10th to 11th October 2017
Just one night at this beautiful place. Anchored easily, the only boat in the harbour, giving the pier and the nearby rock a wide berth but staying close to the beach. While in Ria Arousa the sea-water cooling our port engine stopped pumping, meaning we couldn’t use the engine (except in an emergency). Charlotte and I had checked it out and deduced that it was the sea-water inlet, which on that engine comes from the saildrive leg, that was causing the problem, and we couldn’t fix it from in the boat. So, when we got settled in a quiet anchorage I took a quick dip to clean it out. Fixed the engine and gave the kids an example of the early symptoms of hypothermia in one go – we really need wetsuits for the adults on board, as well as the kids.
We had a restful night, then woke up to a sea mist and many fishermen working “traditionally” (i.e. by hand) the next morning. When we got to the island we learnt that other forms of fishing were banned in the national park, which makes me wish I had taken pictures of the purse-seine fishing boat which was operating within a few hundred meters of us the night before.
On the island we went for a long walk down a well marked path. We saw loads of interesting things, including horses wandering around the island and lizards which may have been skinks, both of which fascinated the kids. Visited a museum of life on the island which had a variety of farming materials and a display showing the possessions of a couple of former inhabitants. Oh, and King Arthur’s sword! Ended with lunch on the beach and a visit to some of the best rockpools we have come across. A great day.
It is worth noting that, as with each of the islands in the national park, you have to apply for a permit to anchor – see here for information. We applied a couple of days beforehand, and had the permit e-mailed to us the next working day. You then have to select the DAYS you intend to spend at each location, as we now realise having spoken to a local cruiser and re-read the form. We only selected the nights, but as nobody checked our permit while we were on the island it was not a problem!
