Freya & Us

Our passage plan when we left England last June was to head south keeping the land to the left, for a long while now we have been going west, or latterly nowhere.This week when we finally managed to leave A Coruna, with our shiny new prop, we turned the corner of Spain and passing Cape Finsterre we started heading South again.There has been a noticeable change for the better in both the weather and sea state.

Our first stop was Corme, a small fishing village about 35 miles from A Coruna where we dropped the anchor for the night after a boring and grey passage under an overcast sky, occasional drizzle and lumpy sea. We had to motor for all but half an hour of the journey and the swell made me (Paul) feel seasick. At least the engine, prop and the boat behaved themselves. I was not a happy sailor!

What a difference a day makes. We set off from Corme at around 10.00 the next morning for the relatively short 21 mile hop to Camarinas. We were slightly delayed on leaving the ria as we slowed to watch a pod of dolphins hunting fish and jumping out of the water. The day got better, the sun came out, the wind picked up and we sailed the whole way from Corme to Camarinas, with fantastic views of the coastline and blue skies to keep us amused. Camarinas is a fishing port with a small marina, and a few bars and shops dotted along the promenade. It's famed for its lace and there were a few shops selling some delicate and beautiful things, but we didn't think they would work well on Freya. The marina had a small contingent of visiting British and one Canadian yacht, the crews of which were invited to a drink ashore by "Captain Bob". Captain Bob has been living afloat for over 20 years and after spending the winter in Camarinas had appointed himself deputy berthing master and social secretary. I'm sure he had some interesting tales to tell after sailing around the world twice, but his alcohol fuelled belligerence meant we didn't stick around for very long to find out.

From Camarinas we sailed south past Cape Finisterre to the Ria Muros where we are now. The trip here was an almost perfect sail, with Freya cruising at between 6-8 knots for most of the journey, past some of the most dramatic cliffs and scenery we have seen so far. The cliffs are covered in gorse and heather and are a really vibrant pallet of greens and yellows with patches of white and blue, literally breathtaking. On the approach to Muros we were sailing on a broad reach through a narrow passage between pinnacle rocks, gybing to avoid them and having a great time in brilliant sunshine and yes, smooth seas. Our passion for sailing and the boat is almost restored.

Most visiting yachts to The Ria Muros head for the established marina at Portosin ,a town which from its description in the pilot books, doesn't have a lot to offer. Instead we headed to the old town of Muros on the opposite (NW) side of the ria, which now has a new small marina in the corner of the fishing port. It's not in the pilot books or most of the almanacs yet, so it was very quiet with few visiting boats, a welcome change after Camarinas. The town of Muros itself, is one of the most unspoilt Galician towns we have found nestled in a sheltered corner of a beautiful wide open Ria. It seems to have escaped the building boom that has peppered many of the old towns around here with concrete monstrosities. It has a really pleasant feel and we will be staying here a few nights before moving on.

Click here for the map of our travels