Ensenada Del Sardiñeiro

Sometimes being at anchor can be seen as rolling the dice, are we going to drag? Will the wind change direction pushing us onshore? Will the tide swing us ? the trick is to load the die in your favour, it's still a gamble but taking into account all the relevant factors all should be well barring acts of God.

We gambled on the weather being as predicted we also had a side bet on the holding and shelter afforded by our little bay. In deciding to stay we were achieving a degree of independence from  the tyranny of marinas and stating our confidence in our judgement and ground tackle. To be honest Lynne and I have ridden out gale force winds at anchor before now and we felt the need to return to that simpler ethos. Besides the sun was out! Decision to stay taken we piled in the dinghy to go and explore the next bay along playa Esoedi. As we rounded the point separating the two bays we spotted a hidden little beach which was completely deserted.

It was awfully hot! And the predicted force 5 winds were certainly not in evidence here in our sheltered little bay.

Perfect, even had a swing.

The sand however was almost too hot to walk on.

We spent a delightful few hours on our little paradise of a bay. I walked up to the pine clad headland to investigate the cracking noises we had been hearing, it turned out to be the sound of pine cones opening.

All around Ensenada Del Sardiñeiro are to found a typical Galician edifice, the ' horreo' it is a grain and other agricultural products storage place, it's design dates back to Roman times.

This is one on the headland with a rather nice view of Dark Tarn anchored further out in the first bay.

Most are topped with a crucifix. They are constructed from stone in this part of Galicia, a cleverer man than I could tell you the part of Galicia you were presently occupying just by the design of the horreos.

As the day continued to get hotter we got back in the dinghy and continued to the next bay of Escordi. We landed and were able to walk from a small beach to the main playa all the while being surrounded by fish in the water.

The beach seemed very popular which is probably as it has a campsite hidden in the pine woods. The hotel had some shady tables so we ordered a beer, quite expensive at 5 euros! For two.

After a look around we decided to avoid the crowds and return to our beach for a final swim and a shower.

As it was Saturday we had a last supply run to the supermarkado passing more  horreos as we wandered into town.

These are often used as meeting places to sit and chat in the shade by the more mature residents. 

Showered and resupplied we then experimented with salt water and shampoo for hair washing in Dark Tarns cockpit, using our crude shower as a final fresh water rinse, Lynne was feeling a little cruddy having been nearly a week at anchor. The experiment proved a total success!  As Lynne began to prepare a meal several boats came in to share the anchorage, a Spanish motor sailor and catamaran were followed by an old friend. I called Lynne to come and see what was obviously a pilot cutter making a very impressive entrance under sail.

Although her hull was a different colour I thought I recognised the boat as the ' Agnes' a Scillonian pilot cutter that was owned and built by Luke Powell who runs it as a charter boat. If you are interested in traditional sailing craft and skills look no further. Recommended.

Luke brought Agnes in under sail and circled Dark Tarn before dropping anchor behind us.

All done in a very seamanlike fashion. It didn't feel at all strange to see a Cornish pilot cutter flying into a bay in Galicia and folding her wings for the night. Quite fabulous.

I had last seen Agnes and Luke in 2008 in Fishguard in Wales. She is a fantastic boat and even though she looks a hundred years old she is in fact only half Dark Tarns age.

After tea we ran over in the dinghy and were invited ashore to join the charter crew. It turned out one of them, Penny was having a birthday and we were invited to a local restaurant to meet everyone.

Penny is the lady above Lynnes head sitting next to Luke, Pennys husband is on Lynnes right. We had a lovely time and were made to feel very welcome and promised to try and meet up again between here and Vigo. Incidentally if you want to sail Agnes from Coruña to Vigo the 10 day trip will cost you £1395 plus flights. That evening the stars were even better and the Milky Way was very clear. Lynne wanted to stay another day as she was beginning to enjoy the peace and feel of the place. It was beginning to feel a bit special, I have to admit.