Sunday August 11th to Wednesday August 14th Muros to Ria Betanzos


Shortly after 8am we said farewell to Muros, rounded Lauro and headed into the open sea, sailing sufficiently far west to miss off lying rocks and then gybing north to round Finisterre and the famously treacherous Cote de Morte with the wind behind us.

The forecast was S F4 and good visibility, but as we headed north, the wind increased to F5/6 gusting F8 and the visibility dropped to 300 metres, not pleasant.  We reefed the sails and were reassured when we tracked another vessel by radar alone.  It had no AIS signal, and we identified it as a fishing boat as it appeared briefly from the mist, crossing our stern.


We noted eight other sailing boats on AIS taking this opportunity to head north, and saw many of them again in the coming days.

As we approached the Ria de Camarinas and Muxia, the mist lifted, and the strong southerly winds made Muxia, in the south of the Ria, the obvious choice for the night.  However, we first had to furl our sails, and discovered that our genoa would not fully roll up.  In the smooth waters and gentler winds of the Ria, I went forward to fix the problem, but couldn’t find the expected riding turn or any other issue.  Thankfully, we were able to completely unfurl the sail and then furl it again fully without problem.

In Muxia, we went out for a late lunch and joined the last of a weekend of celebrations for seafarers, with street vendors’ stalls selling food and handicrafts, parades of bagpipes and percussion, and just after dark, a firework display.  Muxia put on quite a show for a town of less than 5,000.

Cabo Vilan, departing the Ria de Camarinas & Muxia

On Monday we again headed north, aiming for Sada in the Ria de Betanzos, a trip of more than fifty miles, with mist and drizzle and no wind all day.  We couldn’t even see the tower of Hercules, at Coruna, less than a mile away.
Malpica, a mile away in poor visibility

But a warm welcome awaited us.  This summer, we’ve become avid users of “Navily”, a community driven smartphone app, that overlays icons for marinas and anchorages on a satellite map, each location giving a lot of information.  We’ve been well informed by reviews from other users, and have added our own contributions.  Furthermore, many marinas in Galicia, allow bookings via Navily.  Gone are the days of uncertainty about where we might be staying tonight.


Club Nautico de Sada also helped catch our mooring lines, and gave us a welcome free drink in their splendid club house.  A nice end to a tedious day.

La Terraaza Modernist Art Nouveau in Sada


Sada has the most extensive chandlery I’ve seen all summer, enabling me to make a couple of repairs during a rainy Tuesday.

Ares at the north of Ria de Betanzos

On Wednesday the sun came out again, and we sailed to the north of the Ria to Ares, a popular and well protected beach resort, where we plan to stay at anchor for a few days.

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