Castello de San Felipe in Ría de Ferrol

We anchored in Ría de Ferrol for two nights. Ashore we explored the quite village and, having paid our €1.10 entrance fee, spent a few hours crawling over the walls of Castello de San Felipe. It is remarkably well preserved including the anchors which secured the ends of the large chain which was strung across the across the ría in the 1800s to protect it from attack by the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy did try to take the ría on 26 August 1800 but the attack was defeated by the Spanish. To celebrate their victory over the British there is a re-enactment of the fight every year; a shame we were too early in the year to see that.

 

Oscar’s photo of BV

Whilst we were sitting in the cockpit a Spanish yacht, Anandes, sailed close by. The couple onboard (Oscar and Patricia) spoke excellent English and were very complementary about BV. During our conversation they enthusiastically recommended that if we liked this anchorage we should visit the Ría de Ares. In particular the area around Redes which is the village where they live. That seemed to answer the question as to where next, so the following morning (12 May) we raised the anchor an headed for the Ría de Ares.