The showers here are brilliant, they even have running water! In France you have to keep pushing the button every five seconds so the water doesn’t stop, you don’t even get time to get your shampoo out of the bottle before it turns off. So today’s shower was a real luxury, albeit communal changing rooms with lockers, just like being at school.
We spent some time sorting the boat out and tidying up the place. Everything gets in a bit of a mess when you’re on a long passage because all your concentration is on sailing the boat, so food gets stuffed in the fridge and cupboards, clothes get thrown all over the bed, dust collects everywhere, and salt covers the whole deck. Dean changed the old spinnaker halyard for his spare brand new one. This is a great marina apart from the strong winds that blow through here, the pontoons are brand new and big. For some weird reason most of the berths are empty. We already read reports about this but it’s still strange to see it for yourself.
About 2pm we took a walk into the town. It’s a big place so we had a look in the old town before heading to the promenade and stopping at a bar for beer and cider refreshments. We noticed they had some big containers and people were looking in, so we took a peep and it was full of live lobsters and crabs, right there in the outside eating area. We’ve seen this before in the supermarkets in France but not in a bar. The beach here however is magnificent, I would say it’s got to be 4 miles long. On the way back to the boat we walked along the marina breakwater and the water was so clear you could see the bottom and it must have been over 6 metres deep. You could actually see fish swimming on the seabed. On the way back we spotted a proper tunnel going through the headland and you can walk through it to another bay, so we did. When we came out the other side we were expecting the wind to blow our heads off, but it was completely calm, even though that’s where the wind was coming from. The wind here is just a mystery.
One thing we forgot to tell you about the Biscay crossing was that Saffy still would not pee on the boat even after 34 hours. When we arrived at Laredo we took her for a walk and she didn’t even do it immediately…..it had to be the perfect spot. We think this confirms that we will never get her to do so will probably give up on that one.
Dean made dinner whilst Linda wrote up the Biscay Blog. We checked the weather, seems it’s going to be quite calm for a few days. We think we’re ready to move on to the next stop which has been decided upon, and it’s going to be Santander tomorrow. Here's today's photos....
This morning's view
There's the lovely Thésee almost on his own
Wall art in the town
A Spanish hero
Lovely rooftops
Streets in the old town
More heroes
Beer at the bar...not San Miguel though...What!
Live bait restaurant
Beach galore
The other side....
...of the tunnel
We don't know why this marina is so deserted
Tuesday 26th June… Yes it was calm this morning and we took the opportunity to quickly raise the cruising chute and check it over for damage. We couldn’t see any. So we made a quick getaway at 8.30am before any sign of wind appeared.
Outside the harbour the sea state was better than we had expected but the wind was from the west and so we had to motorsail. It took about three hours to reach Santander and the wide bay at the entrance gave us enough shelter to drop the main sail and make our way along the channel to the Marina del Cantabrico… also confusingly known by about five other names. We took a place on the biggest pontoon and the Capitain soon appeared to inform us we had to move elsewhere. He found us another berth and we had to follow him to it.
Later we had to take our completed booking form to him with payment. It was a bit of a palava because he then told us we needed a photo id card to get access to the pontoon. So off he took us (and the dog) squashed into his little ‘golf buggy’ to get the aforementioned photocard. We had only travelled 100 yards when he ran out of fuel and he had to call his mate to come and take us in his car. It was quite amusing really. I guess they don’t get too many visitors here or they would never get anything else done. It took about half an hour from start to finish.
Dean scrubbed the deck and did a few bits and bobs this afternoon, including cycling to the local sail repairers to arrange the ATN Tacker re-stitching. This marina is right next to the airport runway, you can’t really see anything, just hear them.... Ooh there goes another. That was about it really. The bikes are out so it looks like we will be out and about tomorrow.
Leaving Laredo
Hello Santander
Nice palace
Nice er....not sure what this is
Wednesday 27th June... Woke up to rain today so we had a lie in until 9.30am. By lunchtime it was looking better and we took the bikes out for a few hours. There's a cycle route all around the perimeter of the airport, no we didn't do the whole route. We did follow some of it though making our way towards and around the park at the other side, plus checking out a local anchorage too. On the way back we came across a small bar and stopped for a bite to eat. We're a few miles out of the city here and so we haven't seen the sights. The area is OK but a lot of things look well past their sell by date, including some of the pontoons here in the marina. We'll be moving on tomorrow, hopefully to one of the anchorages in the bay.
Plane spotting at the end of the runway..... Where's the planes??
Checking out the anchorage
This is a bathing area.... yuk... although they were starting to clean it
Planes at last
Good old Ryanair
Thursday 28th June… Nice calm warm day today although still cloudy. We left the marina and moved to an anchorage out in one of the bays on the north east side of Santander, just below the Cabo Menor headland. As we approached our desired spot we noticed four swimmers ahead so had to hang around for a bit to wait for them to pass. They must have had a fright to see Thesee coming.
Moving over for the Brittany Ferry on our way out of the harbour
A view from the anchorage
....and another, there's the little beach
Dean dropped the anchor in 5.2metres of water. Once happy that it was holding he went up front to check it and put the snubber line on etc. The water was so clear he could actually see the tips of the anchor and the chain trailing along the sandy bottom. This is why we have a brightly painted yellow anchor! How cool is that? It’s a great spot with a very small nearby beach for dinghy landing, which we did for this afternoon’s walkies.
The anchor line set-up with snubber over the bow roller
to stop things going bump in the night
Another view
From the boat Linda said this place reminds her of English Bay in Vancouver. The buildings are different of course, but it’s the way the city lies right on the beaches and the bays, with a backdrop of mountains as far as the eye can see.
Thesee in tonight's spot
We have rather large neighbours this evening
This evening Dean got the Cobb BBQ out and cooked a whole chicken! That’s a first for us, but we do have a special chicken roasting frame, and it seems to have worked quite well don't you think?
Well done to the Chef
Friday 29th June… HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAN! How did he celebrate today? Well of course we went sailing. As I said yesterday, the water in the bay was crystal clear and Dean delighted in raising the anchor this morning. We could see all the chain, the anchor, and the anchor swivel on the bottom about 5 metres below. There was no wind and in fact Thesee was just floating there on top of it all. Dean could see everything as he wound the chain in and back onboard, it made his day.
Our destination today was San Vincente de la Barquera (SVB), about 30 miles west. We had the cruising chute up again and it was a really nice sail. Seeing yachts here at sea is virtually non-existent and we only saw one all the way. There was a fair amount of debris floating about though including rather large logs, plastic box lids, bottles, footballs, and a balloon. We had to laugh as the balloon said ‘Happy Birthday’ on it! What’s the chances of that then? We felt sure Dean would break his duck with the fishing, but all he caught was a load of weed. He reckons he saw a tuna jump out of the water, maybe he’s started hallucinating or something.
Talking to Wendy, a Birthday Wish call 😊
Dean's catch of the day
The Birthday Balloon
We were heading for SVB with a little intrepidation because we’ve read that the only mooring they have is on trots, by a low bridge, and in a small river mouth/harbour with fast running stream. The place had good reports though and we fancied trying it, besides yacht marinas seem to be few and far between on this coast so you don’t really have many options apart from 100 miles jaunts.
Arriving at the harbour entrance at about 30 minutes before High Water we noticed two dredgers in the entrance, as if we didn’t have enough on our minds already. We made it past and entered the harbour, spotted the trots, turned the boat 180 degrees and did an amazing job of picking up the lazy lines and securing them to the boat. Sounds simple but when you have a low bridge right next to you it’s a bit nervewracking. We were both so elated and relieved. I said to Dean we will be talking about this berthing for years to come.
Thésée's home tonight
Birthday Boy looking pleased with himself
Going ashore to sort out the dues, we took a brief walk around town picking up a baguette and croissants. We had only been back on Thesee for about 30 minutes when we had the mother of all hailstorms. The hail was the size of ice-cubes….really. They were hitting the boat with such force it was deafening. We were sure they would do some damage so we filmed what was going on just incase. But all seems to be alright, thankfully. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Ebbing tide and whirlpools tonight
Here's the line we're attached to. The big orange buoy is actually being lifted out of the water as the confused eddies send us off semi-sideways.
Saturday 30th June… A nice little cobblestone walk up past the Castle to the Church this morning. The views at the top across towards the Picos mountain range were beautiful. Back in the town we stopped at a bar for drinks. I said to Dean “I’ll have what you’re having” thinking he would order coffee or lemonade, but no… he ordered Dos Bier. So we both ended up with a San Miguel. For those of you who don’t know… I don’t drink beer!
We tried to do some food shopping but it was a nightmare in the local Supermercados (convenient stores really). People everywhere, food everywhere, everything all over the place. We gave up and went back to the boat. It started raining again, thunder, lightning, the usual afternoon downpour it seems.
After dinner we went back to the shops and this time did manage to get a few groceries. I tell you the worst thing about cruising is being able to buy food supplies. No transport to get to a proper supermarket, and when you can get to a shop you have to carry it all in a backpack, or on the trolley. Plus it’s really expensive and the choice is terrible, and you can't get gravy..... aaaargh!
On board we did have some apples, so Linda made an apple pie for pudding. That should last us for a few days.
Saturday 30th June… A nice little cobblestone walk up past the Castle to the Church this morning. The views at the top across towards the Picos mountain range were beautiful. Back in the town we stopped at a bar for drinks. I said to Dean “I’ll have what you’re having” thinking he would order coffee or lemonade, but no… he ordered Dos Bier. So we both ended up with a San Miguel. For those of you who don’t know… I don’t drink beer!
Castle of the King
Church of Santa Maria de los Angeles
The selfie stick's out
Views to the Picos.... and a nice mansion
Walking round the Church
Promenade gardens
San Miguel.... really??
We tried to do some food shopping but it was a nightmare in the local Supermercados (convenient stores really). People everywhere, food everywhere, everything all over the place. We gave up and went back to the boat. It started raining again, thunder, lightning, the usual afternoon downpour it seems.
It's raining again
After dinner we went back to the shops and this time did manage to get a few groceries. I tell you the worst thing about cruising is being able to buy food supplies. No transport to get to a proper supermarket, and when you can get to a shop you have to carry it all in a backpack, or on the trolley. Plus it’s really expensive and the choice is terrible, and you can't get gravy..... aaaargh!
On board we did have some apples, so Linda made an apple pie for pudding. That should last us for a few days.
Who ate the apple pie?
Sunday 1st July… The start of the Golden Globe Race! Good Luck to ‘our’ Susie Goodall. Normal life on board Thesee started with an 8am departure from San Vicente. It was a lovely morning but we knew there were thunder storms forecast this afternoon.
Plan A was to sail to an anchorage 20 miles west of here called Ensenada de Póo and anchor overnight. However, when we got there it was not as calm as we had hoped. Even though it has an unusual name it was lovely, not pooey at all. We thought it would be protected from the swell, but that didn’t seem to be the case so we called off Plan A. That meant Plan B was in jeopardy, going to Ribadesella. We really wanted to go here but entry is only around high tide and that would have meant waiting around for four hours.
So that just left Plan C, carrying on to Gijon. Along the way we had a thunder storm with torrential rain. The bimini was up and did a great job of keeping us dry. The coast today was magnificent (even though mainly covered in clouds). Kind of reminded us of the Jurassic Coast in a way. The Picos mountains are still snow covered and it was really a sight to see.
Travel today took us 10 hours in total and just as we entered the marina at Gijon another thunderstorm broke out and we got drenched as we were coming against the pontoon. We’ve booked in for 3 days, let’s hope we can get some food supplies.
Monday 2nd July… A great night’s sleep and a lie in. Last night we felt whacked and just flopped into bed, well Linda did, Dean was defrosting the fridge. Thanks Dean. Linda had been feeling sorry for herself after sustaining a badly bruised big toe from stubbing it on the companion way steps yesterday. She has photos but you will be spared them.
So this morning we sat and made a good plan instead of wandering about the city aimlessly. First stop was the Chandlery (of course) as we heard they sold cheap Campingaz, but they didn’t because it’s not the right stuff. Secondly we went to a pet store/pooch parlour to try and get some clippers for Saffy’s haircuts. They didn’t have any and they were fully booked for doggy haircuts, but the lady was so helpful and on the internet she found another place not too far away we could try for clippers. We found it OK and turned out they did indeed have clippers for sale so we bought them!
Next stop was for coffee and lunch in a streetside café, then it was to the supermarket, which turned out to be underground and big… wow not just a convenience store. We arrived back at the boat about 3pm and did two loads of washing in the marina launderette, so it was quite a productive day. Plus Dean actually succeeded in tying a Turks Head knot round the steering wheel. Why? Because it shows when the rudder is central when the engine is off.
After dinner we had the usual downpour but not so much thunder today. Yesterday when we were approaching Gijon the city didn’t look very inviting at all, but we have to say we are warming to it very quickly.
Plan A was to sail to an anchorage 20 miles west of here called Ensenada de Póo and anchor overnight. However, when we got there it was not as calm as we had hoped. Even though it has an unusual name it was lovely, not pooey at all. We thought it would be protected from the swell, but that didn’t seem to be the case so we called off Plan A. That meant Plan B was in jeopardy, going to Ribadesella. We really wanted to go here but entry is only around high tide and that would have meant waiting around for four hours.
So that just left Plan C, carrying on to Gijon. Along the way we had a thunder storm with torrential rain. The bimini was up and did a great job of keeping us dry. The coast today was magnificent (even though mainly covered in clouds). Kind of reminded us of the Jurassic Coast in a way. The Picos mountains are still snow covered and it was really a sight to see.
Views to the snow covered Picos mountains....
before the thunder storm
Travel today took us 10 hours in total and just as we entered the marina at Gijon another thunderstorm broke out and we got drenched as we were coming against the pontoon. We’ve booked in for 3 days, let’s hope we can get some food supplies.
Monday 2nd July… A great night’s sleep and a lie in. Last night we felt whacked and just flopped into bed, well Linda did, Dean was defrosting the fridge. Thanks Dean. Linda had been feeling sorry for herself after sustaining a badly bruised big toe from stubbing it on the companion way steps yesterday. She has photos but you will be spared them.
So this morning we sat and made a good plan instead of wandering about the city aimlessly. First stop was the Chandlery (of course) as we heard they sold cheap Campingaz, but they didn’t because it’s not the right stuff. Secondly we went to a pet store/pooch parlour to try and get some clippers for Saffy’s haircuts. They didn’t have any and they were fully booked for doggy haircuts, but the lady was so helpful and on the internet she found another place not too far away we could try for clippers. We found it OK and turned out they did indeed have clippers for sale so we bought them!
Look closely, this is made from empty bottles
Next stop was for coffee and lunch in a streetside café, then it was to the supermarket, which turned out to be underground and big… wow not just a convenience store. We arrived back at the boat about 3pm and did two loads of washing in the marina launderette, so it was quite a productive day. Plus Dean actually succeeded in tying a Turks Head knot round the steering wheel. Why? Because it shows when the rudder is central when the engine is off.
Dean's knot.... I'm very impressed
After dinner we had the usual downpour but not so much thunder today. Yesterday when we were approaching Gijon the city didn’t look very inviting at all, but we have to say we are warming to it very quickly.
Up on the headland this evening
Tuesday 3rd July… Dean was up most of the night swatting mosquitos and listening to someone’s loud music. After breakfast it was time for Saffy’s haircut with the new clippers. It went quite well really but took quite a long time to get her looking decent. Dean only moaned for a short while 😏.
Then we went into the centre to the camera shop and treated ourselves to a new camera. Annoyingly my not so old Sony one has been playing up and we can’t afford not to take photos can we? This new camera is a Canon one, digital like we always have, nothing fancy but suitable for our needs. Then we went shopping again making use of the trolleys supplied by the marina, meaning we could get heavy essentials like water and Bacardi .....another 😏. We even managed to buy Pickled Beetroot.
We had to rush back in a hurry, offload the shopping, get the washing in, grab the dog, take the trolley back, and dash off to meet Maria outside The Church of San Pedro. Maria is a friend of Dean’s aunty Von. She lives here in Gijon (or Xixon as it’s sometimes called). We spent a nice couple of hours together having a cider and a walk about the bay and the old town. What a lovely day we've had, and it hasn't rained either! Thank you for buying us cakes Maria.
Swimming baths on the other side of the headland
Looking across to Playa de San Lorenzo
Here we are with Maria outside the Town Hall
Walking the old town
It's quiet, siesta time it seems
Linda & Saffy at the fountain
Had to get a last minute photo at the Gijon sign
We have Pickled Beetroot at last
Nasty clouds behind us now
There he goes
Wednesday 4th July… Times up in Gijon and we are on the move again. I forgot to say that we got a 30% CA (Cruising Association) discount here, saving us about 45 Euros over 3 days. It was raining when we left this morning at 9am… yes, raining again. As we made our way out of the harbour a Spanish Naval Vessel was coming in so we kept out of its way. Heading north west to round the Cabo Penas headland the wind (that was supposed to be about 2 knots) started building. The rain and thunder started and the genoa decided to back itself. Dean started the engine again and we sorted the sails out. The weather and swell were horrible. At one point we clocked 18 knots of wind, that’s fine but there was no mention of it in the forecast.
There goes the Spanish Warship
Finally nearing the last of the low storm clouds
Saffy's not bothered about it all
It wasn’t until about 2pm that most of the dark clouds disappeared, but there was still a horrible swell. We managed to raise our spirits knowing that we had passed the 6 degrees west mark. A little later this afternoon, Dean spotted another yacht and through his binoculars realised that it was one of the Golden Globe competitors. It was the American sailor in his boat ‘Puffin’. He was coming across in front of us and we altered course a little so as not to impede his progress. We determined from the GGR website that he was in 12th position. Does that qualify that Thesee is in the race now? What a shame it wasn’t ‘our’ Susie and we could have given her another wave.
Orange - bottom centre right - This is Puffin
.... and here he is on Vessel Finder. The other grey one is Thesee
We altered our course to Starboard to give Puffin plenty of space
Quite a bit of catching up to do to catch the leaders,
still there's over 27000 miles to go apparantly
It was a long sail today, about 70 miles but we had to do it because there wasn’t really anything in-between, only anchorages which we would love to stop at but they are all facing the swell. We arrived at Ribadeo at 8pm and got a berth no trouble. Again, the harbour staff are excellent. Dean went to pay and Linda made dinner, still no gravy but we found a recipe for Creamy Mushroom Sauce.
This is the first marina where we could get an Asnauga Discount Card… that will give us 15% discount off berthing at certain marinas in the Galicia region. That makes us feel very happy.
This is the last post entitled 'Cantabria to the Rias'.
The next post will be called 'Galicia - Rias Altas.
This is the last post entitled 'Cantabria to the Rias'.
The next post will be called 'Galicia - Rias Altas.
