09.05 Get anchor – much easier with the new windlass!
Motor out of the ria and . . . keep motoring! Not enough wind to sail in.
Just outside the ria we had a slightly confusing encounter with a fishing boat, lots of hat waving by the skipper though no sign of any gear in the water.
12.00
Rounding Cabo Ortegal half a mile off. Usual wee motor boat fishing off the pinnacle rocks. A spectacular headland.
Phoned Margaret and got her to get flowers for Anne’s birthday. No such thing as 4G last time I came this way!
12.25 land breeze picks up. Genoa out doing 5kts SOG
43deg 46.47N
07deg 55.26W
Sailing along a spectacular coastline in shorts. Fantastic!
14.30
Three miles to run. Wind dies, genoa away, engine on.
15.15
Anchored off Ceidera. Beautiful place. Sunbathing in the cockpit with a beer, but the beach looks inviting and we start planning a trip ashore as we have not yet set foot on Spanish soil.
17.00
Getting ready to go ashore is a bit involved… first real life test of the dinghy and outboard. One of the valves on the dinghy is a bit iffy, but the outboard is a real star… bought on Ebay, run once in a wheelie bin then hung on the pushpit and left for a year. It starts third pull and gets us ashore and back nae bother.
There is a freshwater shower at the beach, so a swim is now definite! The top two feet of the green and slightly weedy Ria water is tolerably warm, but below that is distinctly chilly. Very refreshing though.
It’s a beautiful wee town, but it’s obviously struggling a bit with the virus. 99% of people are wearing masks, and the street cafes and bars are pretty empty. Daily cases in Spain are now higher than at the start of lockdown, and there are rumours of a new nationwide lockdown from 18th September.
Tomorrow we head to La Coruna to wait for a window to go round Finisterre – and with Windy forecasting a week long ‘Norteada’ gusting 40 knots round the NW corner of Spain I am beginning to wonder if we will get to Portugal before the proposed lockdown on the 18th. Strange times.