Costa da Morte
01 July 2016 | Galicia, Spain
T
Barnacles for dinner anyone?
The waters south of A Coruna down towards the Portuguese border is called Costa de Morte ( in Gallecian ) or Costa del Muerto in Spanish. That translates to 'Coast of Death' in English. It's an area know for strong winds, waves crashing onto shore, ship wrecks and fog.
Since Judy and I don't like to die alone, we invited my childhood friend Kim to come help us muscle Tivoli south in these dangerous waters.
He joined us in A Coruna with a backpack big enough to hold a guitar, and we got under way the next morning after recovering from our initial late night dinner!
The forecast for day 1 was for Force 5, 6 or 7, which are gale conditions, so we went out with a reef in the Main which was good since it helped to avoid the boom trying to rip off the mast in the lazy ocean swell, light breeze and drizzly fog. We have since moved another 100 Miles down the coast between beautiful anchorages in mostly the same light conditions.
One highlight was rounding Cape Finsterra in beautiful sunshine. This was considered the end of the world until Columbus stumbled upon North America. Encouraged by the nice views from the Ocean, we actually managed to assemble all parts of the dinghy and outboard and dinghy into town for a hike to the Lighthouse. (First time we have actually used the dinghy in Europe!!) By the time we got there the visibility was about 20 Yards!
Now, on the plus side, we are having a very nice time together, and are continuing enjoying the culinary experience of Northern Spain. The seafood is absolutely incredible, and Judy is constantly encouraging us to try new and different things.
So in Finsterra we tried one very special local course called Percebes. Basically, these are steamed Barnacles that you twist to expose the meat, then eat and wash down with a cold glass of local Albarino white wine. It tasted quite nice, and only Judy and Kim felt slightly upset to their stomachs the next morning.