Ría Cedeira or onwards towards A Coruña?

Isla de Area provided shelter but it was a rolly night at anchor around high tide. Not very different though to one off the Channel Islands when there is swell.  However, in the morning the rollers sweeping onto the beach close by were impressive and we could see the large waves forming at the edges of the ría and smashing into the cliffs with white spume thrown high. We didn’t want to get within ¼ of a mile of the edges of the ría as we departed and, as we looked back, the swell kept obscuring the town.

We cleared the fierce looking rocks off Cabo Órtegal and enjoyed the sunshine and scenery as we headed west. We passed lots of small swimming crabs and even saw a sunfish lounging on the surface.
















The swell, however, was ever present and had built to a good 4 metres. Enough to totally obscure the coasters passing us. As we came abeam Ría de Cedeira it was decision time. The ría was directly open to the 4 metre swell and is about ½ a mile wide. We remembered that we hadn’t wanted to get within ¼ of a mile of the edges of the Ría de Viveiro earlier in the morning and so, with an even larger swell running now, we reluctantly passed by. A shame as Ría de Cedeira is reported to be very scenic.

 

We headed on to explore the rías around A Coruña. We planned to start with the most northerly one, Ría de Ferrol. It is a long natural harbour with excellent shelter, home to one of the major Spanish Navy bases, many industrial complexes and a new commercial container ship port being constructed at its entrance. Ominously one pilot book stated that, “it offers little for cruising yachts”.