We left Ribadeo around midday waiting for slack water as there is a vicious back eddy by our pontoon. In the Rias, the ebb tide runs strong so care is needed manoeuvring in tight spots like marinas. We wanted to make our way further west so that we can get to A Coruna as soon as the swell dies down as it is forecast to be more than 3 metres tomorrow and Friday. The swell is created far out in the Atlantic and actually isn’t anything to do with the strength of the wind locally.

As is always the way, the wind was coming from the direction we wanted to go and we also had the Atlantic swell to content with so going was very slow under sail. As we wanted to get to Viveiro before dark and the GPS had our eta as midnight, we put the engine on for a few hours.

Once we had rounded the headland we then had a cracking sail with two reefs in the main sail (so that the main was smaller) and managed 9 knots boat speed. We have found that no matter what direction we want to go in, the swell/tide is always against us. Hopefully this will change once we go round the NW corner of Spain!

The Rias have been described as a bit like Norwegian fjords but they haven’t impressed yet. They are large river estuaries but Scottish lochs have impressed us more. To be fair, the prettiest ones are supposed to be around the corner towards A Coruna. We will probably stay here at Ria de Viveiro for a couple of days for the swell to settle and the wind to go round to the NE.

Picture of Viveiro with its colourful house fronts – popular in Galicia.