Plans Plans Plans: Coast of Death

Woken by the bells, at least I think I was, we put on the kettle and prepared to leave Corme. I think we were the third boat to leave and after a cup of coffee we raised anchor left the harbour wall astern and raised sail. The winds were extremely light and were astern as we rounded the headland near Camelle, mentioned in our pilot only as unfortunately, a place to be avoided, due to its rock strewn nature and as a dangerous lee shore.

But not today, the sea was like glass with only a hint of swell until we cleared the headland and headed towards Cabo Villano. The increase in swell and the fact that we were going ' with' the already light winds meant our sails were unable to dampen the rolling and thus were slatting from side to side, not good for them so we dropped the sails and motored. This coast has a history of numerous shipwrecks a famous one amongst navy men is the story of the ' Serpent ' which was lost in 1890 with all hands bar three who managed to make it ashore and walk to a local village and raise the alarm. The remaining 172 were buried at what became the ' English graveyard', by the villagers, at Boi point. The very place that had claimed the ' Serpent'. Apparently up until the 1950s Royal Navy ships would salute as they passed the spot in thanks to the villagers.

After a few hours the headland of Cabo Vilan, or Villano came abeam with its distinctive lighthouse and yet another wind farm, this coast has lots of them. The lighthouse is linked to the lighthouse keepers cottage by a tunnel, a possibly unique arrangement.

Beyond the scary looking rocks lay.............more rocks! Well this is the Coast of Death after all.

Which may explain the serious look on my face in the above photo, all was well really and we did the usual dogleg to avoid the entrance reefs and were soon entering the beautiful Ria de Camariñas.

We took a quick look at The fishing harbour and continued up the Ria to a point opposite Cala de Vila, where we had planned to anchor. We were not alone but there was plenty of room. Strangely it was quite windy at the head of the Ria Which was having a funnelling effect, however on the other side of the headland, where we had been an hour before, it was very light winds. Wierd.

The village itself looked quite attractive but it was the beach at Cala de Vila which was attracting Lynne and I and its prospects for a swim. We lost no time having a late lunch and blowing up the dinghy to go ashore.

What a shore it was! Silvery sand and azure sea, surrounded by lush pine forest. Absolutely stunning, I confess to wondering why we were travelling all the way to the Caribean when there were places like this to visit.

However beautiful the inviting water seemed it was actually quite cold, possibly because being a Ria it is fed by mountain streams. Chilly though the water was, the sun was incredibly hot and we had to grin and bear a couple of swims at least to cool down.

Lynne found it easier eventually to sit in the shade. Later we took the dinghy to explore the village, which didn't take long however we did have our cheapest coffees ever at two euros for both on a cafe by the harbour. The village had a couple of supermarkets and if the weather got up a marina to hide in. We decided to stay another day and relax. It seemed to have everything we needed for the moment.

Finisterre could wait.........