Cabo Fisterra - 4th June

Cape Finisterre, known locally as Cabo Fisterra, is an amazing place; one of the great convergence points where continents and oceans meet. More than just a passing point ships carefully line up planning their approaches to and departures from the major ports of Europe. We sail inside the shipping lanes and at night you get a good indication of the quantity of the shipping traffic. While not congested, the line of ships can be described as busy with an assortment of vessels; massive modern utilitarian container ships displaying the regulation lighting pass in line with elegant old liners displaying all their lights delineating the multiple decks of accommodation and pleasure. Where will their next port be? What are they doing right now? It is a slower world that allows you contemplate your neighbours for a brief period of time.

My watch began at 2 a.m. and emerging from the companionway I was greeted by a cloudless and moonless night sky, revealing all the stars and planets above. Venus alone provided enough light to move around the deck safely. The faint haze of the Milky Way, normally shielded from view by modern light pollution was clearly visible acting as a dramatic backdrop to the closer and recognisable constellations. It was easy to be lost in the magnitude of this sight.

Gradually the Spanish coast, or Galician coast depending on where you are from, became more evident and the lume of the lighthouses off El Ferriol, and La Coruna eroded the darkness of the night sky. A little later, the lights of Isla Sisarga Grande, El Roncun do Placer de Pay Gardo, Placer de Cabeo de Lage and Cabo Vilano revealed more detail of the Galician coast and continued to light the shore until dawn. As the sun rose we could clearly see the mountains, and Cape Finisterre itself. By 10 a.m. we were abeam of the light at Cape Finisterre with its lonely light poised high on a mount; passing it we bore way 30 degrees steering a course of 185.

Galician fishermen were trawling a short distance inside our course on this bright morning. While our fishing line did not yield a catch, a majestic solitary swordfish breached the water between us and the fishing boats; caught in a flash of silver and white light it rolled onto its side re entering its watery world and bringing the sea to life for me. Our southerly course meant there were changes in the bird life also; the gannets were now replaced by shearwaters gliding about along the troughs of the waves, searching and hunting for their quarry at water level.

Dolphins were quick to fill empty moments, and visited the boat frequently throughout the day. At this point I could expand on a treatise of the difficulties in photographing dolphins from a moving vessel. The number of dolphins present does not make the task any easier as they leap out of your viewfinder as quickly as they arrived. Spilt second hesitations for the perfect shot have resulted in the deletion of many framed shots of blue sea and miscellaneous non-descript fin. I believe you should be made feel the disappointment for yourself. It is an exercise in patience.

Our on-board navigational software (while very useful my preference remains for good detailed charts) predicts we will not make Gibraltar on current fuel usage. The fuel not only drives the engine, and in turn the boat, it also powers the generator providing power to all the systems on board such as computers, radios, lighting, refridgeration and battery chargers. With fuel becoming an issue we begin to discuss the various options of ports we can run into. Fortunately, there is a wealth of deep water ports on this coastline and we can afford to chose a port we can arrive at in daylight. The attractive bay of Bayonne, is 55 nautical miles distant along our path, but we would arrive in darkness. It is not the easiest place to arrive at night because the dark mass of an island shields the town and port lights from view. I arrived at this port on a dark November night in 1995 closely followed by the arrival of hurricane Florence!

Cascais is 230 nautical miles away and appears to be a likely option, with a modern deep marina and accessible fuel dock. Hence we set out sights on a Portuguese stop.