Mary: Just to set the scene with you I am sitting in a very deluxe lounge almost gentlemens club type of place, cool (temp. wise) with restaurant/bar and a waitress who is very attentive. Next table along a group of gentlemen have arrived and are playing dominos all say hello to me and tell me it’s ok to stay where I am. Just hope they play fair and don’t argue. Now for the latest.

David meets his mum at the airport, back to Santiago then on to Camarinas and on board. As you can see from the photos Mumsie is tempted to ring the incense container in the cathedral, I’m sure it must have a name and that is something that you could email me about! Lunch is at one of the many restaurants in Santiago, coffee in a bowl rather than the wine. I am all ship shape for them, even although I had spent most of the afternoon in one of the pubs, all for research, speaking to the owner about local food and some of the customers, one couple from Falkirk! The owner lived in Londres for a number of years so her English was very good, and made my life easier. She was very keen for me to know that she was Galican, first and Spanish second. So we had a lot in common being Scottish! We,re all celts! I also managed a trip to the library to look through some cook books, I should have taken a dictionary with me, they didn’t have many pictures! Also a trip around the lace shops Camarinas which is well known for its lace making and everyone seems to have a lace making pillow around them.

We decided to take a walk towards the lighthouse, but got distracted by the sandy beach and were kicking ourselves for not taking swimming gear. As in other areas, we saw small areas of cultivated ground with a border of cabbages, now why do they grow cabbages around their vegetable crops? I have not yet been able to find out, my quest is ongoing. Perhaps I should ask the domino players here but they are rather intent on their game.

David has a shopping trip ashore to find someone to cut some wood for him, boards to cover windows should we lose a window at sea. The joiners shop was very efficient and had the boards ready in a couple of hours and at a very reasonable cost. Enough time for lunch and to take us all ashore where we see the lace makers in action at their kitchen table. Early afternoon and we lift anchor to go around Finisterre, the dreaded Finisterre, finis terrae – end of the earth. In shipping forecast Finisterre was replaced by Fitzroy in Feb.2002 because the Spanish and British agreed to differ on the definition of the area. Fitzroy is named after Vice Admiral Robert Fitzroy 1805 – 65, commander of HMS Beagle, governor of New Zealand and founder of British Meteorological Office in 1853.
The wind picks up and we have a cracking sail down wind up to force 6, glad now we put the reef in before we left! Just as the wind comes it goes and we continue sailing, now with full main. In the reduced wind Mumsie takes control, and works as lookout. The wind dies away completely and we end up motoring into Ria Muros, anchor goes down with the sun. During the night I wake to hear an engine and find that there are half a dozen fishing boats lifting their pots at midnight. I stay up till they have all gone, David is more relaxed and disappears of to bed. As in lots of areas in Spain we find lots and lots of little fishing boats in the morning. Fishing, chatting, drifting but I don’t see many lines being pulled in with fish on the end! Its hot and we decide to move to Muros town, there are lots of mussel beds around here, guess the mussels in the restaurants come from somewhere! After shopping we move to anchor up the ria, it’s a short distance and so we only roll out the genoa. A First 40.7 is out with just a number 3 genoa , we drift along together.

Next stop is for lunch at Illa de Ons. Lots of campers enjoying the freedom the island brings. The night we spend at Porto Nova, just anchored in front of the buoys laid out for swimming, no swimmers but plenty of flies. We buzz off in the morning.

Mumsie is on watch again when she spots a pair of dolphins, it is so exciting to see them. They come with exuberance and have a whole range of favourite games to play around the bow and on the quarterwave. No matter how often you see them it is always so exciting. They oblige by playing for long enough for Mum to get to the bow to see their antics. Illas Cies and anchor down initially for lunch, we walk ashore, we have coffee and enjoy the rain and decide to stay the night. Ashore we meet a French lady who has just completed the pilgrimage walk to Santiago. A total for her route of 1000 miles, over a period of four years with two weeks each year. I asked her what she was going to do now and she didn’t know. She laughed when she said that they went to Finisterre to burn her clothes but she didn’t have any matches so just put them in the bin! Perhaps she will have to walk it again with matches.

The sun sets behind the island, and all is calm. The morning brings the sound of an engine it’s a fisherman dragging nets very close to another anchored boat. He drops a buoy, motors forward, lets the nets out, drifts back (now really close to the anchored boat) and pulls the nets in. All very simple but would worry me if he was beside us.
Vigo is the next stop, lots of shipping which we need to avoid, a big city with various marinas, we radio the marina in the centre, they are extremely nice and come out with a dinghy to escort us into a tight marina. What a delight to be here in the middle of everything, restaurants, shop, chandlers (just for David) and this wonderful club house that I am in now. A meal out tonight with Mumsie her last night with us here.
It was great having Mumsie with us, she is so enthusiastic about what we are doing and delighted to be taking part. I just hope that when David is 88 he will still be able to sail because if not he will be incredibly difficult to live with.