Finisterre

A quick moving frontal system gave us some unseasonal rainy grey weather and forced us to postpone our departure for a day as we have discovered neither of us like to plow to windward in the rain. We decided to sit it out until the following day when the winds were due to come northerly again. We huddled below reading and catching up with emails when after lunch the sun came out albeit with a few scudding clouds. We emptied the dinghy and went ashore finding a nice cafe overlooking the harbour. We were delighted to receive churros as a free tapas with our coffees.

As we wandered into town we heard the distinctive tap tap of the lacemakers and spent some time watching two ladies making bobbin lace, Even though I watched them closely I still have no clear idea how it's done but the results are beautiful. Their skill is amazing.

Lots of examples are for sale and you can also commission a one off, with your Name or initials for example.

We had a quick look a the marina which lies over the new harbour bridge.

The town is a working fishing village and isn't very touristy.

However the real attraction is the superb anchorage, and the scenery of the Ria

. That evening the clouds that remained were turned a vivid pink shade at sunset.

We hoped it augered well for the morning.

We were up and about from 8 o'clock as the tides dictated an early start. I wanted to take the ebb down to Finisterre and hoped to arrive at around low water and slacks. We raised the main and motored down the Ria in light winds. There was a small convoy of boats leaving. We passed the unfortunate church of La Virgen de la Barca that was destroyed by fire started by a lightning strike in 2013..

I must say it looked in remarkably good shape, I'm assuming it has been repaired.

The winds remained very light and after a few hours we gave up trying to keep the sails up as the slatting was driving us nuts. We continued under engine and before long had passed Cabo Toriñana, 

This is actually the most western point of europe and not Cabo Finisterre, which can be seen in the background.

That day was sunny and warm and far more pleasant than it would have been the day before!

We approached the famous headland at Finisterre just after lunchtime , no time for lunch for us though

as we passed on the inside passage about 200 metres off the rocks, turning into the Seno de Corcubión and towards the village of Finisterre a little way up the inside of the peninsular. Our real destination however was a small bay at the top of the Ria called the Ensanada del Sardiñeiro. This we reached after 3 miles or so.

A lovely bay and beach and we had it all to ourselves! We anchored in just over 6 metres of crystal clear water.

Lynne and I wasted no time sorting the boat, Lynne put the sails to bed as I blew up the dinghy. After lunch the dinghy was launched and we went ashore to explore and have a swim. We found one Panadaria ( which had no bread ) a mini supermarket several bars and cafes, a superb seafront and a marvellous beach. What more could we need. We also discovered the water was just as chilly as Camariñas. Brrrrr......

Dark Tarn is the only boat at anchor in the bay in the above photo. We spent some time in a lovely shady beach front bar discussing the weather as it seemed to be on the change and strong winds were forcast for the following week. We decided to see what the morning  looked like. We would either stay or do a quick run down to Ria Muros about 20 miles away where we knew there was a marina which would offer good shelter. Also our Irish friends were somewhere there too, Decisions, decisions..........

That evening we went ashore to eat at the same small cafe bar we had visited in the afternoon. We were hoping to have sardines but they had all been pre-booked, ah well try again tommorow and get our request in early maybe. The proprietor cooks them over wood coals and they smell delicious!

We had to content ourselves with other fare, these are the little sweet peppers known as pimientos de pardon. Flash fried in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, Scrummy.....

Dark Tarn was still alone on this near perfect anchorage as the wind dropped as was usual in the evenings. Open only to the south and with very good holding in sand this is a lovely spot.

There is a boardwalk runs around the beach and the flora in the small dunes is outstanding.

On one side are the small holdings of the locals and on the other grow cactus succulents and orchids.

Quite lovely. As we reached the end of the boardwalk and dropped down to the beach the old adage about there always being a serpent in Eden came true once more. As we walked along the beach the night residents were out and about. Sand hoppers, literally thousands of them. Harmless but Lynne was less than enthusiastic about this fauna! Of course she had taken off her sandals too as the sands came alive with hopping insects!

We hurried back to the dinghy and retreated to the boat to watch the stars come out as the land faded away into the dark.

An occasional gust came across the water to squirrel the boat around but nothing to worry about......so far.