them.
I was lucky enough to be lent both Pilots and charts by a generous Swallow forum member. I then bought new ones when in Vigo. The charts you will need are G20 and G25 published by Cartamar, Spain. They are on waterproof paper. However inexplicably they do not quite connect, missing the section of coast between 42 degrees 26' north and 27' minutes north! (handicapping pirates?)
Admiralty charts 1734, 1732 and 1764 are large, not waterproof and therefore a bit unwieldy (and expensive) but they will get you round the corner!****
Getting there:
We ferried "Pippin" from Plymouth to Santander, took 4 days to drive along the north coast stopping in Soto de Luina for a night (no parking for a car and trailer in a hotel in Santander) and 2 nights in O Lourido just south of Carino. Our choices of hotels were driven by room to park the rig! Both hotels were extraordinarily helpful finding a place to park, and very welcoming. We did not launch in Carino or Ortigueira but we would in the future as this looks like interesting water.
Ria de Arousa:
On arrival in Cambados we were met by the young man who manages the AirBnB house we rented. Jose not only helped us launch in the commercial port, but had arranged for his father-in-law, who was their equivalent of Commodore of the local sailing club, to set us a "tira vira" (running mooring) right off the town seawall in the harbour. In fact Fernando was just surfacing from the bottom of the harbour when we sailed in, having threaded the rope for our tira vira through his own ring on the harbour floor. This was beyond hospitality and set the tone for our time in Cambados.
Most days we walked down to the boat, hauled in Pippin and sailed to an island or beach. At weekends we were often accompanied by Fernando in his 100 year old gaff rigged fishing boat swapping crew. (All the boats in the sailing club were local traditional sailing boats). On return we often found the "smoked fish" as we called them, a group of retirement aged fisherman, swimming and sunning themselves on the seawall in the evening sunshine. Almost no one spoke English and "Spanish" was not much more help. Galician spoken here! Smiles and sign language helped a lot thanks to the incredibly helpful nature of the locals.
Destinations were typically out to one of the nearby islands such as Illa de Arousa and a beach, sailing between the "bateaux", the shellfish rafts, on the way. Longer sails, when wind and tide allowed, were up the ria to Rianxo or to Illa Pombeiro. We did not overnight due to the cool weather, a comfortable bed ashore, and the good food and hospitality to be found in Cambados.
Weather: Very changeable. We were later told that this was the worst summer in NW Spain for 30 years. What that meant to us was that the forecast was never correct. Some days it started clear and we got some rain or at least heavy cloud. Others it started foggy and stayed foggy, or cleared to a lovely day. Mostly it started foggy, in fact it was not unlike the coast of Northern California in the summer but with small fronts coming through. We resolved to ignore all but the wind forecasts so we shoved off warmly dressed to see what the day would bring. We even shoved off in fog so thick we could not see more than 50 metres ahead, but with the aid of Navionics and the fog horn, we made it safely into Puerto de Campo for coffee. The greatest danger that day was from a large fishing boat that was apparently so intrigued by our red sails and yawl rig (mizzens are unknown in northern Spain) that it chased us to see what we were!
Conclusion for Ria de Arousa:
Perfect small boat cruising ground provided you are willing to cope with summer Atlantic weather....(not so different from Cornwall but with warmer air temperatures).
Cambados was a lovely base with outstanding seafood restaurants, the fine Albarino wine, incredibly friendly locals, and a very pretty old town not spoiled by tourism. (They all go to the northern ria beaches).
After 10 days in Cambados and the Ria de Arousa, we moved south to a small house in the hills above Combarro on the Ria de Pontevedra.
Ria de Pontevedra:
Once again we were incredibly lucky in our hosts, Leonardo and Teresa. Not only did we spend some wonderful evenings sharing great food and wine, they found us a mooring in the Combarro marina which was otherwise full for the season. (Spanish marinas do not usually have visitors' berths. The berths are owned by the yacht owners and, while they could be let to visitors when the owner is away, the staff of the marina prefer not to have to do the reams of necessary paperwork!). Once we were in, the marina was very helpful.
Be warned: Combarro is a very crowded tourist destination in high season because of its extremely picturesque waterfront. Having said that, due to the difficulties travelling in Europe this summer all the tourists were Spanish and they are remarkably considerate and polite. Parking is hard. We solved the daily parking problem by negotiating parking along the fence of the boatyard where we stored our trailer. The public parking lot next to the marina is frequently full and extortionate! The daily fee for a car was far more than the marina fee!
We used the public slipway next to the ferries which did have some challenges, specifically the tourists who blocked the slipway when parking to ride the ferry for the day. With Suzanne policing the top of the slipway, we managed to keep it clear for launch and retrieve by going early in the day.
Sailing on Ria Pontevedra:
This is a very different ria with very different coastline from Ria de Arousa. It is deeper, less protected and with only one small island that requires permission to land. We found the sailing good and free from obstacles, but beaches are harder to approach as they are often either very rocky or condoned off by buoys for a swimming area. Basically this is a far more open, deep water ria.
Having said that we found a favorite very small beach with excellent cafe behind it at Covelo which seemed to be the beach for local families not tourists. The first day we landed for lunch and flew the Red Ensign, a young boy and his mother asked what country the flag represented. When I told them we were English, the boy asked if we were pirates. I responded that we were only here for food and wine and that we would leave the church gold and silver behind this time.....Drake ransacked the Monastery on Illa de Tanbo. Happily they laughed!
Other days we dropped the hook off a lovely harbour or beach. Our longest day sail was to Punta Seame intending to go to Illa de Onza (permit required), but as the wind really picked up, we changed course for Puerto de Bueu, had lunch at anchor off the small beach outside the harbour setting Suzanne ashore to pick up coffees, and had a very spirited sail home to Combarro.
A month later I discovered that the very same day, just off Illa de Onza a small boat had its rudder destroyed by Orca off the island, so perhaps it was a good thing we were not out there in a small plywood boat! (If sailing off either the NW of Spain, or just north of Gibralter, check for Orca activity. It is now a considerable problem in some areas.
https://www.orcaiberica.org/last-interactions )
Weather was again very changeable so we spent several days ashore visiting wonderful gardens in the area. We also took a drive to Vigo to obtain new charts.
Conclusions: Ria de Arousa is friendlier to small boats and daysailing. With a larger boat or more settled weather and visibility, the Islas Atlanticas would be a great destination, but for us we decided it would probably be better by ferry. http://www.iatlanticas.es/html/index96e7.html
Wonderful people, great food and wine, lovely island beaches. Hope for better weather than we had! We will probably go back. In 2018 my brother Richard had spectacular weather for a month.
Contact me if you are going that way and have questions.
PS. We justified the ferry cost by staying a while, and later in the summer going from Bilbao to SW Ireland (Baltimore) before returning to Devon. Ferries were certainly a happier way to travel than by air in the summer of 2021 by all accounts.
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More photos. No idea why they do not appear the right way up as thumb nails, but if you click on them they seem to open and correct.
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http://www.cartamar.com/productos/buscador_resultados_48232_0_1.do