Gateway to the Med

We have now reached Gibraltar the gateway to the Mediterranean, since arriving we have seen more clouds in the past three days than we did the whole time we were in the Algarve, but I suppose the weather had to change at some time, though it is still quite warm.

Our last few days in Vialmoura with Madeline, Steve Sophie and Harry was packed full of fun, Steve treated the Kids (Kevin included) to a go on a Jet Ski, as usual Kevin got the duff one and therefore was unable to give it some real welly, as they came back in they all appeared to be smiling and all thought it was great fun, although Sophie said she had a few dubious moments.

Sophie and her old uncle

Another day we sailed round to the beach we had gone to on our first day together, we started off by having a dingy race, boys versus girls, the person rowing was blindfolded ( goggle's had tissue paper in) and had to be guided by the other member of their team. The boy’s team was Harry rowing with Steve giving instruction, the girls team was Sophie rowing with Madeline giving instructions, the girls won by two minutes.

The boy's team - Stephen & Harry

The girl's team - Madeline & Sophie

It was then off to the beach, Steve, Sophie and Harry swam to shore, whilst Kevin rowed to shore with Madeline and myself, I sat at the front and Madeline was at the back with strict instructions to keep the bags dry. As we approached the shore the waves started to get bigger, Steve started to wade out to help us in. As I looked back at Madeline, I saw this huge wave about to break right behind us, the next minute we were hurtling towards shore completely drenched, but Madeline managed to keep the bags dry.

That night Steve treated us all to dinner as it was Madeline’s birthday on the day they flew back.

Our final day with them all was spent lazing around the Pool at Steve and Madeline’s hotel, it made a nice change from swimming in the sea, and at one point we nearly cleared the pool as our game of ball became a bit boisterous.  At night we said our goodbyes and a few tears shed all round, both Kevin and I so enjoyed our time with them all, and have certainly missed their crewing skills.

The following day we headed off to the Spanish Boarder and Ayamonte, which is a village of Greek origin, the Marina was lovely and quiet, a big change from Vilamoura, and the small town with its cobbled narrow streets was bustling, we really liked the place. On our way into Ayamonte we were stopped by the Portuguese police, the first time this had happened to us as we had been informed it was a usual occurrence when sailing around Portugal, all they wanted to see were ships papers and passports. We had intended to sail up the river but we couldn’t find any charts indicating the depths and as we were aware the river contained some sandbanks that we could get stuck on we decided not to take the risk.

We then moved on to Chipiona, the pilot book said it was a well-run marina, backed by a pleasant holiday town, both of us would beg to differ and were quite happy to move on to our next destination in Cadiz.

Cadiz is an ancient city and has links with the Phoenicians, Romans and the Moors, it has long been a major port and until recently yachts could not be accommodated but this has all changed now. The marina is set amongst the giant docks and isn’t particularly nice, the walk from the marina into the old town is desolate and uninspiring.  The city itself is vast and could not be covered in a single day, so we took a walk along the sea front into the town where we saw some really beautiful and unusual old trees.

The Cities Cathedral looks very Moorish and very big, unfortunately we decided not to go and have a look, on hindsight I now wished we had.

From Cadiz it was on to Barbate, we only stayed here one night before heading of for Gibraltar nick named “The Rock”, at one point on the voyage to “The Rock” we thought we could see some islands off to our starboard side, but it was actually North Africa we could see, at one point we were only eight miles away from the African coast.

The mooring in the marina is stern too with what’s called a lazy line at the bow, this was the first time we had attempted this type of mooring in our boat which we managed without difficulty, (we did have some assistance from one of the marina staff). Our mooring in Gibraltar is right next to the runway so we get to see all the planes land and take off at close range, one of which included a Hercules. Apparently the Easyjet is not allowed to moor though.

Whilst in Gibraltar we have done the touristy trip and walked to the top of the rock, although it was cloudy it was very hot and humid. First we visited St Michaels cave, which was full of stalagmites and stalactite’s it was truly magnificent, and apparently they now hold concerts in the largest of the caverns.

It was then off to see the Barbary monkeys, which varied in sizes, there were quite a few mothers walking around with their babies clinging on. There are numerous notices telling you not to touch or feed them, but we saw lots of people ignoring this request, and we had no intention of sharing our chocolate bar with them.

Caption competition - who can send us the funniest

It was then off to look at the Siege Tunnel, the history behind the making of the tunnel was fascinating, and apparently is not the only tunnel. During world war two the tunnels were extended and now 52Km of tunnels exist inside the rock. With this much tunnelling it’s a wonder “The Rock” is still standing.

Tomorrow we head off around Europa Point into the Mediterranean, so in preparation we took a trip to Morrison’s, where we have stocked up on several of the items we can’t get anywhere in Spain, and Kevin has treated himself to a few cans of one his favourite bitters whilst for me it was a big bar of Cadbury’s chocolate.

 

Total distance to date: 1945 Nm (2238m)

 

Our present location: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=36.149762,-5.355449&hl=en&sll=36.15489,-5.346951&sspn=0.02131,0.049567&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=15&t=m&z=15

Our Algarve Experience

 Since arriving in the Algarve the weather and sea state has been much improved, to the point that we have both put our wet weather gear away and brought out our summer gear. Our first stop in the Algarve was Lagos, it’s situated on the banks of the Rio Bensafrim and was once the capital of Portugal, it is a crowded active tourist, trading and fishing town, with lovely narrow cobbled streets. It was here that we had one of the best peppered steaks in a restaurant since leaving England. Whilst we were there, we sailed out to an area just outside the harbour where there are numerous caves, once anchored up we launched the dingy to explore. The waters were crystal clear, and we could actually go into one cave and come out a different way.

Lagos Caves

One thing we had to be careful of though was the numerous tourist boats as they zoomed at high speed between the caves.

Having spent three days in Lagos we moved to an anchorage, approximately seven miles away in Alvor which is an inland lagoon, some careful navigating was required due to shallow waters and shifting sands. Alvor has a lot of history which dates back to the Roman times, and is now a small tourist village with a picturesque sea front where we sat and had the best Pizza of the trip so far, it was so good we went back for another the following day. Whilst there we tried to find a petrol station to fill up the small petrol canister we have to fill the outboard motor, we ended up walking about seven miles in the heat, will we never learn.

In the afternoon the wind would pick up and at around 4pm the kite surfers would be out in their droves, which provided us with some entertainment until about 8pm.

Kite Surfing at Alvor

After leaving Alvor we headed off to Albufeira, which is a holiday resort with an old town, we expected the marina area to be very busy and noisy but it wasn’t, it was a little out of the main town. There appeared to be a lot of unfinished buildings, over a hundred, overlooking the marina, which apparently is a sign of the economic problems they are facing. One day we took a walk into the old town looking for a supermarket but after a few miles in the heat we gave up, found a bar and sat down and had a drink, picking up a few bits at a small shop on the way back to the boat.

We spent three days in Albufeira, which frankly was enough for us before setting off for another anchorage just past Faro called Ilha Da Culatra which is basically a large sand bank where a village has been built. There are no actual roads, so no cars, just a few tractors to move things around, the streets are sand with concrete slabs for ease of walking and cycling, it is only last year that the streets were allocated names and they only had fresh water and sanitation in 2009.

On the day we arrived it was Fiesta time so we went ashore to have a look round, mostly it was lots of loud music and beer drinking, so we partook in a beer before heading back to the boat. For the rest of the afternoon and the following day there was a lot of toing and froing between the mainland and the island, with speed boats zooming past us at close quarters making the boat rock quite a bit. We were also directly under the flight path for planes landing in Faro, and one night Both Kevin and I turned into a couple of anoraks and did a bit of plane spotting. Kevin wanted to turn it into a competition and the loser would have to make a forfeit, I had an inkling what this would be if I lost and so declined to play the game.

Whilst there we tried to get a bit of exercise and so we would go ashore and walk along the beautiful beach and back each day which was approximately 7 miles in total.

Even though there was a lot of activity within the lagoon it was still very tranquil and once again we were able to watch the lovely sunsets.

From our anchorage in Ilha Da Culatra we sailed west to Vilamoura in readiness to meet Kevin’s brother and his family who were due to arrive the following day. Vilamoura has a large well established Marina backed by a vast tourist complex, here in the marina there are several, and I mean several what we call Gin Palaces, many of them British as well as the run of the mill sailing boats.  Some people back in the UK still have plenty of money!

On Thursday the 9^th August we met up with Kevin’s brother and family, the kids Sophie and Harry seemed very excited to see us and wanted to go sailing straight away, we managed to persuade them that the following day would be better. That night we all ate on the boat, which was fun, as by the time the meal was ready it was dark and as we had no deck light we had to eat in the dark. The kids were still excited and so Kevin erected the hammock for them to have a go in.

Sophie & Harry "chilling"

We have been out a few days sailing with both Sophie and Harry wanting to get very involved in casting off and mooring up, they have both become very adept at tying fenders, throwing mooring lines and securing them, and having a go at the wheel.

Sophie in control

Unfortunately on our first venture out Madeline was a little unwell, and became very familiar with the guard rail as she hung over the side of the boat, once she had thrown up she felt a lot better and was ready to head for the beach. Steve, Sophie, Harry and I swam to shore whilst Kevin and Madeline went in the dingy, there were quite a few rolling waves and this made for a great time playing in the surf.

Getting back in the dingy to go back to the boat proved to be a little bit difficult as we needed to get the dingy out past the waves otherwise it would just bring us back to shore, Madeline, Harry and Kevin got in OK, but as usual I made a spectacle of myself as Steve was pushing me up and Kevin was yanking me in, I ended up head first in the dingy with my legs in the air.

The following day we headed in a different direction and found a secluded cove where again we launched the dingy and headed for the shore. Sophie Harry and Kevin went snorkeling whilst Madeline and I had a dip in the sea, after a bit we saw the boat was bobbing about quite a bit at anchors as the swell was getting bigger so we decided to head back. Getting in the dingy wasn’t a problem this time, but trying to secure the dingy to the boat so that we could get back on board was not very easy as the waves slapped into the back of the boat, but eventually we made it.

Everyone was enjoying swimming off the boat, the water is nice and clear and once you have made the plunge you quickly get used to the temperature.

OK no prizes for elegance

Whilst here we have met a British couple, Colin and Tanya who have a motor boat moored next to ours, and are considering exchanging their motor boat for a sail boat, so one day we took them out for a sail, they reciprocated this by taking us out in their motor boat. Their boat is 39 feet long and has two 265hp inboard engines, at full throttle it felt like being in a plane at take-off, apparently top speed is 34 knots with a clean hull, both Kevin and Steve took to the helm for a short while, and not to be outdone Harry also had a go.

Harry at the wheel of Colin's mean machine

Sailors would not like to meet this wake!

We have also all had a go at parasailing, which I have to say was good fun even though I was a bit apprehensive, Madeline Steve and Harry all went together followed by Kevin Sophie and I. Unbeknown to us Madeline urged the young lad driving the speed boat to give us a good dunking rather than just trailing our feet in the water as he had done with them. He did not need much encouraging and dutifully obliged, after the third dunking I was ready to get back on the boat.

If you look close you can see Bev's white knuckles

Madeline, Harry & Steve on a high!

We are going to spend a few more days here until Steve, Madeline and the Kids go home and then we will start moving east again in order to get to the south of Spain in time to meet up with Kevin’s daughter Rachel, husband Mike and the two granddaughters Summer and Taylor, which we are both looking forward to as we have missed seeing them.

 

Our present location: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=37.076545,-8.118896&hl=en&sll=37.063122,-8.033066&sspn=0.168486,0.396538&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=12&t=m&z=12

Distance to date: "To add when available"

Arrived In Lagos

We have internet access at last, since arriving in Portugal access to the internet has been none existent in the harbours/marinas, hence a delay in updating the blog. Now we have arrived in the Algarve, still Portugal I know but they tend to cater more for our needs down here.

After leaving Portisan in North West Spain we continued to explore the Rias, we first went to Ria De Arousa, this is the largest Glaician Ria and one of the most attractive there are lots of places to moor up either in a marina or at anchor. There are also numerous Viveros, which are large mussel farms which you have to navigate through so wouldn’t like to enter this Ria in the dark.

Viveros (Mussel Farms)

 We initially found  a quiet anchorage off the beach, nestled amongst some rocks, there is something magical about being at anchor its usually very peaceful especially if you find a secluded beach, and you feel that you have the world to yourself for a short time anyway, plus the other benefit is its cheaper. The following day we moved onto another anchorage, again just off a wide sandy beach, this time there was a small village nearby, so we hopped into the dingy and rowed ashore, well Kevin did the rowing I just sat and admired the scenery. The village was quite small with narrow cobbled streets, with no shops or cafes to speak off, so we decided to go back to the boat. It was such a hot day I decided to swim back, the distance being about three quarters of a mile, this was my first venture into the sea this trip and boy was it cold, Kevin thought it would be very funny to take photos whilst I showered off on the back of the boat after getting out of the water.

At both anchorages when we lifted the anchor it looked as if we had a large flower arrangement attached to the anchor, as it was covered in seaweed.

From there we moved to Vilagarcia which is a town with a marina, as we approached the back drop looked quite impressive with its mountains and forests behind the town, and so we decided to climb one the following day. First however we had to find our way to the bottom, once found we started our ascent, the tracks were wide and not too steep and so we didn’t find it as hard going as we thought we might.

On the way down we came across some tin shacks which at first we thought were derelict but no people were actually living in them, then a few hundred yards further down the road we came across several gated posh looking houses the contrast was phenomenal.
That night Kevin took over the cooking, it was steak night and he cooks them to perfection.

From Ria Arousa we sailed to our final Ria. Ria De Vigo and Baiona, this would be our last port of call in Spain before heading to Portugal. Baiona is a small thriving tourist resort steeped with History, apparently it was Columbus’s first mainland landfall after returning from the new world, and there is a replica of the “Pinta” permanently moored in the marina. The town also has a castle and within its grounds a rather posh looking hotel, the view from there is spectacular and would be a great place for a wedding venue, (hint to my son Steven who has just got engaged).

From Baiona we sailed to Lexeos in Portugal, the marina and town were not much to speak off but we took the metro and went to Porto for the day. Porto is apparently the second city of Portugal and sits on the river Douro, the architecture is magnificent, with lots of large old buildings, large squares and narrow cobbled streets. Whilst there we became tourists for the day and took a river cruise and then visited the Croft port wine cellar which was really interesting and we came away with a bottle of Pink port wine to try when Kevin’s Brother and family come out to join us next month.

From Lexeos we sailed to Aveiro where we anchored for the night, due to its position, it’s, an inland waterway, we were sheltered from the wind and you couldn’t tell we were actually on water it was so calm. Unfortunately there was no real town or village to speak of, its actually next to a military base, so we only stayed there for one night, the sunset was spectacular though.

 We set off for Nazare at 5am the next morning as we had a long days sailing to get there, when we arrived we were met by a grumpy old English man who told me off for not radioing in on channel 9 to let him know we were coming. The harbour is a good 1.5K from the town and is quite bleak so again we only stayed the one night. Getting off the mooring the following day was a bit hair raising, the wind was pinning us to the pontoon and it wasn’t long enough for us to spring of from the back of the boat, and there was an obstacle at the back so we couldn’t reverse, all the time we were being watched by the grumpy old man who professed to be a dab hand at sailing not one of our finer moments.

From Nazare it was off to Peniche another anchorage although we could have gone into the harbour, but there were reports that it was noisy due to the numerous fishing boats coming and goings at all times of the day and night so I think we made a wise choice.

The following day was another early start as we headed south to Cascais which was a good 46 miles away, again we decided to anchor as we had heard that the cost of mooring in the marina was astronomical. Cascais was traditionally a fishing village but since the 19th century it was transformed into a fashionable summer resort when the king of Portugal converted the Fotaleza da Cidadela into his summer residence. I have to say both Kevin and I loved Cascais with its narrow cobbled streets its old buildings and the friendliness of the people.

We anchored of one of Cascais numerous beaches along with several other yachts, it was a great position to watch the various posers in their speed boats speeding across the bay, one boat in particular caught our eye as it looked more like some sort of hydrofoil.

On our last day there we took a trip in the dingy to shore to have a walk along the beach and have a coffee, on the way back tough the wind had whipped up and we got absolutely soaked from head to toe on the way, talk about a wet T shirt completion.
That evening before moving further south there was a hive of activity in the bay as numerous tall ships left Lisbon and sailed across the bay, as well as several other sail boats, some old some new which were part of the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race event anchored in the bay. At one point it reminded us of the chaos in the river estuary at Portsmouth.

The next day it was another early morning start as we headed off to Sines, the town can be tracked back to Roman times and until the 70s was a quite fishing port, now it has become very industrialised and handles 5000,000 ton tankers. You can see its many chimneys and storage tanks for miles off, and as you approach the harbour you can smell the petrochemicals. However when you get into the harbour it’s like you are in a different place, it has a beautiful wide sandy beach and you can’t see any of the industry. The marina staff were very helpful and there was an old English guy who has been there for 8 years and was hoping to stay for another year. The town again has very narrow cobbled streets and in some areas it looks as though it has been lost in time. We also saw some old tin shacks perched precariously on the hillside which people lived in, showing us again the contrast between poor and wealthy. The music and food festival was due to be held in the town, the food section had started but they were just completing erecting the stages around the town for the various performances, it gave the whole town quite a buss.
From Sines it was another long days sail to Lagos, 77Nm so again another early start, this time though we were in thick fog, you couldn’t see more than a few boat lengths in front of you, at the same time two other boats were also leaving but they seemed to be hanging back, their tactic was to wait for us to go out and they would follow our navigation lights.
The fog cleared at about 9am and we had beautiful clear blue skies, the waves swell was still around 2 meters and there was no wind and so we had to motor the whole 77 miles making a very bumpy ride again. As we approached Cabo de Sao Vicente, once classed as the end of the known world, the landscape becomes very dramatic and looks almost pre-historic. The area is known for its windswept and wild seas, however as we had no wind we did not encounter any difficulty in getting round the headland and into the Algarve.

Cabo de Sao Vicente

The whole trip from north Spain has taken us just less than two weeks, we are going to spend the next month in the Algarve and on the 9th August we are being joined by Kevin’s brother and his family so we are really looking forward to that.

Total distance to date: 1538 Nautical Miles

Our current location: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=37.109476,-8.673706&hl=en&sll=37.108244,-8.680658&sspn=0.044219,0.104885&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=14&t=m&z=14

Into the Spanish Ria's

From Rebadeo we have continued to move west, we anchored for a couple of nights in two separate bays which were very tranquil, although on one night the fog descended on us and we ended up not being able to see the beach. At one of the beaches Kevin took his first dip of the trip, after seeing him go in I decided it was too cold for me, after swimming ashore Kevin took a stroll along the beach before swimming back.

The scenery along this coastline is very impressive, Kevin described it as the Cornish coats meets the Lake District and I have to say I can’t think of a better description.

We then moved on to A Caruna, which is a major city we decided to stay here for five nights, whilst there we manage to purchase a new radio so that we can use my iPod as we only have one CD and we have started to get fed up of listening to it even though it’s very good. Kevin also got his hair cut whilst we were there, he certainly won’t need another for several weeks.

The town of A Caruna although big is much nicer that those of Gijon and Rabadeo, there were plenty of shops, and I did manage to purchase some items of clothing although when I came to pay on the credit card they wanted to see my passport, never had that happen before. Kevin also took me to see this huge square, with a very impressive official looking building where it appeared several weddings were taking place.

Whilst in A Caruna we also met up with Nick and Judith who we had met in Rebadea, not sure who is following who.

From A Caruna it was back to anchoring as we moved more south west, there was no wind at all and so we had to motor all the way, within the first hour of leaving the marina we felt the boat jolt, we had something stuck around the propeller which reduced our speed by more than one knot meaning our journey would take a little longer. We found an anchorage in Laxe, and as soon as it was secure Kevin once again donned his trunks to swim under the boat to release whatever was caught on the propeller, it turned out to be a sheet of plastic, the look on his face said everything, it was freezing, he has warned me it’s my turn next time. That night as we sat on the boat  we could hear the cheers from the Spanish as they won the European cup, again the fog descended on us, so we moved on the following day to Calamarinas. On the way there we could see the clouds rolling over the hills, it looked as though we were watching a waterfall in slow motion.

 When we arrived in Camarinas we decided not to go into the harbour but anchor by the beach as we prepared to drop anchor we got an awful whiff, only to find there was a fish factory across from us so we moved further up wind and just hoped that the wind didn’t change direction in the night. We had also clocked up our first 1,000 miles and so we celebrated with a bottle of champagne and a nice juicy fillet steak.

The following morning we had some wind and so we sailed out of the bay and headed towards Finisterre. The weather again was cloudy with some mist, the wind was in the wrong direction for us to sail straight there and so several tacks were required, we didn’t seem to be making any headway at all so we decided to motor as it looked like more rain was on its way. We planned to stay for two nights in Finisterre and spend a day walking to the lighthouse on the headland to look at the impressive views, but when we got up in the morning the headland was covered in cloud, and so we decided to move on to Portosin which is in Ria Muros.

The marina itself is very nice but the local town does not have much to offer, once again we have bumped into Nick and Judith, and have spent a couple of evenings with them in the marina bar. This is the first marina where the British have outnumbered the French, never seen so many red ensigns or red dusters as they are nicknamed.

Whilst here we took a trip by local bus to Santiago de Compostela, where apparently in the 9^th century the tomb of St James was discovered, and the town is now the focus for thousands of pilgrims who visit each year. The new part of the town is full of department shops but the old town has narrow cobbled streets with numerous shops selling souvenirs, and café bars and restaurants so you are spoilt for choice when looking for somewhere to eat.

There is also a beautiful old cathedral with very ornate carvings both inside and out, the alter is completely covered in gold leaf it looks very spectacular, and around the outer sides there are spate little chapels.

One thing we have noticed whilst sailing in France and Spain is that the fishermen must work on some sort of point scoring system, because whenever we are near one, they head straight for us. So we think the scoring system goes something like this, one point for getting a yacht to alter course whilst motoring, two if under sail, and three at night.

Since leaving Britain I have tried to learn both French and now Spanish, I am able to ask for things like wine and the bill, good morning and hello, but I keep forgetting where I am and so now I speak a bit of Spanish, a bit of French and a bit of English all in one sentence, it must confuse the hell out of the person I am speaking to.

We are planning to leave here today to move onto Ria Auros where we again plan to do some anchoring, the weather at the moment is awful, raining and it sounds as if the wind is picking up, but having kept track of the weather back home its certainly better here than there.

Total distance to date:  1068 nautical miles

1 nautical mile = 1.15077 mile

Our present location:  https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=42.759617,-8.946304&hl=en&ll=42.762642,-8.923645&spn=0.38212,1.003876&sll=42.723308,-8.951797&sspn=0.382363,1.003876&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=11&t=m&z=11

Made it across Biscay

Whilst in La Rochelle we met two lovely Irish couples, Joe, Yvonne, Sean and Mary who we rafted against for the first two days of our stay, and who we spent  a couple of pleasant evenings.
My daughter Claire arrived in La Rochelle on the 15th June to a glorious sunny day, after dumping her bag off at the boat we hit the town and went browsing round the shops, all we bought was a pair of sunglasses each, so I now have about four pairs, in the evening we had an enjoyable time consuming more wine, chatting and  catching up on things.

Chilling out

 On the Saturday the weather had changed dramatically to rain so much of that day was spent on the boat lazing about, in the evening we decided to eat out. We found a nice looking restaurant and using what little French I know acquired a table for three, the menu looked good and we all chose a starter and a main, unfortunately the meal wasn’t as good as we had hoped when it arrived, however the wine which was selected by Kevin was very good. After the meal we took a stroll back to the boat, by now the town was lit up making it look very picturesque.

Late evening in La Rochelle

Sunday the day of Claires return it was back to being sunny again, unfortunately Claire had to leave by 8 am so was not able to have any time to bask in the sunshine.

Claire waiting for taxi home

The rest of Sunday was spent getting the boat ready for our passage across Biscay the following day, once the chores were done is was back to basking in the sunshine, we needed to get as much rest as possible as we wouldn’t be getting much sleep over the next few days, that was my reasoning anyway. On Monday the sun was shining again so we set off and headed towards north Spain, the day was uneventful and I took the first watch at 9pm. Kevin took over at 12 midnight, and no sooner had I settled down for some sleep the wind increased and it started to rain. From then on it rained on and off for the rest of the passage, the waves were a good couple of metres which meant we were rolling about quite a lot. After a hundred nautical miles into our journey we no longer saw any birds or fishing boats, this continued until about 70 miles off the Spanish coast. The bonus however was that we got to see five pods of dolphins each of which swam alongside the boat for some considerable time, we even had one pod with us at 12 midnight on the Tuesday, and although you couldn’t see them clearly they looked to be illuminated in the water so when they swam towards the boat they looked like torpedoes.

Hard to catch a good shot of a Dolphin

We finally arrived in Gijon at about 08:30 on the Wednesday having completed the 266 nm crossing in approximately 48 hours , moored up and went to bed to get some well-earned kip. Gijon is quite a large city, with plenty of shops but no really good supermarkets which I have now become obsessed with since starting our journey, I used to be more into shopping for clothes, not any more. Gijon has a nice beach and some lovely parks. While in Gijon we had our first visit from a customs officer, he could speak almost no English and we could not speak Spanish, but eventually we had the paperwork complete and he happily went on his way. We are now hoping that if we get another visit here in Spain we can just show them our copy of the paperwork and they will be happy. Well you can dream can’t you? We spent three nights in Gijon before moving on to a lovely little bay about twenty miles west of Gijon where we anchored up for the night, as the swell was coming into the bay we thought we may end up rocking and rolling all night, but surprisingly we didn’t and we had a good night’s sleep, or it may just have been the amount of wine consumed what knocked us out.

No traffic noise from the road bridge, it must be all the trees!

The following day we made our way to Ribadeao which so far is the most expensive marina we have been in. During our sail across (well we motored actually as there was no wind at all) we came across a large branch of a tree floating by followed by a wild Boar (obviously swimming was not its forte) The marina is located in one of the Rias and is very pleasant and not too big or busy unlike the last three marinas we were in in France.
The weather at the moment is great, lovely and warm and our tans are coming along nicely, we are planning to move on tomorrow but not sure where to at the moment it very much depends on the weather. At the moment there is no wind and so we can’t sail and we don’t want to keep motoring, it seems that we either have too much wind or none at all. Over the next few weeks we plan to anchor where we can as we both enjoy the solitude and tranquillity it gives you, weather permitting that is.

Total distance to date:  868  nautical miles
Our present location: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=43.539092,-7.038803&hl=en&sll=43.552032,-6.827316&sspn=0.377215,1.003876&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=11&t=m&z=11

Made it to La Rochelle

We have finally reached La Rochelle which is our final destination in France before heading off across the Bay of Biscay to north Spain.

When we arrived in Pornic the sun was shining but it was blowing a right hooley, the marina was not one of the easiest to get into either as there was limited depth and we require a minimum of 2m. As we were pondering our best option a head popped up form one of the boats already moored up, and told us the best place to go, it was James the English chap we had met on Houat. It was not ideal for the conditions but it was all that was available. Once moored up we paid our dues and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon.

Unfortunately most of the time we were in Pornic the weather was not great and so we did not do any coastal walks, instead we walked for a couple of miles to the chandlers to purchase some items for the boat, one of which was some rope and a buoy so that Kevin could make an anchor trip line, (its something that helps you pull the anchor up if it gets stuck), because the buoy could be mistaken by other sailors as a mooring buoy Kevin got me to use my artistic talents to draw a skull and cross bones on it.

Anchor Bouy

Whilst in Pornic I decided to treat ourselves to what looked like apple doughnuts from the Boulanger, they looked really nice, however they actually turned out to be the most revolting thing we had eaten since coming to France and both doughnuts ended up in the bin.

There did not seem to be any let up in the bad weather, and the forecast for the next few days was not promising, we were starting to get worried that we would not make La Rochelle in time to meet my daughter Claire there on the 15th June. We therefore decided to make a run for it on the 8th June and head for Ille D Yeau another small island about 26 miles further south, we ended up having to sail 39 miles as the wind was not in the right direction for us to sail straight out of the bay without tacking several times (also know as beating, another description would be “getting very wet and not moving very far forward). The wind was blowing at 4 to 5 knots which is 20 to 25 knots and the wave height was 2 to 3 meters, but the sun was out so it could have been worse.

We arrived in Ille d Yeau at about 20:00, Kevin suggested we eat out to which I eagerly agreed, (thank goodness I really didn’t feel like cooking), we found a quaint restaurant that served the local dish of fresh Tuna straight from the fishing boats. We had agreed not to stay a couple of days on Ill d Yeau as originally planned, but to head south again the following day which was the 9th June to Le Sables D’Olonne, which is the home of the Vendee Globe yacht race.

The weather forecast was for rain from 9 am onwards on that day we decided to start our journey to Le sables early, so was up at 6 and set sail at 06:45hrs. We managed to keep ahead of the rain although you could see the dark clouds all around us, and so we were very thankful for that. When we arrived at the point where we needed to turn and sail towards the marina entrance to Le Sables the rain had still not materialised, the wind was in the right direction and so we decided to keep on heading south to La Rochelle. On our way to La Rochelle we used our cruising chute sail for the first time during our travels, only for a couple of hours but it made a big difference to our progress.
As we approached la Rochelle you could see the large bridge which we needed to sail under, it looked very impressive, we needed to make sure we went under the right arch to ensure the mast could get underneath it. The chart showed that there was a red and green buoy marking our way which Kevin had asked me to look out for but try as I may I could not see them until we were almost upon them. The arch also had red & green markers painted on to each of the pillars either side of the arch you should use for south going vessels. With the right arch identified we sailed easily under the bridge.

Entering the marina to La Rochelle was like “Paddys Market”, I thought Pornichet was bad, but this was even worse there were boats everywhere all making their way in at the same time, it was like being on the dodgems.

La Rochelle is a beautiful old town with narrow streets and plenty of different types of restaurants offering a wide variety of choice and we agreed that we had made the right choice in coming here a few days earlier than planned. Whilst here we are trying to get as many jobs done as we can that need to be done before we head for Spain, as well as lots of chilling out time. Kevin’s daughter Rachel and the grand children Summer & Taylor “Skyped” use in the evening, it was great to see them all. I then “Skyped” my daughter Claire, her husband Steve and son Isaac but the connection was so bad we had to give up.  Skype is a great tool when you are travelling, but can be frustrating if you have a poor internet connection.

Today which is the 12th June we headed off to get a fender board which we will need when mooring up against harbour walls which is quite common in Spain. The nearest place to get what we needed was about 7 Kilometres away, we had originally planned to go on the bikes, but decided to walk instead. On hindsight we may have been better sticking to our original plan as the board was really heavy and it was one hell of a long way back to the boat carrying it.  At times we must have looked like a couple of characters out  of the film “The Plank” , especially when a women passed us on her bicycle, if Kevin had turned round at the right time he would have knocked her clean off her bike. Whilst on the way back to the boat we also called in at the supermarket  to pick up some Camping Gaz which Kevin managed to fit into the rucksack, must say was glad he was carrying it and not me.
Once back at the boat Kevin got straight into working mode and started to give the washboards a second coat of varnish, as the varnish was proving difficult to get on Kevin decided to thin it down a little with some white spirit and emptied some into a clean yogurt pot, giving me strict instructions not to tip it down the sink. After a little while Kevin came back in and asked if I had tipped it down the sink to which I replied no, it so happens that white spirit melts yogurt pots and so it went down the sink without any help from me what so ever.

Always another job to do

Hopefully the weather will improve by the time Claire arrives on Friday, she will stay with us for a few days before heading back home on Father’s Day to husband Steve and son Isaac who unfortunately could not come out with her on this occasion. It will then be back to weather watching to determine the best time to cross the bay and North Spain. Our plan is to head for Gijon a trip of around 250nm with a backup of Santander if conditions get a little rough. This will be the longest single trip we have made in a sail boat to date.

Total distance travelled to date: 572 nautical miles

Present location: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=46.142021,-1.167812&hl=en&sll=46.116443,-1.202316&sspn=0.094482,0.264187&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=13&t=m&z=13

Quiberon Bay Area

We are now starting to move south again having spent a few days sailing around the Quiberon Bay area, we started of by visiting Morbihan which is 50 square miles of sheltered water with over 60  islands, most of which are uninhabited. When we arrived we sailed towards Arradon which is a popular sailing area, and picked up a buoy just past the main mooring area. The weather was perfect for sunbathing but not for sailing, very little wind and glorious sunshine, the area was tranquil and there was hardly anybody about, so we sat back for a relaxing afternoon.

Morbihan mooring (Sorry no motor boat)

 Shortly after mooring we were joined by a couple in a small motor boat, and then our afternoon’s entertainment began, had we been to the cinema it would have been X –Rated.
We had been told that you could pick up a mooring buoy anywhere in the Morbihan but that you had to stay with your boat in case the owner came back and you needed to move. So the following day we headed off to look for an anchorage, unfortunately all the anchorage areas have now been taken over by mooring buoys and so we decided to move on to a small island called Houat which is 2 miles long and just across from Belle Ile.  The sail across was good with a force 4 to 5, when we arrived we picked up a mooring   buoy just outside the small harbour, as the harbour was full. The mooring was really choppy and so we knew we were in for a bumpy night. Shortly afterwards three sail boats left the harbour and so decided to give it a go which required us to  moor onto bow and stern buoys in windy conditions, we achieved this by the help of another English couple who had just moored up with great difficulty.

After mooring we took a short stroll along the coats towards the south of the island and came across a beautiful wide sandy beach where several sail boats were anchored, we decided that if the weather conditions were right we would anchor there the following night. The following morning the harbour master collected our mooring fees of 22€, which we felt was quite steep considering we were only attached to a buoy and the toilet and shower  facilities were not up to much, so we definitely decided to move later that day.

First off though we took a walk round the island, the east coast was very picturesque with lots of wild flowers and a variety of wild life, however once we got to the north and west of the island the landscape changed and it became more barren with less beaches. On getting back to the boat we set off round to the south of the island and anchored up for the night, the sea sate was like a mill pond, so it looked like we were in for a peaceful night.  How wrong could we be, the wind changed direction at around four in the morning and the waves rolled in, so there was very little sleep attained after that.

Bev walking around Houat Island

Following breakfast we decided to head south to Pornichet, the pilot book described it as a new harbour with all the facilities we required apart from food shops which were a short walk away. When we arrived it felt like Paddy’s Market there were all types of boats entering and leaving the marina some under sail and moving pretty fast. We eventually found a visitors mooring, the pontoon however was like a spring board and it took me all my time not to bounce off and into the water.
That evening we walked into the small town of Pornichet but there didn’t look to be anything open and nowhere we fancied to eat, so we made our way towards the beach road and came across a restaurant on the beach which we decided to give ago. The menu was of course in French and I had forgotten my phrase book, some of the dishes we could hazard a guess at what they were and others we couldn’t. Kevin played safe and went with a burger and I went for a salad, however when it arrived I wasn’t sure what half the meat dishes were on the plate, but I have to say it was one off the best meals I have had in France, and I finished it off by what can only be described as a dessert to die for chocolate mousse, the best ever.

The following day Saturday 2nd June we took a walk along the beach front (it goes for miles), we ended up doing about a ten mile walk having found a supermarket on our way, I have never walked ten miles before just to get groceries. On the Sunday we got the bikes out and cycled to St Nazaire which is a busy dock area with little opportunity for visiting yachts to stay there. When we arrived there were several large sail boats, catamarans and tri-marans which looked to be preparing for a race. As we walked along admiring all the boats we came across Samantha Davis and her team, so the trip had been worth it, even though we stood around for about three hours waiting for the start of the race only to be told there wasn’t one even though the advertising said it would start at 17:00.

Sam Davis's boat

Sam Davis

Today which is Monday 4th we are moving south again to Pornic, but first we headed off to the supermarket on the bikes, this time we found one much nearer but there were several hills to cycle up to get there and back my backside still hasn’t recovered from the last bike ride round Ille de Groix. Kevin has now washed the boat down and filled the water tanks, so we are ready for the off.

Our present location: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=47.262922,-2.342148&hl=en&sll=47.261757,-2.342834&sspn=0.131642,0.359802&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=12&t=m&z=12

Total nautical miles to date: 403