Bay of Biscay

With our time in Spain coming to an end we sailed to the Ria de Muros and kept an eye on the weather forecast for an opportunity to sail across Biscay to Brittany. We arrived at the Ensenada de Esteiro, where we decided the late afternoon sunshine was hot enough for a swim. The following morning we were awoken to the noise of numerous fishermen and at least 20 boats working along the shore just a few metres from our boat. We were clearly in their way, so decided to move across the ria to Playa Aguieira, a delightful bay, so we decided to anchor for another night rather than head into the nearby marina. Finally we were running out of food and water so headed for the marina at Portosin, the helpful marineros guided us into a berth next to a large Spanish race yacht!

The prevailing wind direction along this coastline is northerly, not much good for sailing north. So with a weather forecast of southerly winds for a few days, we decided not to head to A Coruna, but sail across Biscay starting from Portosin. The distance of just over 400 miles to South Brittany would take us at least 3 days. We made an early start and motored to the end if the Ria until the wind picked up and we could sail north past Cabo Finisterre. Dolphins followed us for many miles, the sea was fairly calm and the light winds made the sailing easy.

As we approached the end of the third day we could see the Ile de Groix near Lorient. We had decided to explore the River Blavet that is navigable for several miles inland to Hennebont. However, we arrived at the entrance to the river at Lorient at 2 am, so decided to anchor for the night and continue the following day. The River Blavet was amazing, similar to the Helford River in Cornwall, we enjoyed several walks along the wooded banks. The weather was hot and sunny, with the river water clean enough to swim, just what we needed to recover from the trip across the Bay of Biscay.

Rias Vigo and Arousa

Our brightly coloured cruising chute helped speed us along as we sailed towards the Spanish Rias. We were determined to find time to explore the rias, we'd been told they were amazing, we weren't to be disappointed.

We anchored at Baiona for one night and continued to Vigo early the following morning, to meet a friend of ours, Kathleen, who would be joining us on the boat for a few days.

We stayed one night at the Real Club Nautico de Vigo, an excellent sailing club and marina in the centre of the city. The following day we sailed up the ria and under a bridge to find an anchorage in the Ensenada de San Simon. With excellent shelter, great walks ashore and a small bar on the beach we decided to stay a couple of days.

The weather looked good for a short sail north to another ria, but we decided to anchor at the Ensenada de Barra before sailing onwards the following day.

Heading north, we missed the Ria de Pontevedra, and enjoyed a wonderful sail along the coast which is sheltered from the Atlantic swell by several islands. With a bewildering choice of anchorages in Ria Arousa we sailed to Pobra do Caraminal at the northern end of the ria. With numerous old buildings in the town centre and large supermarket right next to the anchorage, it was a good place to stop.

With strong northerly winds forecast we searched through the pilot guide for a more sheltered anchorage. We chose the Playa de Barrana near Escarbote, a long sandy beach with pine covered hillsides. Here we collected, cooked and ate delicious mussells that covered the rocks along the shore.

We stayed for three nights before sailing to the entrance of the ria and anchoring at Playa del Coroso near Santa Uxia de Ribeira. This was a good anchorage, but a very busy tourist beach, so we took a trip in the dinghy to explore the nearby town and fishing harbour at Palmeira.

With calm seas and light winds we decided upon the challenging pilotage through Canal de Sagres to leave Ria Arousa and sail north to Ria de Muros. This involved weaving our way past numerous shallows and rocks, guided by charts, plotters and navigational buoys.

Portuguese Coast

A selection of photos from our trip north from the Algarve to the border with Spain.

We decided to start heading back to the UK a few months earlier than planned, so sailed west back along the Algarve to Portimao.

After several days at anchor we were running out of water, so went into the marina for a couple of days to restock. The folding bikes and trailer were used for exploring the local area and a couple of supermarket trips. With the outboard motor still broken we rowed across the river to Ferragudo and found a lovely restaurant to celebrate Hannah's birthday.

We moved across the estuary to the large and popular anchorage to avoid a summer price increase at the marina. We enjoyed several days of very warm weather, swimming off the boat and rowing ashore to the nearby beaches.

With rising temperatures and a good weather forecast, we decided to leave the Algarve and start heading north. Anchoring for a night in a little cove at Sagres before continuing north along the Atlantic coast of Portugal.

We rounded Cabo de Sao Vicente and continued to Sines with dolphins riding on our bow wave, upon arrival we anchored in the small bay near the beach. We took a day off from sailing to explore the town and take Lilly for a well earned walk.

Continuing northwards the following day we anchored at Sesimbra and Cascais along the way. As we approached Cascais we caught 4 large mackerel, which made a very tasty and filling dinner.

Our next sail north involved an overnight sail in downwind and rolly seas! Our auto-helm decided it wanted a day off so we had to helm ourselves for 36 hours, we were glad to arrive at the river pontoon of Viana do Castello in north Portugal.

The folding bikes enabled us to cycle inland, where we found a wonderful forestry walk. The hilltop of Montedor provided excellent views across the estuary and along the coast. We stayed for several days due to strong northerly winds, before sailing north towards Spain.