Arrival in Spain (Tapia) on September 18th. 1999
Departure from Bayona on October 26th.

12 to 26 October 1999

When we arrived in Bayona it was the 4th dimention. The fog we had when we left Muros was even worse in Bayona. We could barely see the town and the mountains around it. Life seemed to have stopped since we couldn't see any cars, nor people. Near the shore, a huge stone Virgin looked like a ghost. Only the old fortress whose walls ran along the coast could be seen. It increased the impression of irreality.
When it doesn't rain and that there isn't fog (not often while we were there...), there are some very nice walks to do in Bayona. In the mountains behind Bayona, a crooked road takes you through an eucalyptus forest where many little horses live in total freedom.
The port's employees are not very friendly. Each time I came across one of them I said "ola !" to him smiling as sincerely as I could. I always had a rather cold answer. I could tell they don't care about us foreigners, or maybe they even don't like them. In other ports so far, it had been so nice. We spent a lot of time talking and kidding around with harbour masters who seemed to enjoy meeting us ans to whom I will send a card one of these days. They were always very surprised to hear me speak fluent Spanish, and that helped us a lot. As a matter of fact, most of the time, we paid less than our English friends just because I had good contacts with the harbour master...
Only the barman in Bayona's club house started to grim (I couldn't call that a smile)after a few days, and talk with me about other things than "what do I want to drink", and "200 pesetas, por favor"... But the cosy leather couches on which we sat hours long, drinking cervezas, and the clean warm showers made up for this lack of human warmth !
We spent two whole weeks in this marina waiting for the cyclone "Irene" to pass. We had up to 40 knots of winds in the marina which is rather well sheltered from southerly winds... Lots of rain too. So much rain that we only left the boat when absolutely necessary, and wearing all our rain clothes (pants, jacket and boots).

We spent quite a bit of money in shops selling car parts and boat furnitures. But La Coruna is a much better technical stop if there is a need for it.

5 to 9 October 1999

The harmony of La Coroña's architecture contrasted with that of the other Spanish ports we had seen so far. No modern buidlings have been built in its lovely old streets. After strolling around in very colorful and lively pedestian streets for a few hours, we had a drink in a "plaza" away from cars, and with many children playing and running around. The "paseo", a 5 kilometer long avenue that surrounds the old town and follows the coast is an example of the attention put on scenery and comfort for pedestians in this city. The avenue leaves more space for pedestrains and bikes than for cars. Its red Gaudi-inspired street lights are very surprising and the side walk, instead of being made out of ciment, is made out of colored squares, very typical of Spain.
The paseo takes you from the port to the "Hercules light house", the oldest light house in Europe, then follows the coast towards the aquarium, along beautiful beaches, and finally comes back to town. Each time we went to town, we visited our friends the cats which lived in the rocks between the sea and the path we walked on. They were half wild and never came close. Some cats just layed there in the sun and ignored us, others played around with old ropes, and from time to time, a new little head came out of the rocks to look at us, and disappeared again. We've never been able to count how many of them there were...

Everything in La Coruña is made with good taste. There is no room for monotony in this city. Everywhere scultptures, parks and fountains bring life to the town. In a park we saw a calendar all made with flowers ! Every day, a gardener has to replant a new date, every month a new month and so on.
La Coruña is also a good technical stop. There are many shipshandlers for the boys and washing machines for the girls ! There even is a Mac Donald's ! We didn't trash it as they seem to be doing in France these days, but we didn't eat there either, to protest against bad food and meat with hormones.

Anchoring is not comfortable at all (prices go from 2000 ptas in the summer down to 1200 in low season for a boat like ours). It's amazing how people on small and bigger motor boats passed by us very fast and then turned around to look at the boats rolling from one side to the other. They actually seemed to enjoy it...There are spaces on old crooked pontoons which are a little better, and a little more expensive. The showers are nice, washing machines are at your disposal for 580 pts.

28 september to 5 October 1999

Sailing into Vivero was gorgeous. The port is in a five mile long ria surrounded by mountains covered with pine trees. Vivero is a small city with very old buildings and houses, but ugly modern buildings have been built here and there which spoils the charm and character of some streets. Many pedestrian streets offer all kinds of shops, some of which seem to date back to Franco's time.
Up in the hills, very close to the city, a very Swiss looking landscape welcomes you. A small stream, a few cows and horses, old stone houses surrounded by green fields and good smelling pine trees... Only the screams of the seagulls remind you that you are indeed in a Spanish port !

Every morning, when we came out of the boat, the wonderful smell of pine trees filled the fresh air. Unfortunately there was a noisy excavator digging in the mountain near us to build apartment buidlings...
The marina is very recent, the cost for one night reminded us of home (2500 ptas). It was quite a shock to be asked so much when we had been paying 300 in Ribadeo...But Francisco, the harbour master only came every other day to charge us. When we had gasoil and heavy errands to do he took us with his car to help out. He even bought Peter a coffee and never wanted him to invite him back. In other words, it's not quite like home, but I don't think it will last a long time...

18 to 24 september 1999

Even though we hadn't planned to go to Asturias, we were happy to discover Tapia, our first stop after crossing Biscay. 35 to 40 knots of SO winds prevented us from going to La Coruna as planned, so we decided to find a shelter to stop and wait for the weather to get better. This fishing port is quite pretty, but it is not made for sailing ships, except in the summer when the weather is better. The rest of the year the port isn't a good shelter. Very strong currents and tide come in, and the entrance is dangerous in bad weather ( lots of rocks). We were able to stay there a few days only because a fishing boat was away and we tied Askoy in its place.

Once we got our strenght back, we went out for tapas and paella. What a treat ! A fisherman lent us a small wooden boat with rows to go from the boat to the shore, but it wasn't an easy task... A couple times we really thought the current was going to take us out of the port ! We were very impressed by how easely local people went around on such boats regardless of currents. I guess it had something to do with the fact that people used to fish whales on these same boats a few generations back. They must have that in their genes...

Here's a picture of the entrance of Tapia the day after we arrived. "Mal tiempo !" as they say here.