Menu
The day after Mark and Sue left us we cleaned and washed bedding, turning around the guest cabins ready for our third set of visitors. We also rested our livers in readiness for the inevitable onslaught when the kids arrived!
We were quite excited the next day as we had not seen Jos, Alice or James for almost 5 months. During that time James had asked for Alice’s hand in marriage over a video call before proposing and having his proposal accepted, much to our delight!
We did a big shop and got everything shipshape before big hugs when they arrived late in the afternoon.
After a cold beer or a cup of tea we went for a swim in the marina’s indoor pool, showered and dressed for an evening out. We started at the rooftop bar that we had visited with the Cookies before eating out and retiring not too late given their long day and our long week ahead with a full itinerary!
A rooftop bar had taken some finding, so for those who follow – it is on the corner of Rua de Luis Taboada and Rua de Pablo Morillo, a short walk from the marina. It was called Hotel America when we visited but from searching on the interweb for the address it seems to have changed its name to Hotel Maroa.
The next morning we had a wander around the city centre before heading out of Ria De Vigo and around the corner (North) to the small Ria Aldan, putting the anchor own after a 15 nm motor against a gentle breeze.
James put a line out on the way round but didn’t have the same luck as last year in France – clearly no longer a beginner!
Aldan is reputed to have the warmest water in the Rias and so armed with this information Jos and James swam ashore, the rest of us taking the dinghy to have beers in the “Secret Garden” bar (our name, see HERE for our last visit to Aldan.)
The girls swam back, Paul dipping a toe in the water and insisting that somebody needed to act as ferryman!
We cooked squid and tuna aboard and played cards before retiring for a very calm night at anchor – a first for the kids on Calypso.
The following day at noon we headed out of Aldan and along the adjoining Ria de Pontevedra 14 nm to Combarro, under sail for most of the way. and putting the younger, fitter crew to work.
After arriving we headed to the lovely monastery at Poio, posing for the team photo shown at the top of this post.
Fortunately Paul’s back had recovered sufficiently to join the walk but he was still pleased to have been able to put the younger, fitter crew to work at sea!
We had a wander around the lovely old fishermen’s village on the rocky outcrop (more detail and photos of Combarro from our previous trip HERE).
The following morning James returned from his run at 10 am to find the Lingards just surfacing – things do run an hour later here in Spain, honest Guv!
We went to the supermarket and among other things bought several bottles of wine. We were tasked with sampling and selecting a Galician white wine for next year’s big wedding. The boat van will be rather full on the way home!
Around 2pm we headed down the Ria to Sanxenxo for a lively sail of 7 nm.
Alice and James headed out to the posh shops in this glitzy resort and returned with a new dress. That evening we stayed aboard reading, playing cards and starting off the wine sampling. James introduced us to “Shitter”. Can’t remember the rules, just the name!
The following day Alice and James went back and bought a large bedroom mirror for their new house – after we had agreed that we could fit it in the van to take it home!
We headed off, mostly under genoa only to sail 9 nm to Ensenada de Lanzada, sitting between Rias Pontevedra and Arousa.
After we dropped the anchor the boys had a diving competition from the coach roof – too cold for us; we must get easier to handle shortie wetsuits so we swim more (we have full suits but they take too long to put on, take off, rinse and dry).
It was good to have the young crew to do the heavy lifting, although we made the mistake of allowing Jos to be taxi driver and ended up getting dumped in the water as we landed on the beach!
Fortunately the dinghy was not upended and the outboard stayed dry! No doubt Jos will be along to protest his lack of blame any time soon…..
More photos from our last visit to this lovely bay can be seen HERE
We stayed aboard again and cooked Adam Bispham’s famous pasta Puttanesca, played cards and sampled more wedding wine (hard work this!!)
We had to take our visitors to our favourite small town – A Pobra do Caramiñal. And so after a calm night we upped anchor at noon and headed up Ria Arousa, initially under genoa only but on a calm, beautiful day we finished the 13 nm trip to the marina under motor.
After arriving the kids wandered around to the beach for a swim and we had a cuppa with John and Debbie on Shiraz.
Later, after a visit to the supermarket to source more potential wedding wine we got ready to head out to our favourite restaurant.
Sadly there was nobody available to take a family photo and so the adopted member did a good job……
The meal at Nojira was our treat and our “official” celebration of the engagement of James and Alice.
As always Luis served up a very different meal to please our eyes as well as the palate. He suggested a couple of different Albariños from a small producer that we should try alongside all the others that we had collected and so we left with two more bottles to add to the growing shortlist.
The following day we walked South along the main beach, passing the clam pickers weighing in their catch, and around the rocky headlands, Punta Ladiña and Punta de Cabio with their secluded beaches. We have walked around here several times now and no doubt will do so again, it is SO pretty.
We had lunch at Sisal restaurant, on the balcony above the fish market looking down on the marina.
At 5.30pm we headed out of the marina to make the 7.5 nm trip across to the Vilagarcia and took a berth in the marina.
We ate aboard that evening and had a final tasting of the 9 bottle shortlist for the wedding wine. It is a good job that there are plenty of supermarkets around here as the fridge had been filling up with half empty wine bottles! Fortunately our choice was unanimous.
We wandered around the shops and market before walking North along the beach to Carril for lunch in a beachfront restaurant and a swim in the very inviting clear water on a hot sunny day. The water was pretty damned cold though!
And that was it – a very full and very enjoyable week. Our livers were aching but our hearts were full. It was sad to wave our family off at 7 pm from the nearby train station as they headed for a late flight home, but at least it would only be a few weeks before we would see them again.
Distance travelled since leaving Xufre – 427 nm NEXT LOG PREVIOUS LOG