Good afternoon! Pretty windy in Bayona today, though the sun is shining, which apparently cannot be said for soggy Britain.
Yesterday Dave and I joined the majority of our fellow ARC Portugal sailors on a coach trip to Santiago de Compostella, destination for several million pilgrims each year who travel the Camino de Santiago, the Saint James pilgrimage route. The purported remains of Saint James are housed in the cathedral. A very knowledgeable local guide took us on a 2 hour tour of the cathedral area, including the square which was packed with scores of pilgrims nursing sore feet, as well as many who had journeyed there on mountain bikes. To complete the pilgrimage on foot takes around 30 days, each day pilgrims collect stamps in a special passport. Just in case you are considering doing the journey on horseback you’ve got to be quick because horses have to be out of town by 9am, otherwise you’ll get thrown in the stocks (I made that bit up, though it’s true that horses aren’t allowed in town after 9am).
Andy didn’t join us on the tour, instead undertaking his own pilgrimage to find a new music/radio system. The old one packed up in La Coruna and we couldn’t endure Dave’s singing any longer! It sounds like the trek to track down a new system was an adventure in itself that would be worthy of it’s own blog. Sadly, the shop sold him the wrong model and once installed I then somehow managed to change the language setting to Russian followed by Turkish. Amazing how nothing works how you want it to when you’re away from home and the pressure’s on to fix it. Fortunately we were able to swap the item today and we no longer have to endure Dave’s singing. Music situation resolved.
Last night we all dressed up for prize giving and dinner hosted by Monte Real Club de Yates (the yacht club). Sadly, Girolle didn’t win any of the prizes that were up for grabs but there’s still time! Those who stayed out in the ocean during Storm Miguel got special mention (some were prize winners too).
Today some of the crews have gone on an undulating walking tour but The Girolle crew decided it sounded far too energetic so we’re sticking to the R&R option.
Tomorrow morning we are due to set sail for Povoa de Varzim in Portugal. If this wind keeps up we will not be needing the spinnaker on the next leg. Our adventure continues.
Photo: Prize-giving - the crews who sailed across the Bay of Biscay without stopping at land to shelter from Storm Miguel
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