We are on our way again, going to another Rias (gorge/bay) called Muros. We had to spend three days at Camarinas because the first day we were going to leave the fog was so thick we couldn't see more than a few yards, then the next day there were gale force winds forecast along our planned route.
It was interesting to see just how the locals celebrated their special festival though so we were happy to stay for that. It is only a town of 6,000 people, but they have a five day festival for the blessing of the fishing fleet. The festivities are extraordinary. As well as decorating their boats with flags and plants and hundreds of people going out on the boats for the ceremony, which includes throwing wreaths into the sea in memory of lost fishermen, there are also many carnival rides etc set up along the waterfront and teams of gypsies with stands selling all kinds of junk, plus food stalls and a couple of huge stalls selling every kind of alcoholic drink available. Several times a day someone lets off rockets which make a deafening bang and some of these have an arrow attached. The arrows land in the sea or land or on boats! Very dangerous! while the rockets are firing there is a siren blaring, I guess to warn everyone to watch out for the arrows.
The most extraordinary aspect of the festival is that performing bands arrive, each one with their own enormous stage which is set up on a lorry as the base and they have very sophisticated sound and light equipment. The bands start playing at about midnight and alternate performing all during the night until about 8.00 am. At 1.00 am on the first night they also have a spectacular fireworks display. So there are multiple noises all day and night, except during the afternoon siesta time.
We were pleased to be able to leave today as it would be hard to deal with three more days of so much noise.
We stayed at the small town marina with a pleasant cafe/bar/ restaurant overlooking the boats and ate out two of the nights, eating lots more of the local seafood, but last night really enjoyed having roast lamb on board. The legs of lamb were so tiny we needed three of them to feed the five of us, so they were indeed succulent and tasty. The town is not picturesque because the building style around this area is just concrete box-style homes, but the bay is very attractive, with several sandy beaches. The water is only about 18 degrees C so we were not tempted to go swimming yet. Yesterday we did go for a very pleasant two hour walk out to the headland where there is an old church on the hilltop but we were very surprised at not finding a church anywhere in the town.
Our day at Santiago de Compostela has certainly been the highlight of this area as far as history and architecture are concerned but apparently the towns are supposed to become more picturesque as we travel further south.
At present we are actually sailing, the first time we have had both the main sail and the headsail up since we left Ipswich. With such a bright blue sky we should have a warm day.