As we left A Coruna we passed Torres de Hercules which we had previously visited on foot. Torres de Hercules claims to be the oldest operational lighthouse in the world. This is not quite true. It was built by the Romans and then rebuilt in the 1900s on top of the original foundations to a different size and plan. It is still working but this all seems to be just a little too economical with the truth.

We left A Coruna for a short, unnecessary stop in Corme after another fantastic sail. The unnecessary stop meant that we then had to motor the following day, through fog, into Ria Camarinas.

The Spanish rias are a little like small fjords with steeply rising cliffs and mountains in the background. They are all really beautiful and getting more so (and more gentle) as we travel South. All the rias are littered with huge viveros which are large (20mx20m) floating fish farms, mostly unlit at night. During the day, as you look across the ria they appear like the massed ranks of destroyers before a major sea battle. It really looks like the fleet is in town.

As we move South the towns have become less impoverished and the tourists more plentiful. There is still much work to be done in the Asturias and Galician tourist boards.
In Camarinas, after a couple of days in the marina we anchored higher up the ria and spent a fabulous afternoon walking up the ria to the very top (about 4 miles). A really pretty walk though pine forest alongside the ria.
Leaving Camarinas we set sail (actually a lot of motoring ) for Muros (the next ria south). This meant passing Finisterre; the most westerly point of Europe with a fearsome reputation. Actually it's not the most westerly point; that is Cape Torinan, about 5 miles North of Finisterre).On the day that we passed, Finisterre was a pussy cat. and we passed without incident. I think we have now left the Coast of Death which has thankfully failed to live up to it's name.
There is a conveyor belt of people/yachts working their way South along the Spanish and Portugese coasts. Everybody going at the same rate (us faster than most, obvs!) and crossing paths from time to time. I'm sure that if you got delayed a week or two a new set of boats would keep crossing your path.

At Muros, after being boat bound for a few days we undertook one of our longest walk to date walking around the lagoon (some nude sun bathing, but not us) and around the lighthouse. The only way to recover was to go out to dinner. It seems that, as long as you eat fish or shellfish, the restaurants are all of similar quality (good). The shellfish here are fantastic: razor clams, grilled small scallops (zambarinas, which are amazing), giant mussels and bizarrely goose barnacles (as I spend a considerable time power-hosing them off our boat every winter we haven't had the courage to try these yet). This coupled with octopus, bream, swordfish, tuna and bonito makes this a pescatorian delight and Susan is very happy.

We are now settled into Pobra do Caraminal for a couple of nights plotting a weather window for a 4 day trip out to the 'Spanish Islands' (an enormous marine nature reserve off the NW coast which needs special permits to visit and anchor).