14 Sep: Skipper's bithday and Finisterre Abeam!

We left the small fishing village of Camarinas on the NW corner of Spain this afternoon after a stormy 24 hrs alongside in the little marina. The wind was still up but was expected to drop soon, and in any case was from the North east so making life a little easier. Our main concern was the 3 meter Atlantic swell and the exposed nature of this coastline.......the Costa de Mortes.

Not long after leaving harbour, our 3rd mate for this leg, Merle, retired below for a bout of baking. I thought she was just having a go at bread making, but she had actually made some German type cakes, one of which she decorated with candles for the skipper's birthday,

Early in the evening, after a couple of hours of rolling along under foresail only, we had several visits by playful dolphin families. Later, as the wind fell away, we drifted past the mighty headland of Galicia's western coast, at 2000 just before a glorious sunset and a golden moonrise over the Spanish mountains.
By 2100, tonight the wind is no more so we are motoring slowly down the coast in the general direction of Vigo for the boat's 2 week layup there. We aim to get there on Friday morning and flights home are booked from Coruna on Saturday.

Must go now as night has fallen and the crew is watchkeeping, so I feel guilty doing this.