There are so many cultural sites in Spain and Portugal that it triggered us to dive deeper in the history of the Western Mediterranean. We uncluttered the dates and data and we hope that the common thread helps you to understand this fascinating part of Europe as it helped us. Iberia was probably inhabited by […]
History of Iberian Peninsula Read More »
We left Pontevedra with a stiff breeze on the stern on 29 Dec 2019 and sailed one Ria further South. We dropped anchor in the lee of Isla de Toralla to be greeted the next morning by the locals, fishing for shell-fish. Since we would travel to NL in January to celebrate the 90th birthday
Vigo & Baiona, Spain Read More »
After Christmas we set sail, entered the Ria de Pontevedra on Dec 26 and anchored in front of Combarro. The town is off the tourist map but the old quarter proved well worth a visit the next day. The next day we took a 3 mile dingy ride up the Rio Lerez to Pontevedra, the
Pontevedra and Combarro Read More »
The sleepy but picturesque fishing village of Muros used to be an important port for Santiago de Compostela. The softer climate then La Coruna, good shelter, friendly atmosphere and not to forget the excellent WiFi in the marina make it popular amongst yotti’s. We had to wait for spare-parts for the diesel heater. A delivery
Leaving La Coruna on Wed Dec 4. We had a fantastic time there. The 38 miles to Corme was our best day-sail so far, with many “firsts”. First full day of sunshine and first time under spinaker, the yellow/black light weather sail on the foto above. With 14 kts of wind and a calm sea
From La Coruna to Muros, man overboard. Read More »
We rented a car for two days to explore the Galicia interior and went to Lugo and of course Santiago. Leaving early from La Coruna we had a morning stroll on top of the impressive and completely intact Roman wall surrounding the town. Lugo’s cathedral is inspired by and built after the Cathedral of Santiago.
Lugo & Santiago de Compostela Read More »
Marina Nautico is situated in the old port, smack in the middle of the lower city. La Coruna is Galicia’s wealthiest city, and it shows. Well maintained parks, boulevard and buildings. Many buzzy restaurants and (tapas) bars. Well stocked supermercado’s. We find (again?) a virgin carrying a child along the lovely boulevard. Note the characteristic
Although Brest is a lively town with lots to see, many activities and good restaurants we had to stay longer than we wanted due to the lack of an acceptable weather window to cross the “Golfe de Gascogne” (French) or the “Bay of Biscay” (English) or “Pleg-mor Gwaskogn” (Bretton) or “Bizkaiko Golkoa” (Basque). There are
The weather window for the 70 miles from Roscoff was again very short. We left 0200am on Nov 06 and sailed into the “Rade de Brest” at 0100pm after an uneventful sail with 6 hours favourable tide, leaving Roscoff, but the tide on the nose in the “Chenal du Four”. It was a trade off.
Leaving Cherbourg for Roscoff is all about managing the strong currents around the channel islands. We plotted a course North of Alderney and Guernsey. On the chart plotter you can see that we were North of the plotted course, for two reason; A) heading 20 degrees further South would make the genoa become unstable and