Sherkin - O Pobra do Caraminal

Matthew and Niall only had six days to spare, so it was a wonderful thing that a fine anticyclone set up over Ireland at just the right time. We left Horseshoe with a light northerly air at 2300 on the 5th September. By morning the wind had pulled round to the east, light but sufficient to give us over the magic five knots for a while, which is what I look for on a passage like this. From immediately after leaving for some 30 hours, we had a spectacular accompaniment of dolphins, particularly so at night, with their trails of brilliant phosphorescence.

After a very light spell in the middle of the  following day, it picked up again to give us a perfect sailing breeze, and the Anna M tramped south for the next couple of days. Gradually however it pulled round more southerly, and freshened up to force 5 perhaps one night to give us some lively and rather wet sailing. Then it moderated and veered to SSW. We were now about 100 miles off the Spanish coast, and going about, were able to lay Cabo Ortegal.

Finally, making one short tack off Cedeira, we were able to lay Corunna, though passing it to the southward we went up the Ria to Sada; a pleasant spot and cheaper, and still handy for the city with frequent buses. We were tied up there in just under the four days out from Sherkin, so the boys were able to rest and get themselves organised in good time to be home on the Friday. They took a train to Madrid that evening, for a Ryanair flight to Dublin next day; very good value I thought at Eur90, considering they only booked it the day before.

If that Niall sends me the nice photo he took of us all, I'll post it! So anyway I was able to anchor off, for an early start next day on my ownio. It was a beautiful morning; here is the Ria at dawn:

dotted with wee boats out fishing, whatever they jigging for! And here is Sada as I sailed gently down the Ria:

past O Coruna and the old Roman lighthouse, the Torre de Hercules:

.

Wind got too light then, especially since there was a nasty swell getting into it. Eventually it freshened, but from the south-west, so I was glad to find a sheltered corner to anchor for the night at Lage. Very light NW air the next day, and an even worse swell, so I was even more glad to leave a grey and grim Costa do Muerte behind and find a brighter sky and good berth behind the breakwater of Fisterra for the next windy day.

Yes, south of it is definitely the place to be after mid-September, though I was only given one middling day to get myself safely down past the Ria de Muros and Cabo Corrubedo -

round Isla Salvora

 and into the Ria de Arosa, where there was a big fleet of fishing boats

more or less like this one, but they turned out to be in a huge circle,

and guess what, they were all fishing one huge seine net!  Well, the Spaniards sure do know how to work together, but God help the sardines or whatever they were after!

I was glad to get both anchors down off O Pobra do Caraminal, and settle down to this blogging lark. Hurray, I'm up-to-date, and I'll try to keep it that way. Now the glass is rising, the wind settling, sunshine forecast for tomorrow, and Fiona coming.....