Polluted waters in Spanish Rias

Leixoes turned out to be my last port of call in Portugal. I had originally intended to stop in Viana do Castelo but changed my mind on route as the weather was so enjoyable.

Not so pleasant was the amount of pollution in the water. Large patches of sea along the coast here, can only be described as truly repulsive. I was beginning to wonder whether my cooling system might clog motoring through this soup of effluent discharge!

What is this odd vessel?

I passed the time trimming sails that didn’t need trimming, rigging a boom keeper just for the practice and watching odd ships pass by. The one pictured here wins the prize for “oddest vessel of the day”. Goodness knows what sort of ship it is. If anyone knows, feel free to enlighten me. Fortunately there was little in the way of swell, because it certainly didn’t look very seaworthy.

Arriving in Bayona at dusk, I thought to anchor for the night. Unfortunately the anchorages marked on my charts turned out to be occupied by private moorings. I only discovered the next day that picking up a buoy for the night would have been fine. As it was, I took the advice (shouted by an English crew) that “this marina is cheap”, and took an outer berth at the Monterreal Club de Yates (at the foot of Bayona’s castle) for the night.

View from marina, Bayona Spain

The following morning, as I sat at the marina cafe admiring the view from the fortifications which included the replica of Columbus’ ship the Pinta berthed nearby, I satisfied myself that English dry humour and the 16 Euro a night fee were not so acerbic. 😉