When we aren’t having ‘adventures’ like losing the propeller, we sail uneventfully from place to place. In this case, we sailed along the Costa del Morte (the Coast of Death!) from Laxe to the Ria de Camariñas, averaging 5–6 knots with no trimming of sails (tweaking bits of string until the sail shape looks about right).

The Costa del Morte from a safe distance.

A closer look at the Costa del Morte. To get an idea of the scale of these rocks, the lighthouse keeper’s house on the right was a three-storey mansion.

Camariñas

The scenery in the Ria de Camariñas is stunning – in some places more like the shores of a Canadian lake than the Atlantic coast of Europe, and in others like the Caribbean. The town itself is a bit disappointing and has its back to the Ria – we nearly didn’t stick around. However, we upped anchor and moved across the Ria to explore the beaches.

The view from CAPE’s cockpit over breakfast.

When the expected Southerly gale swept in, we went into the marina (Club Nautico Camariñas) which was efficient and friendly with a cheap bar and lots of people on passage. We would like to thank Nick and Cathy (FAIRWINDS) and Richard and Eilish (and Matthew) (GRANUAILE) for lots of advice, inspiration and a stonking hangover. We hope to catch up with you again sometime, somewhere between 30 North and 30 South!!!

On hearing about the floods back home in the UK, David, Bethany and Bryn perfect their flood rescue technique.

The mundane side of life on board – but at least it’s not raining!

Sarah proving to the crew who really wields the power on CAPE. “Next time you moan about having to peel the potatoes, Lawrence…”

On the fish front

Once we were safely anchored off Camariñas, a shoal of trigger fish took up residence under the boat. While they aren’t the sharpest tool in the box, they do have big dorsal spikes and sharp teeth, so handle with care! In fact they are so stupid that they kept chasing the same plastic fish, getting caught again and again for 3 hours, providing great entertainment for the crew of CAPE. David even caught one on a fly rod – the first outing for the fly rod since the River Dee.

Taking trigger fish for a walk – they followed the lure around the boat for hours.

This trigger fish was gutted to find himself inside the boat – then on the chopping board.

On the fish front, we have added trigger fish, mackerel (Spanish mackerel have slightly different markings and green tails) and flounder to the menu. The trigger fish needed a scalpel to cut through the skin it was so tough. Not worth the effort either – if we get another one it will be trigger curry unless anyone out there has a good trigger fish recipe (Sturdy – over to you!). The flounder ended up as fish pie (with added tinned tuna) one evening and the leftovers were recycled into fishcakes for lunch the next day. I have to say that there will be a whole section on fishcakes in the cook book. We are also now very selective about which mullet we eat and only take ones from the cleanest anchorages – we've seen what they will eat given the chance... Lawrence continues to search for the elusive razor clams without success. The kids and I collected a quarter of a bucket of clams before a nature reserve man appeared to inform us that we weren't supposed to be collecting them on that particular beach. We didn’t tell him about the flounder we shot with the spear gun just off the beach!

That particular beach.

Muxia

Muxia is across the Ria from Camariñas. It is quieter (in fact so quiet that the shops didn’t re-open after siesta!) and a bit classier than Camariñas. We did the cultural bit here, visiting the impressive 17^th Century church of La Virgen de la Barca, which has ship models suspended from its ceiling. Unfortunately even this was closed with viewing only allowed through a grille.

Anchored inside the harbour at Muxia.

The church of La Virgen de la Barca has ship models suspended from its ceiling.

Opinions were split on this bit of modern art.

Caption competition

Answers by e-mail please! We will publish the winning entry in the next blog…

And while you’re at it, please give us some feedback. Let us know what bits of life on board you want to hear about and we’ll do our best to answer your questions honestly (the clean ones anyway).