VIGO and BAIONA – 9th to 12th September

We had hoped to have a decent sail down to VIGO, but it was not to be. We were not sure about visiting VIGO because it was more of a city, but we really enjoyed it. We arrived on the Sunday afternoon so there was not much open. We stayed at the Marina in town and for €28 we also got free entry to the sports club which had a pool and Gym. We went off to the pool, but it was not quite as expected. It was a competition size pool which was all divided into lanes. We were the only ones in there so we did a few lengths and then the boys practiced diving. They really came on well. We also had to giggle at the swimming hats they made us wear.

We had decided to go for a drink at the Yacht Club and it looked like everyone was dressed in trousers rather than shorts, so we dusted off our more formal clothes and headed on up. We sat outside and had a few drinks. It was only after the second round and wondering why we could not get wifi, we realised the yacht club was upstairs and we were sat at a bar. The boys were happy running around and it seems that on Sunday nights the Spanish come out and take a stroll so there was a real buzz to the place. We stayed put and I enjoyed a rather nice, but large G&T.

The next day we went in search of the Pandora bead shop that I had found on the internet. I had brought the bracelet before leaving the UK and decided to collect beads from the places I go to act as a reminder. So far I had not found any shops, but the internet came up trumps. I purchased 3 beads with the help of Ethan. We had the Dolphin for crossing Biscay and a blue bead with hearts for Spain. The enamel one Ethan is keeping for either Maderia or The Canary Islands as we are not sure if they have shops there. I have now emailed Pandora asking them if my plan is going to work and I am awaiting a response back.

Oliver had been eaten by mosquitos so we went in search of a pharmacy that sold a cream to help the itching. It seemed to work well, which was a good job as it cost €10. I was sure I had brought witch hazel in the UK but couldn’t find it. Having bought the posh cream which contained anti histamine, I found the witch hazel in the cupboard the next day. We bought some fumigation spray but since leaving VIGO we have not suffered.

We are also attracting flies and now put up the sticky fly coils to try and catch them. It is less unsightly than Russell dancing around naked in the middle of the night trying to kill them with a flick of a T-towel. However, they are sticky and if you knock them with your head or throw something at it, it literally sticks to them like glue. I think we have caught more humans than flies.

I have now started to make the flyscreens to go in the opening hatches. Annoyingly you cannot buy them from lewmar anymore. We have found that the 99p store union jack sunshades fit in the saloon hatch so we feel very patriotic. I am using garden wire and material bought from the flyscreen queen to make the small hatches, and do not quite have a plan for our hatch yet.

VIGO was a big city with lots of boutique clothes shops and a C&A. The boys found a toyshop, but there was nothing that was really practical for them to buy. We found the food shop eventually and witnessed someone have their mobile phone snatched. The thief nearly ran into me and had I realised what the Spanish woman was shouting I could have stuck my leg out and tripped him up. Probably best I didn’t as I would then have had to do the whole police statement and my Spanish really is very limited.

We left VIGO later that day and had a cracking sail to Baiona. It was not very far so we accepted the beat. We chickened out from going through the narrow, rocky inshore passage. We did watch another boat go through, but felt it was not for us. Despite packing the boat for a beat, possessions still managed to wriggle free and most of the scatter cushions found new homes on the floor. It didn’t take long to tidy up once we got along side.

Baiona has 2 marinas the yacht club and the marina. Having looked at the prices reported on Noonsite we went with the marina as being cheaper. It was still €35 a night which is the most expensive yet. You were supposed to only get 1 hour internet free and then have to pay but it was broken so we had free wifi for the duration. The deposit for the meter cable was €50, but at least you got it back. I had read on Noonsite a report by someone visiting who complained at how they had had to buy the cable. They obviously didn’t realise it was a deposit. We told the marina office and they are now planning to track the person down and see if they can get back the lead and reunite him with the money.

Oliver and Ethan finally met another child who was also 8. His name was Alexandria and he was French. They managed to communicate and enjoyed a couple of days fishing. They caught a starfish and also sea urchins. They are planning to cross the Atlantic next year so are moving at a slower pace to us. They then plan to cross the pacific so will be away a lot longer than our year. It was a shame they could not have spent longer together.

We decided to have our first meal out as a celebration of leaving Spain. This was easier said than done as most restaurants did not open until 8 or 8.30. This meant we did a bit of a pub crawl for an hour filling up on free tapas and the boys had an ice cream to keep them going. Russ and I had the best mojitos I have ever tasted. The bar was doing them at 2 for €5 so you couldn’t say no. We then had a lovely dinner of paella and other seafood, washed down with a lovely bottle of white wine. The boys had spotted another ice cream shop which they wanted to have pudding from. The ice cream tasted like Ferrero Roche chocolates. It was a lovely evening.

The next day we left Baiona as the sun rose at 8.30am. We started with no wind but half way into the journey we got 8 knots of breeze from behind so the kite was hoisted and soon we were doing 6 to 7 knots towards Povoa de Varzim in Portugal. We had more Dolphins come and play and arrived at 4pm.