Tues 4th
Stopping in Viveiro ‘til the weather window arrives. Met Darren & Vicky off Nocturne who had arrived late last night and anchored off until this morning before coming into the marina. Did a bit of exploring around the old town and bought a jigsaw for 11 euros.
Wed 5th
Met Sergej & Isabelle ( and their 2 children, Alec & Katie [4 & 19months]) from SeaWalk, another Dutch boat. The social life is picking up now and we all have similar objectives to get as far along the coast as possible before getting stuck for the winter. SeaWalk (at the moment) are hoping to go to the Caribbean for a while, Nocturne have to attend to another boat that they were lifted from (by helicopter last year) before they head off to the Caribbean also. A lot of the time has been spent discussing plans, objectives, weather and past experiences… the price of red wine.. the greatness of each other’s Prime Minister… the wonders of the universe… the best places to get tappas… the things we miss most when away on the boat.. etc etc .
Also met Richard and Sabina off Hoya who have cruised this area for at least 20 years and have recently bought a house here. They will be heading back to Falmouth soon.
Thurs 6th
SeaWalk gets lifted out to change the prop back to the original fixed 3 blade rather than folding 3 blade because they loose too much speed motoring. All went OK although the dock area for the lift out by travel-hoist was a tight fit. Carolyn has a day cleaning and polishing the topsides and Trevor uses the jigsaw to make the plank of wood from Santander into a (3 in 1) fender board / boarding plank / ladder by cutting to size and cutting out foot-holes. Still having problems getting decent WiFi connection.
Fri 7th
A little more cleaning and had a chance to practice some more obscure Spanish trying to get a WiFi booster – must be getting better at saying the few words I know because the locals talk back very fast – as if I should understand..! Carolyn is having some therapy (looking after the under 5s) and misses all the ‘wee ones’ back home. C also went with Sergej to try to organise a present for Diana who has a special birthday soon.
Sat 8th
The big event of the day is to have a BBQ at the local park in order to have an early celebration for Diana’s birthday ( actually 11th Sept) – so we all make something to eat that we like and take along some drinks – load up the folding barrows / trolleys and walk through the town, Serg & Isabelle follow on bikes with the children on the bike seats.
What a great day … loads of lovely food, a little bit of wine or beer and the disposable barbi’s worked a treat… the people in the restaurant next to us in the park wondered why they had spent so much money and we were having the better time…
We played hide & seek with the kids and boules; there was a small play area for the kids and the beach a short walk across the road. Diana had a good time and was surprised to get a framed picture of Jaap in his hammock (working , eh??) and a Tee-shirt with the area map on.
Sun 9th
We catch a train to Ferrol (Diana, Jaap, Carolyn & Trevor) so that we can explore a little further – we (all boats) are all very ready to move further along the coast and have checked the weather so it will be a mass exodus from Vivero tomorrow. When we get back to the marina we call in to say to Serg & Isabelle that we will be leaving in the morning & find out that they have also decided to move along to Sada tomorrow.
Mon 10th
We leave first at 6:10 am because we are the slowest boat, Vicky and Darren are already up & getting ready, the others will not be too long behind us. Richard and Sabina may be setting off for Falmouth today so we wish them well with the passage. It’s dark until about 7:30 or 7:45 but there were not too many fishermen out in their wee boats so we get to the high seas without any problems. When it gets day light we can see Nocturne a couple of miles behind and catching, SeaWalk comes on the radio to ask where we are and what the conditions are like – not too lumpy – not too much wind ( but it will get worse). It turned out to be a great sail to Sada (best average boat speed for a long while) we motored for the first 4 hours and then had the wind pretty much astern, so we were goose-winged for most of the day ( the wind following the turns at the headlands as we turned to make our course). As the wind picked up we reefed and were still making good knots. We had stayed further offshore and sailed most of the way but a couple of the other boats had been closer to the shore and experienced a couple of nasty blasts of wind that caused a broach ( not too bad but enough to tighten the sphincter); we didn’t have the same problems. We had about 11 hours at sea and the others were all in Sada Marina ready to take our shorelines and provide a glass of refreshment….
Tues 11th
Catch up with laundry by using Diana & Jaap’s washing machine (on the pontoon), do some shopping and plan a trip to Santiago de Compostella. Pay the marina fees and plan on moving to Camarinas on Thursday. Still need to prepare the photos but I haven’t forgotten.
Late update 5th September
Fri 24th
We left Port Medoc about 7am to head to sea via the South Channel on the last of the ebb, which is supposed to be a bad place if the wind & swell is coming in from the west or north west, but we had a light wind from NNE so the channel was no problem. Last night, before we left we had been talking to a couple of Brits who had kept a boat in the Port Medoc area for a couple of years and they were asking us were we were from. When we mentioned Ardorran they knew the area and told a story of how they had anchored in Barnacarry Bay because they didn’t have the confidence to go in and it was too stormy to go up Kerrera Sound. But when they were at anchor a Moody went steaming past and straight into the channel to go into Loch Feochan; so they upped anchor and followed it in. Well!! Was they boat called Donara, we asked, - and it was – so then we had a chat about some of the great characters at Ardorran.
However the wind didn’t pick-up any during the day and we had to motor. We were taking a direct course to Santander across the firing practice range (which the kind lady in the office had checked that it would be OK – no Firing…) , but then halfway across the engine spluttered and died – water in the fuel from Port Medoc.
Ah Weel ! as they say ( or “ Did ye learn anything!” ). Drained the filters and a few other checks then got the engine back on after about 45 mins. We needed to top-up with fuel just in case, otherwise we would have left it until Spain (1.19 euros/ ltr in France – 0.95 in Spain). It would have been a boring day otherwise – not a thing in sight.
However the night was a different kettle of fish altogether… C was on watch T getting some rest before his watch, but was called early to check on some lights that were a wee bit confusing. It looked like a street by the amount and number of lights – including flashing orange light (like on the tractors etc at home). Couldn’t figure them all out and they were a bit close together to try to dodge between so we put the radar on to make sure that we got the closest point of approach worked out and moved left so that we weren’t going behind the fishing fleet (about 22 of them). But, they kept coming over the horizon more & more; there must have been more than 60 that we had seen the lights of and there were more looms of light (like a big town) over the horizon as we cleared the last of them. That kept us entertained from about 11:30pm ‘til 4am.
We got the engine off at about 9:30am and arrived in Santander at the back of 7pm with about 24 knots across the deck and doing about 7 through the water, the sea had lumped up a bit as well but it was a good sail with the wind and sea from astern ( and it quietened down when we were in the river). So that was Saturday.
Sun 26th
The marina is down by the airport, 25mins walk to the bus stop to get to Santander, 30mins on the bus but only 1.20 euros (each) each way. Had a good walk in Santander but everything shut – went to check out the alleged moorings or anchoring area at the posh sailing club but they were very un-welcoming (polite version..). They have a lovely pontoon there totally empty – yet it’s recommended in the sailing book…?
Mon 27th
Was spent by Carolyn getting the bus to the supermarket and Trevor walking several kilometres to get a plank of wood; (long story – longer walk) and checking the pilot books for future harbours and possible anchorages.
Tues 28th
We moved on to San Vicente da la Barquera which was supposed to have room for anchoring, a communal buoy or tie up alongside a fishing boat. No room to anchor, no communal buoy so it had to be the fishing boat. We tried to find out what time in the morning they were going and where the skipper was but no luck. Talked to one of the pescadors on another boat and he thought the one we were alongside would be going out about 5am (as they do).
Later on that night about 10pm another fisherman arrived and was very helpful and told us that the fishing boat was not going out in the morning and we could sleep all night. He couldn’t speak any English and also asked if he could have a look around – so we offered him a drink and let him look at our little boat. However he didn’t stay long and it was not ‘til he had gone that we noticed he had pocketed 50 euros. !!!! We didn’t sleep much that night wondering if he had really been from the boat next door or if he would be back to collect something else that he had taken a fancy to, or maybe he wasn’t from the boat next door and they would be down in the middle of the night to set sail for the fishing grounds. Well the guys from next door turned up at about 4am so we dashed up ready to move (slept – no, dozed – on the bed with clothes on just in case) but they were just collecting their waterproofs and going on another boat. ‘Light-fingers’ was not with them!
Lessons learnt – don’t be so trusting (go with your gut feeling) – don’t leave money lying about (because it is usually just the 2 of us on board, we became a little lax and didn’t put the attractive stuff away in drawers and cupboards).
Wed 29th
Last night spoiled San Vicente for us and we did not want to stay any longer and headed out just before dawn to Lastres (sometimes spelt with 2 ‘L’s at the beginning) – another fishing village. It was another long day and took us 11 hours to get there. However, what a difference – all the fishermen were very helpful and we were OK tied up alongside a Spanish sailing boat (a hire boat). The tide range was about 4 metre and there was no ladder to get up onto the jetty so we had to use the dinghy to get to a ladder, first time using the dinghy since Cameret.
The very attractive village is built above the harbour on the side of the hill and is a maze of small alleyways and is a place of great character. We had some great views from up the hill and walked past the Capitania on the way through the village (no one in the harbour had sent us up to it when we were asking were the Capitan was – they made the decision amongst themselves that we were OK where we were). So we checked-in with the Capitan de Puerto anyway and he was also very happy and helpful and got on the internet to check the weather forecast for the next few days. When we were continuing our walk a retired pescador started to chat to us and was commenting on how the weather had been absolutely horrible all over Spain this year and how it was just like Scottish weather. (all this idle chat with the locals is in Spanish so its quite difficult at times to catch it all especially when they speak so fast).
So – time for a coffee, lemonade and a sit down – we go to the ‘Bar Chico’ and order the drinks in my best Spanish. The barman just looks and puts a ‘7up’ on the counter – ‘ Si, esta bien!’ So I go back to the table while the coffee is made and brought out. Then the barman goes and comes back out with his own coffee – and hovers near the table a wee while – and then asks in perfect English ‘are we on holiday?’ Well it turns out that Martin (a well travelled and knowledgeable Fifer) owns and runs the place with his wife Trish, and live nearby in a smallholding. They were both very helpful and if anyone is touring in the area (or would like to explore by motorbike…) it’s well worth getting in touch with them. The whole of the north of Spain looks like it would be worth an extended visit. It was a great way to end our visit to Lastres and hope to get back there one day.
Fri 31st
So that was Wednesday and Thursday - and we move on to Gijon, just 4 hours and spend the night there. Swell gets into the marina and the WiFi is very poor so there is no real chance to catch up with all the stuff we need to do on the internet. We have noticed that we are still meeting up with the boats that are doing big hops along the coast (they are not getting much further), we think it’s because after the long hops you need to rest more and still do the other jobs like shopping and laundry etc.. However, as we write this in Viveiro we are now in the company of Jaap & Diana (from Holland) on their boat ‘Kiara’, we have been in the same places 3 times now and appear to be doing similar distances and have a similar outlook on everything. Good company! (check www.sykiara.nl ). Gijon had a National Geographic exhibition but we are still conscious about making progress west.
Sat 1st
September already – nearly been away 2 months (sometimes it seems longer).
Gijon to Aviles, which does not get a good write-up in the pilot books because it is an industrial town. However, the port police where very helpful and the old town very beautiful. When we were walking through there must have been a wedding taking place (judging by the way people were dressed) and there was a small band of Asturian pipers & drummers in the old town square by (one of the) old church. Bagpipes!! Brilliant – I just had to phone Alastair and let him hear them.
One of the down sides is that the town, being industrial with coke (as in made from coal….) factories etc, is quite dirty, but worth a visit.
Sun 2nd
Aviles to Ribadeo. It looks like the weather at Finisterre is getting worse in the next few days so we need to find a suitable place to wait out while it goes past. We had quite a good sail to Ribadeo after the wind picked up near lunchtime but there was a lot of slop and bounce (technical term) coming into the marina when we were on the pontoon – so not a place to sit out the bad weather. But Viveiro looks perfect. I checked in with the Italian Maritime Mobile net (14,297.5 @ 1900 gmt) last night and with the UK Maritime Mobile net (14,303 @ 0800 & 1800 gmt) on Monday morning before we left Ribadeo using the HF radio so we will try to keep up to date with those guys when the opportunities arise.
Mon 3rd
So we move on to Viveiro and met up again with Jaap & Diana. The small marina has perfect shelter and an old town nearby that we can explore, it is also handy for public transport but has no WiFi. Jaap has an external aerial for the WiFi with a 12Db gain which has given them very good reception so I think we will be adding one to the shopping list.
We had another good sail and the dolphins came to play, think the last time with the dolphins was the crossing to Santander. They’re always great to watch.
We will be here for a few days until the weather quietens down and explore the old town.
We left Port Medoc about 7am to head to sea via the South Channel on the last of the ebb, which is supposed to be a bad place if the wind & swell is coming in from the west or north west, but we had a light wind from NNE so the channel was no problem. Last night, before we left we had been talking to a couple of Brits who had kept a boat in the Port Medoc area for a couple of years and they were asking us were we were from. When we mentioned Ardorran they knew the area and told a story of how they had anchored in Barnacarry Bay because they didn’t have the confidence to go in and it was too stormy to go up Kerrera Sound. But when they were at anchor a Moody went steaming past and straight into the channel to go into Loch Feochan; so they upped anchor and followed it in. Well!! Was they boat called Donara, we asked, - and it was – so then we had a chat about some of the great characters at Ardorran.
However the wind didn’t pick-up any during the day and we had to motor. We were taking a direct course to Santander across the firing practice range (which the kind lady in the office had checked that it would be OK – no Firing…) , but then halfway across the engine spluttered and died – water in the fuel from Port Medoc.
Ah Weel ! as they say ( or “ Did ye learn anything!” ). Drained the filters and a few other checks then got the engine back on after about 45 mins. We needed to top-up with fuel just in case, otherwise we would have left it until Spain (1.19 euros/ ltr in France – 0.95 in Spain). It would have been a boring day otherwise – not a thing in sight.
However the night was a different kettle of fish altogether… C was on watch T getting some rest before his watch, but was called early to check on some lights that were a wee bit confusing. It looked like a street by the amount and number of lights – including flashing orange light (like on the tractors etc at home). Couldn’t figure them all out and they were a bit close together to try to dodge between so we put the radar on to make sure that we got the closest point of approach worked out and moved left so that we weren’t going behind the fishing fleet (about 22 of them). But, they kept coming over the horizon more & more; there must have been more than 60 that we had seen the lights of and there were more looms of light (like a big town) over the horizon as we cleared the last of them. That kept us entertained from about 11:30pm ‘til 4am.
We got the engine off at about 9:30am and arrived in Santander at the back of 7pm with about 24 knots across the deck and doing about 7 through the water, the sea had lumped up a bit as well but it was a good sail with the wind and sea from astern ( and it quietened down when we were in the river). So that was Saturday.
Sun 26th
The marina is down by the airport, 25mins walk to the bus stop to get to Santander, 30mins on the bus but only 1.20 euros (each) each way. Had a good walk in Santander but everything shut – went to check out the alleged moorings or anchoring area at the posh sailing club but they were very un-welcoming (polite version..). They have a lovely pontoon there totally empty – yet it’s recommended in the sailing book…?
Mon 27th
Was spent by Carolyn getting the bus to the supermarket and Trevor walking several kilometres to get a plank of wood; (long story – longer walk) and checking the pilot books for future harbours and possible anchorages.
Tues 28th
We moved on to San Vicente da la Barquera which was supposed to have room for anchoring, a communal buoy or tie up alongside a fishing boat. No room to anchor, no communal buoy so it had to be the fishing boat. We tried to find out what time in the morning they were going and where the skipper was but no luck. Talked to one of the pescadors on another boat and he thought the one we were alongside would be going out about 5am (as they do).
Later on that night about 10pm another fisherman arrived and was very helpful and told us that the fishing boat was not going out in the morning and we could sleep all night. He couldn’t speak any English and also asked if he could have a look around – so we offered him a drink and let him look at our little boat. However he didn’t stay long and it was not ‘til he had gone that we noticed he had pocketed 50 euros. !!!! We didn’t sleep much that night wondering if he had really been from the boat next door or if he would be back to collect something else that he had taken a fancy to, or maybe he wasn’t from the boat next door and they would be down in the middle of the night to set sail for the fishing grounds. Well the guys from next door turned up at about 4am so we dashed up ready to move (slept – no, dozed – on the bed with clothes on just in case) but they were just collecting their waterproofs and going on another boat. ‘Light-fingers’ was not with them!
Lessons learnt – don’t be so trusting (go with your gut feeling) – don’t leave money lying about (because it is usually just the 2 of us on board, we became a little lax and didn’t put the attractive stuff away in drawers and cupboards).
Wed 29th
Last night spoiled San Vicente for us and we did not want to stay any longer and headed out just before dawn to Lastres (sometimes spelt with 2 ‘L’s at the beginning) – another fishing village. It was another long day and took us 11 hours to get there. However, what a difference – all the fishermen were very helpful and we were OK tied up alongside a Spanish sailing boat (a hire boat). The tide range was about 4 metre and there was no ladder to get up onto the jetty so we had to use the dinghy to get to a ladder, first time using the dinghy since Cameret.
The very attractive village is built above the harbour on the side of the hill and is a maze of small alleyways and is a place of great character. We had some great views from up the hill and walked past the Capitania on the way through the village (no one in the harbour had sent us up to it when we were asking were the Capitan was – they made the decision amongst themselves that we were OK where we were). So we checked-in with the Capitan de Puerto anyway and he was also very happy and helpful and got on the internet to check the weather forecast for the next few days. When we were continuing our walk a retired pescador started to chat to us and was commenting on how the weather had been absolutely horrible all over Spain this year and how it was just like Scottish weather. (all this idle chat with the locals is in Spanish so its quite difficult at times to catch it all especially when they speak so fast).
So – time for a coffee, lemonade and a sit down – we go to the ‘Bar Chico’ and order the drinks in my best Spanish. The barman just looks and puts a ‘7up’ on the counter – ‘ Si, esta bien!’ So I go back to the table while the coffee is made and brought out. Then the barman goes and comes back out with his own coffee – and hovers near the table a wee while – and then asks in perfect English ‘are we on holiday?’ Well it turns out that Martin (a well travelled and knowledgeable Fifer) owns and runs the place with his wife Trish, and live nearby in a smallholding. They were both very helpful and if anyone is touring in the area (or would like to explore by motorbike…) it’s well worth getting in touch with them. The whole of the north of Spain looks like it would be worth an extended visit. It was a great way to end our visit to Lastres and hope to get back there one day.
Fri 31st
So that was Wednesday and Thursday - and we move on to Gijon, just 4 hours and spend the night there. Swell gets into the marina and the WiFi is very poor so there is no real chance to catch up with all the stuff we need to do on the internet. We have noticed that we are still meeting up with the boats that are doing big hops along the coast (they are not getting much further), we think it’s because after the long hops you need to rest more and still do the other jobs like shopping and laundry etc.. However, as we write this in Viveiro we are now in the company of Jaap & Diana (from Holland) on their boat ‘Kiara’, we have been in the same places 3 times now and appear to be doing similar distances and have a similar outlook on everything. Good company! (check www.sykiara.nl ). Gijon had a National Geographic exhibition but we are still conscious about making progress west.
Sat 1st
September already – nearly been away 2 months (sometimes it seems longer).
Gijon to Aviles, which does not get a good write-up in the pilot books because it is an industrial town. However, the port police where very helpful and the old town very beautiful. When we were walking through there must have been a wedding taking place (judging by the way people were dressed) and there was a small band of Asturian pipers & drummers in the old town square by (one of the) old church. Bagpipes!! Brilliant – I just had to phone Alastair and let him hear them.
One of the down sides is that the town, being industrial with coke (as in made from coal….) factories etc, is quite dirty, but worth a visit.
Sun 2nd
Aviles to Ribadeo. It looks like the weather at Finisterre is getting worse in the next few days so we need to find a suitable place to wait out while it goes past. We had quite a good sail to Ribadeo after the wind picked up near lunchtime but there was a lot of slop and bounce (technical term) coming into the marina when we were on the pontoon – so not a place to sit out the bad weather. But Viveiro looks perfect. I checked in with the Italian Maritime Mobile net (14,297.5 @ 1900 gmt) last night and with the UK Maritime Mobile net (14,303 @ 0800 & 1800 gmt) on Monday morning before we left Ribadeo using the HF radio so we will try to keep up to date with those guys when the opportunities arise.
Mon 3rd
So we move on to Viveiro and met up again with Jaap & Diana. The small marina has perfect shelter and an old town nearby that we can explore, it is also handy for public transport but has no WiFi. Jaap has an external aerial for the WiFi with a 12Db gain which has given them very good reception so I think we will be adding one to the shopping list.
We had another good sail and the dolphins came to play, think the last time with the dolphins was the crossing to Santander. They’re always great to watch.
We will be here for a few days until the weather quietens down and explore the old town.
23rd Aug Update
Wed 22nd
A grey day! We left La Rochelle about 7am local time and the weather was very heavy, overcast & grey. We had also topped up the water tanks in port & that was a mistake – it didn’t taste very nice at all. Thank goodness for bottled water (MW), we have now pumped out all the tank and refilled with really sweet water here in Port Medoc – not quite as sweet as Scottish rain water but close to it. Anyway back to the grey day – the water was an even darker grey than the skies and it didn’t get any better; we’ve now had 2 days in lang breeks & simmits (the weather must improve soon). It was a reasonable sail down to Port Medoc but the seas were still quite big – it had been over a week in port so we were both looking a bit grey. There is a warning in the pilot book not to enter into the Girronde estuary during the ebb and it looked like we were going to be early. So we put some sail away and tried to slow down – but the wind picked up – and so the seas didn’t get any less.. and we were still going to be early ! But back to the grey day – just at the entrance to the channel which starts about 4 miles out from the estuary - a big grey ship was charging our way…… It circled us a couple of times, taking pictures and generally checking us out then turned and pulled up as close as his blues eyes thought he could get and shouted us on the loudhailer to switch to channel 10 on the radio. We had a chat over the radio (the very nice French Customs man & me) about where were we from (Oban --- ‘can you spell that please’..), a few other questions and then the crunch ‘Have you been checked by French Customs since you got here?’ Reply – ‘No, Sir we have not!’ silence for a few seconds then ‘Standby on channel 10..’ they must have been tossing euros to see who they were going to send over -- anyway we won because the came back on the radio to say that they were happy for us to carry on. That would have been an interesting boat transfer if they had decided to come over for a look. However that was the first visit from F. Customs – others we have spoken to have been boarded 3 times.
Thurs 23rd
Port Medoc is a new marina that is improving its facilities for visiting yachts but still lacks any shops for normal things like food and milk, hopefully that will change soon. WiFi is not very good here and we have to walk up and sit outside the office to get reasonable signal – when it was good in L Rochelle it was very good and just before we left Carolyn had a chance to make a few phone calls via skype and I had a very good chat with nephew Craig on Windows Messenger.
We’ve checked the weather (grib files and magic seaweed) and we’re heading off to Santander tomorrow morning and should be there by Saturday evening – watch this space. Oh , it’s real by the way – check it out http://magicseaweed.com I wasn’t kidding!
One other thing has been hurricane Dean over in the Bahamas and there abouts – our friends Dave & Nora are over that way in their boat and we hope that they are OK. We tried to get in touch but haven’t heard yet.
A grey day! We left La Rochelle about 7am local time and the weather was very heavy, overcast & grey. We had also topped up the water tanks in port & that was a mistake – it didn’t taste very nice at all. Thank goodness for bottled water (MW), we have now pumped out all the tank and refilled with really sweet water here in Port Medoc – not quite as sweet as Scottish rain water but close to it. Anyway back to the grey day – the water was an even darker grey than the skies and it didn’t get any better; we’ve now had 2 days in lang breeks & simmits (the weather must improve soon). It was a reasonable sail down to Port Medoc but the seas were still quite big – it had been over a week in port so we were both looking a bit grey. There is a warning in the pilot book not to enter into the Girronde estuary during the ebb and it looked like we were going to be early. So we put some sail away and tried to slow down – but the wind picked up – and so the seas didn’t get any less.. and we were still going to be early ! But back to the grey day – just at the entrance to the channel which starts about 4 miles out from the estuary - a big grey ship was charging our way…… It circled us a couple of times, taking pictures and generally checking us out then turned and pulled up as close as his blues eyes thought he could get and shouted us on the loudhailer to switch to channel 10 on the radio. We had a chat over the radio (the very nice French Customs man & me) about where were we from (Oban --- ‘can you spell that please’..), a few other questions and then the crunch ‘Have you been checked by French Customs since you got here?’ Reply – ‘No, Sir we have not!’ silence for a few seconds then ‘Standby on channel 10..’ they must have been tossing euros to see who they were going to send over -- anyway we won because the came back on the radio to say that they were happy for us to carry on. That would have been an interesting boat transfer if they had decided to come over for a look. However that was the first visit from F. Customs – others we have spoken to have been boarded 3 times.
Thurs 23rd
Port Medoc is a new marina that is improving its facilities for visiting yachts but still lacks any shops for normal things like food and milk, hopefully that will change soon. WiFi is not very good here and we have to walk up and sit outside the office to get reasonable signal – when it was good in L Rochelle it was very good and just before we left Carolyn had a chance to make a few phone calls via skype and I had a very good chat with nephew Craig on Windows Messenger.
We’ve checked the weather (grib files and magic seaweed) and we’re heading off to Santander tomorrow morning and should be there by Saturday evening – watch this space. Oh , it’s real by the way – check it out http://magicseaweed.com I wasn’t kidding!
One other thing has been hurricane Dean over in the Bahamas and there abouts – our friends Dave & Nora are over that way in their boat and we hope that they are OK. We tried to get in touch but haven’t heard yet.
Last? update from La Rochelle, 21st Aug
Tues 21st Aug
Well, we’re still here in La Rochelle the weather forecasts have not been good for heading out into the Bay of Biscay since we got here and it is a little later clearing away than we had hoped. So the updated plan is to leave here tomorrow (Wednesday 22nd) and go down to Port Medoc and onwards to Santander from there a couple of days later.
The weather here has been several days of showers and heavy rain so we have been pottering about on the boat during the rain and trying not to get caught out in the worst of the showers. The days that we did go out were up into La Rochelle, both walking and by bike, so that was OK. It’s a very vibrant city and absolutely mobbed with people.
It’s quite a trek to the big supermarket but the Capitainerie (marina office) hires out bikes for the deposit of some form of photo ID. The bikes are in very good condition, if not new, but don’t have gears – but that’s OK, the first 2 hours are free and only 1 euro / hour after that. So we have used the bikes quite a few times – just remember which way the traffic is coming from…… and which way to go on the roundabout.
What else has been happening, ah yes, I’ve been playing with the HF radio and managed to talk to some people back in UK, someone in the Orkneys, at Barns Ness lighthouse near Dunbar, Isle of Man and also someone in Swansea. All those contacts were in the Amateur frequencies (either 14 MHz or 18 MHz), we also tried to get in touch with some friends near Oban on their boat by using the marine bands but although they had managed to hear us – we couldn’t hear them – maybe next time.
We have also met a few couples on Brit boats that have helped to quench Carolyn’s thirst to hear British voices now and again (other than mine). One couple are on their way back north to winter their boat nearer UK after having been in the French canals for most of the year and another couple (Bob & Nicky) are on their way south to Bordeaux to get into the canals and to the Mediterranean that way; we may see them next year in the Med. Their web diary is at http://www.getjealous.com/bob-and-nicky .
One of the days that we ventured into La Rochelle we visited the Museum of Automata which is a very good and well laid out exhibition of models, mannequins and toys, which all (most?) still operate even though some were made at the end of the 1800s or early 1900s. There did seem to be a lot of examples from 1920 so I suppose it was probably an in vogue thing to make around about then.
Good luck to all the kids now back at school and thanks to everyone for their messages. We have been asked to include some photos of the blog-meisters; so we will shave off our beards and make some new palm-frond clothes ready for the photo shoot. More pics soon… promise.
Well, we’re still here in La Rochelle the weather forecasts have not been good for heading out into the Bay of Biscay since we got here and it is a little later clearing away than we had hoped. So the updated plan is to leave here tomorrow (Wednesday 22nd) and go down to Port Medoc and onwards to Santander from there a couple of days later.
The weather here has been several days of showers and heavy rain so we have been pottering about on the boat during the rain and trying not to get caught out in the worst of the showers. The days that we did go out were up into La Rochelle, both walking and by bike, so that was OK. It’s a very vibrant city and absolutely mobbed with people.
It’s quite a trek to the big supermarket but the Capitainerie (marina office) hires out bikes for the deposit of some form of photo ID. The bikes are in very good condition, if not new, but don’t have gears – but that’s OK, the first 2 hours are free and only 1 euro / hour after that. So we have used the bikes quite a few times – just remember which way the traffic is coming from…… and which way to go on the roundabout.
What else has been happening, ah yes, I’ve been playing with the HF radio and managed to talk to some people back in UK, someone in the Orkneys, at Barns Ness lighthouse near Dunbar, Isle of Man and also someone in Swansea. All those contacts were in the Amateur frequencies (either 14 MHz or 18 MHz), we also tried to get in touch with some friends near Oban on their boat by using the marine bands but although they had managed to hear us – we couldn’t hear them – maybe next time.
We have also met a few couples on Brit boats that have helped to quench Carolyn’s thirst to hear British voices now and again (other than mine). One couple are on their way back north to winter their boat nearer UK after having been in the French canals for most of the year and another couple (Bob & Nicky) are on their way south to Bordeaux to get into the canals and to the Mediterranean that way; we may see them next year in the Med. Their web diary is at http://www.getjealous.com/bob-and-nicky .
One of the days that we ventured into La Rochelle we visited the Museum of Automata which is a very good and well laid out exhibition of models, mannequins and toys, which all (most?) still operate even though some were made at the end of the 1800s or early 1900s. There did seem to be a lot of examples from 1920 so I suppose it was probably an in vogue thing to make around about then.
Good luck to all the kids now back at school and thanks to everyone for their messages. We have been asked to include some photos of the blog-meisters; so we will shave off our beards and make some new palm-frond clothes ready for the photo shoot. More pics soon… promise.
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