Blog 17: The Costa da Morte and Cape Finisterre

So at last we have almost reached the ‘corner’, i.e. the north-west tip of Spain which early explorers thought was the end of the earth – Cape Finisterre.  But before that we have to negotiate the Costa da Morte, which translates from Galician as the ‘Coast of Death’!  It is so named because there have been many shipwrecks along its treacherous rocky shore, which is exposed directly to the Atlantic Ocean.  It stretches from just after A Coruña to Muros, beyond Cape Finisterre and has few harbours and little shelter.

Unfortunately the forecast is not good enough for us to set out today – the Atlantic swell is still too high.  But the marina in A Coruña is so ‘loppy’ when ships go past that we might as well go and anchor somewhere while we wait for the weather to improve – it’ll probably be calmer and certainly cheaper!

It was quite rough even within the sheltered waters of the Ria in which A Coruña is situated, so we made the right decision not to go round the corner today.  

It’s lovely and sunny though, so everything looks pretty – it’s nice to see Ares properly – we anchored there before in thick fog.

This time we anchored in Redes, which is a picturesque village spreading up the hillside, with a pretty beach and boats in the foreground, and just a gentle lapping to rock us to sleep.

The next day dawned dry and greyish, but calm enough to set off along the Costa da Morte.  

Here’s the Tower of Hercules and the city of A Coruña as the early morning mist clears.

The Atlantic swell was still there, but it was safe enough for us to make our passage, and we have obviously become used to it as we were quite happy to read, go below into the cabin to make tea, get snacks etc without feeling ‘funny’!

It was a long day of mostly motoring as we wanted to get to Camariñas ready to round Cape Finisterre tomorrow.

We had a lovely lunch stop at Illas Sisargas, a tiny anchorage behind some tiny islands. 

To reach the anchorage we have to negotiate our way through this rocky approach – you can see the sea breaking on the submerged rocks.

It doesn’t look as if there’s a way through …

… but, once there, it’s incredibly sheltered compared to the Atlantic Ocean just beyond!  It’s a bird sanctuary as we could instantly tell from the all-encompassing sound of birdsong.  It’s a delightful spot and possibly the only place a boat of Astraia’s size could stop along this inhospitable coast.  

Back out in the Atlantic, the Costa da Morte looks quite benign in a photo, but actually there was an underlying swell which made us roll from side to side with a big swaying motion, causing things to be thrown round the cabin if they’re not properly secured!

This friendly dolphin swam right next to the boat for a while.

Finally in the late afternoon we got a breath of wind and sailed the last few miles, enjoying the peace and quiet without the engine.

This is our view looking upwards from the deck at the sails, sun and clouds.

This is the dramatic headland of Cabo Vilán on the approach to Camariñas.

We anchored for the night in Camariñas, a lovely Ria and a very calm anchorage.  Not particularly peaceful though, as there’s some sort of fiesta happening on the beach with steel bands and Spanish dance music!

The following day started greyish, but with enough breeze to sail the whole day. 

‘Action shot’ of winching in the mainsail!

Once clear of the Ria we had a beautiful and comfortable sail most of the day with the wind on the quarter and not too much swell. 

Looks like harder work going the other way!

One little bit of excitement was hearing a Mayday call over the radio on my watch from a solo sailor whose engine had failed and whose boat was taking in water too.  We stayed relatively close in case we could help, but actually there was a lifeboat station nearby and we watched him being towed into harbour before we continued on our way.

Approaching Cape Finisterre – today it’s a ‘pussy cat’, as they say!

Rounding Cape Finisterre – I wonder how many days of the year it looks as lovely and benign as this?

Now we’re past Cape Finisterre and on the west coast.

Beautiful coastline.

As we approached Ria Muros, I sat on the bow and watched the dolphins and also dozens of crabs swimming near the surface – the water was so clear I could see them easily. I didn’t realise crabs liked to swim so close to the surface.

This is a view of Astraia from my seat in the bow looking back towards the stern and showing our bow wave – we are creaming along at about 8 knots.

We anchored in Ria Muros in the Ensenada de San Francisco, a nice wide bay with lovely sandy beach and I had a refreshing swim, followed by ‘sundowners’ in the cockpit.

This was a lovely sight coming down the Ria in the evening sunshine.

What a super day to achieve the passage round Cape Finisterre!

We’re now in the beautiful sheltered sailing area known as the Spanish Rias where we intend to spend some time exploring.