Cartagena -> Palma

I fly down to Madrid and take the speed train to Cartagena. Turns out to be a good way to come down. As I come to the boat, it is covered in dust and I have some serious work to clean it up and wax. I check the engines and the worst is the shells and weed that has fouled the propellers and sail drive.

Melody is starting to get back its glory after a lot of work

View from the Castle in Cartagena

On Wednesday, my friend Stefan turns up and we go to the supermarket to buy food for the trip. We have decided to leave later that day and either stay in a marina or at anchor as the wind is pretty settled. As we leave in light winds, we start tacking as the wind but soon decide to start motor. After a while one motor runs hot and soon after the other one. Having no option, we stop the motors and continue sailing, which slows us down radically. We try with the motors occasionally but they get too hot and we can tell that although they get cooling water – it is not enough. We have a nice fair weather so apart from the nagging feeling of having an upcoming repair to do we enjoy our sail.

Leaving Cartagena

The wind turns slowly and keeps us in tack in slow wind, and as we go around Cabo de Palos where we expect to get better angle, the wind turns against us again. It turns into a very slow sail along the coast and we decide to night sail in order to reach Torrevieja that is the nearest larger marina where we could get hold of a mechanic. After a nice night sail, we finally reach the Salinas marina at five in the morning and tuck in.

Sunset over Cabo de Palos – six hours later than planned

Next morning we step into the Oscar Volvo Penta Service and at first they said that they neet the boat on land in order to ensure that the water inlet channels on the drive is completely clean and that I could just as well clean the hull meanwhile. The problem with this was that the boat should not be ready until next Wednesday, which more or less should ruin our plans. But contining is not an option but as Oscar and Simon later show up on the boat we decide to give it a try as the boat is in water on the condition that I do the diving and cleaning. Simon turns out to be not only very skilled but also fun and good teacher. He explains his plan and shows me how I should clean the sail drives thoroughly and then he starts doing his magic flushing the sea water system with acid solution and taking both water pumps out for maintenance. This takes a full day but at the end of the day, the motors are running perfect and does not overheat.

Simon is testing the cooling systems after a days work

Stefan and I celebrate the fixed engines and have a very nice evening at the area around our marina.

Stefan and I celebrate at El Muelle in Torrevieja

The next day we go north towards Alicante to pick up Magnus who should land in the evening. We manage to get a spot in the city marina right next to the harbour walk and we had just cleaned the boat as Magnus shows up. Perfect timing! Quick showers and then we go up, explore Alicante, and visit a nice restaurant in the old town.

Stefan preparing for the Marina procedure in Alicante

Magnus gets aboard

Stefan, I and Magnus having a nice dinner in old town

The next morning we leave for Calpe that we have planned as last stop before Ibiza. There is no wind but with the motors in good condition, we steam north. We have great weather and as it very hot, we occasionally stop for a swimming pause. We arrive to Calpe and put the boat right under the mighty Calpe rock and then head for the town for some sights and a good meal in the old town.

Real Club Nautico Calpe

Real Club Nautico Calpe

Stefan had during the day felt an upcoming sore throat and it had worsened during the night so he decide to go back to his apartment before it got even worse. Sad to leave him on the quay, we continue northeast in good wind towards Ibiza. This is not a long crossing but it is nice to lose sight of land and have a 360 horizon again. We have a good sail and start thinking on the different options to stay the night as we arrive. As it is fair weather, we decide to anchor up in Cala Tarida on the west coast of Ibiza. We have a very nice sunset accompanying us to our dinner. Feels good to be in the Baleares!

Leaving mainland Spain

Approaching Ibiza

Magnus in Cala Tarida

Cala Tarida sunset

Next morning we start sailing down but the wind lets us down so we decide to motor, as we should pick up Patrik in Ibiza town in the afternoon. We arrive just in time and manage to find each other. There is no space in the town so we heard north to Santa Eulalia, which turns out to be a nice small town on the east coast of Ibiza. Here we stay the night and enjoy the nice beach promenade and a very good meal in the town.

Patrik takes a swim on the crossing to Palma

The next morning, it is time for next crossing over to Palma. Again, a very undramatic crossing with not so much wind but a number of swimming stops as we as crew are overheating. We find our spot in the Real Club Nautico Palma in the middle of the city, and after the normal check-in procedure and showers, we head for the town.

Coming into Real Club Nautico de Palma

I never been to Palma and it turns out to be a very beautiful “real” town with a lot of nice restaurants and a nice old city. We stroll around the city and have a great meal at the Paloma restaurant in old town and some drinks at the fortress bar afterwards.

IMG_E7656

Palma

The next day, it is Magnus turn to leave, as he needs to go home and work. As it is a very hot day, I and Patrik decide to go out from the town and anchor up in Las Isletas outside town. This turns out to be a nice little bay and we swim, talk and have a very lazy day with a nice dinner in the boat before going back into town where Patrik left to go back to his house.

Las Isletas

After cleaning the boat, I spend a very nice afternoon with my friend Kirsti. My plan was to meet her and my friend Christer but sadly, it turns out that he was seriously ill and at the hospital. Sad circumstance but the afternoon slides away with both serious topics and some good laughs.

After a quick shower Jan and Lisbeth arrives to Melody. This is really funny since we met each other at San Sebastian after we saw on social media that we were in the same city. Same thing this time, Jan post a picture from Palma as we are coming into town. We go for a dinner and some drinks and share memories and laughs.

The Friday is spent on sightseeing and provisioning of food as Birgitta and Jessica will arrive this evening.

Palma

Palma Cathedral

Dnepr tour

Ukraine trip 2019

I am back in Kiev, this time with my friend Emma who should take a workacation as well as be co/driver and navigator. As we arrive to Kyiv, we have a working day where Emma is working on her assignments and I go and visit the colleagues at Sigma in our beautiful office down at the Dnepr river. Me and Evgeniy have lunch and then take a long walk along the river bank and out on the islands and discuss different ongoing things. A very good way to do work meetings instead of cramming into a conference room.

View out over Kyiv

The day after we go to a tour to Chernobyl since we cannot take the bike there as only certified tour agents can go to this closed area. The day starts early and turns out to be very interesting, mind changing and we are both shaken by the experience. First, we visit a deserted village and then the city of Pripyat – a modern model city built for the employees of the nuclear plant. First thing that strikes me is to see how nature in 30 years gain back its control and slowly break down the man-made constructions – even the solid Soviet concrete that you think would stay around for ever. Our tour guide show us around and have old photos from the same spots as we are standing. You can see the hotel, culture palace, boat terminal, amusement park and sports stadium. After that we visited the enclosed reactor 4 which is covered by the largest movable construction ever made. Amazing that thousands of people work there today to maintain the surroundings and we dine in the worker cantina.

Deserted village overtaken by nature

Not long time ago, people lived here

The Polyssia hotel – note the photo

Deserted radio cars

The concrete is cracking up

Testing the radiation levels with Geiger counters

On our way back, we visit the huge Duga radar built to detect incoming nuclear missiles. It was called the woodpecker since it emitted a pecking sound on the radio.

The huge 750 meter long Duga antenna

Then comes the exciting day as we go out to Sergey and Anatoly who now lives north of Kyiv in Vyshhorod and where the bike has been standing since last autumn. They are still working on the last on the bike and soon we roll it out from the garage and it starts as a clock. We go for lunch and take it easy and later as we should leave, I ask Sergey about the documents for the bike, which he tell me that he did not have. A short confusion and a thought arise in my head that I might have forgotten it at home. A quick phone call to Birgitta who confirms that I have some documents in Cyrillic – at least the papers sat in the right place…. We go for a tour around Vyshhorod and get a fell for the town and have a look at the Dnepr reservoir.

Emma is ready to go!

Anatoly and Sergey working on the bike

Bike is ready but with no documents 🙁

Taking a quick tour in Vyshhorod

As DHL gave a delivery time of three working days and since this was Friday, we decide to see a bit more of Kyiv and then go to the ancient city of Chernihiv where neither of us has been. Chernihiv has an interesting history parallel with Kiev and is known as city of churches, which is no overstatement. It also turned out to be a calm city with nice beer – beside the in Ukraine well-known stock beer Chernigivske, they also had a lot of smaller craft beers and good food. We stay for some days and as Emma have a lot of work to do – I have a lot of time to walk around in museums, parks and churches and spend some good time here.

Map of ancient Chernihiv

Chernihiv

Chernihiv

Beer with fish…

Chernihiv

Chernihiv

Chernihiv

The documents arrives already early on Tuesday so we go to Sergeys workshop. Nice to meet the guys and we decide to go early the next morning and stay at the Viking hotel for dinner and some good laughs.

Dinner in Vyshhorod before we leave.

Before we go we first visit the “Dacha” of former president Janukovytj. This turns out to be a huge area of land with magnificent view out over the Dnepr reservoir north of Vyshhorod. A lot of luxary including a garage filled with nice cars and bikes including a Boss Hoss!

Map over Janukovytj dacha

The main house

Emma is trying out Janukovytj meditation corner

The Dnepr reservoir

The park

The park

Of course. A man who can have everything has a Boss Hoss

The limousine part of the garage

Wait… I recognize that design…. It’s a…. Tjajka -62!

My co-driver/navigator Emma is the perfect road partner – besides being good company, she holds a master of mechanical engineering, artistic with the camera and has a cheerful mind that can bring me up when the bike breaks down. This comes in handy as this Soviet veteran bike from 1966 is not the most reliable. Being structured and well-planned, she also has a great understanding of my ever-changing maximizing plans. This year was no different. The plans were open until now and we finally decide that this years Ukrainian bike trip will take us down the mighty Dnepr river with small detours now and then.

Finally. Papers arrived.

Emma is eager to go

Rolling south!

First stop is intended to be somewhere after the river south of Kiev. The bike runs as a clock and beside some rain through Kyiv, the tour goes smooth. The only disappointment is that it is not possible to go by the river so we only see it on occasions. We decide to stop at Kaniv by Dnepr where the poet, writer and national hero Taras Shevchenko is buried. Actually, his remains was moved to this place according to his will to be buried with a view of river Dnepr. As a coincidence we visit at the anniversary day when he was moved which was celebrated with orchestras and speaches. Later even the president was said to visit the monument that day!

First stop Kanev – bike runs as a clock

The Dnepr River outside the hotel.

One of the statues outside the hotel

View from Shevchenko grave

View from Shevchenko grave

Orchester celebrating Shevchenko

The ride continues after the river and the bike runs good. Apart from running out of petrol (…) we have no problems until the bike all of a sudden stops in the rain. Both incidents sort out well. The first as the bike stops 200 m from a gas station after we had been looking for gas 50 km before it stop. The next is slightly more complicated but works as a clockwork every time. I give a call to Anatoly’s 24×7 Dnepr support service and he calls some friends and all of a sudden, a new friends shows up and fixes the bike. This time, it is Alexei, who turns out to be a software developer who ran from his conference to fix the bike. We decide to join him and his friends Julia and Oleg for dinner later and they show us around in Tjerkasy.

Hugo calls Anatoly for roadside assistance

And… Aleksei shows up to help!

Julia, Aleksei, Emma, me and Oleg having a good dinner

Next day, we go to Olegs company “Everlabs”, where Emma could have a good desk and full wifi to complete some work. Oleg help he around to find some tools, oil and other stuff to get the bike in good order before we take off. As they had no cables in the store, we go to Olegs parents who lived in an apartment with a nice view out over the river and then the cable shortage was solved  Then we take a quick sightseeing of the city and have a nice lunch before we hit the road. We should go south but we were curious of the long bridge and view of Tjerkasy so we first ride over the bridge to get the look.

The bike gets some needed oil and TLC

Julia with her bike on her way to the Carpatians

Motherland statue in Tjerkasy

View from the monument

Cool form of art in Tjerkasy city center

The bridge outside Tjerkasy

View over Dnepr from the bridge

Now, we try to follow the river as close as possible and manage pretty good. The nature is blloming and the river is close all the time.

Emma overlooking the Dnepr

View from a hill over Dnepr

Beautiful Dnepr

We decide to book a “resort” by the river. Turns out to be a very silent hotel with a large number of garden goblins that Emma thought looked pretty creepy. Nice view anyhow over the lake close to the river and silent evening.

Finally at the hotel after a long day of riding

The Dnepr at rest at the resort

Evening view from hotel restaurant

One of the countless garden goblins 🙂

Next morning we try to find a workshop as we have heard a ticking noise and some more oil. It turns out to be eight (!) spokes that were broken and since they had no spokes we decide to change to the spare wheel. We also got the gearbox oil changed as we were at it.

Mechanic stop for broken spokes and oil

We ride away over the Dnepr River, heading to the spa town of Myrhorod. First a good feeling of a fixed bike but at the next gas station there is a guy that honks his horn before we leave. Turns out that we have a flat tyre on the new spare and my mood sinks as we have a long way still to go and I am getting tired of mechanical stops. Valery – the honking guy – turns out to be more at peace with what is happening. Before I even get the tools out – he have taken off the rear wheel, told his family to wait and got us into his car to drive some 20 km to the nearest workshop. In the car it turns out that he has been in Sweden many times as he is a trucker going to Sundsvall regularly. As this is Emmas home town – she promise that she or her mother will take him for a dinner next time he is there.

Valery – todays hero

Valery – the hero of the day!

The rest of the ride to Myrhorod is a very wet story with heavy rains and thunderstorms but we arrive safely to this small city after some address confusion. Since 2014 more than 55000 (!) streets have changed their old soviet names to new names. This in combination with transliteration difficulties sometimes leads to unexpected places.

The Dnepr at Myrhorod after two wheel shifts, oil change, detours in heavy rain and thunderstorms

Myrhorod is a spa town and is home of a mineral water with a salty aftertaste that is expected to be healthy. Having seen a lot of nice Ukrainian heritage, I expected something like other spa towns in Europe. As the workaholic needed to work – I took the day on my own to explore the park and its different houses. Sadly, it had been struck hard by the war so it was one of these Soviet complexes more than an old spa feeling.

Entrance to the Myrhorod Resort

Bridge over to the spa

The drinking fountain

After hard-working Emma had closed her computer and met up with slacking Hugo, we therefore continue on to Poltava. And today the bike runs good but the exhaust pipe decide to come off now and then so even if it is a Saturday, we manage to get hold of a mechanic who do a quick “redneck” solution with a clamp so we could continue.

Exhaust pipe that comes off

After the rain!

Getting the exhaust temporarily fixed

Poltava turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Nice avenues, a green park in a large roundabout and a pedestrian area with restaurants and cafes. Poltava is well known to all Swedes, as it was here that the history of Sweden as a superpower ended abruptly in 1709 in the battle of Poltava.

Poltava pedastrian area

Poltava

Poltava

The bike outside a cafe in Poltava

The battle museum is located on the battle grounds that is called “Swedish Grave” and there are some reconstructions around. Interesting to see this spot and to learn more. Outside, there is a monument placed by Sweden in texts in Swedish, Russian and Ukrainian. It often fascinates me how interlinked Swedish and Ukrainian history are over the last 1000 years from the early Kyiv Rus empire. Poltava was not only a disaster for the Swedish empire – it was also an end of a dream of a sovereign Ukraine where Russia took control of the area.

The museum at the ”Swedish grave”

Well known picture of King Charles XII

Amazing distances covered by an army in early 1700:s

Model of the battle field

On the way back, we also visit the strategic air force base – now a museum. For me as born during the cold war and spent my childhood over airplane models this is a very interesting stop. We get to climb around in the airplanes with a very knowledgeable guide who also speaks Swedish, as he had been guide before at the Battle museum.

Strategic Air Force Base

A different tour bus 🙂

Strategic air force base

The white swan strategic supersonic bomber

Cruise missile

Inside the ”White Swan”.

Poltava city center roundabout park

Love this. Spontanous dancing.

The Dnepr at recontructed redouts at the battlefield

Monument placed by Sweden

The next day, we continue back to river Dnepr to stay in Dnipro – Ukraines fourth largest city. The new name was taken in 2016 where the earlier name Dnipropetrovsk was guillotined since “Petrovsk” refers to the first Ukrainian communist leader. The anti-communist laws affect city and street names as well as symbols and statues. Dnipro is located on a bend of the river and shopping malls in every corner.

Closing in on Dnepr again

Lunch by river Dnepr

Lunch by river Dnepr

Garden goblins. Everywhere!

Note that ”petrovsk” has literally been hammered away from ”Dnipropetrovsk”!

Dnipro park

River Dnepr at Dnipro

Mural paintings are common in Ukraine but this at a corner of the Alfred Nobel (!) university gave an interesting illusion as you moved around.

The bike is ready after morning oil check.

In Dnipro, they have a very interesting historical museum with a special exhibition on the troublesome situation in Donetsk and Luhansk. The number of internal refugees is estimated to nearly 2 million people.

The ATO museum in Dnipro

The ATO museum in Dnipro

The ATO museum in Dnipro

The ATO museum in Dnipro

The huge Jewish centre in Dnipro

People both from Ukraine and abroad keep asking about the roads. Yes, the quality is shifting from great to extremely bad. Often a mix during same trip. You never know. But sitting high up on a bike makes it easy to navigate but sometimes the Bikes suspension and spokes take a big hit.

Nice road

Very nice road

Dirt road

Some rough patches on the road

Small road

Open plains

Next stop is Zaporizhzhya which is also of historical interest. The name is from the calm waters after the rapids and these rapids were feared by people travelling along the river as they were easy to ambush here. After the rapids, the Cossacks also had their main stronghold with interesting society structure. There is a reconstruction of the fortress that overlooks the huge power dam that was build in the rapids.

The longest street in Ukraine running through Zaporizhzhya

The reconstructed Cossack stronghold – Khortytsa Sikh

View over the power dam and earlier rapids

The church

On the last stretch down to Melitipol, the odometer turns to 4000 km since Anatoly installed new odometer back in 2015. Melitopol was the city where everything started in 2012 and it feels good to come back.

A lot of nostalgia fills me as I roll into Anatolys garage where I have spent so much fun times in 2012, 2013 and 2015. And so much memories on these roads:
2012 – Gammelsvenskby and Crimea
2015 – Melitopol – Odessa including Gammelsvenskby
2016 – Odessa-> Lviv including Uman, Vinnytsya, Kamenets-Podilsky and Ternopil
2016 – Lviv – Kyiv including Chernivtsi, Kamenets-Podilsky and Zhotomyr.

On the way to Melitopol

Passing 4000 km since leaving Melitopol 2015

Back in Melitopol

The bike is finally back ”at home” in Melitopol after a 4000 km tour over Ukraine

The city has changed a lot during these years and there are a lot of more restaurants, bars and people on the streets.

A more lively Melitopol today

Melitopol

We finish this trip by taking some days in Charkiv and visit the annual summer party thrown by my colleagues at Sigma Software. Always a blast! This time in a large lush party garden around a lake and with one of Ukraines most popular rock bands on stage.

Interesting playdough bar in Kharkiv where people contribute to the walls

Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Sigma Software summer party

Sigma Software summer party

Charkiv

Sigma Software

Boattrip 2016

Going home via Lisbon

You might think that going the 600 km from A Coruna to Lisbon would be a piece of a cake. A Coruna has a train station, the bus hub of Galicia and airport. But the flights are both expensive and overnighters. The train systems in Spain and Portugal are not in sync. There are railroad tracks connecting the countries but the schedules are not in sync and do not match. We try to take the bus but the bus is full. Finally, we take the local bus to Porto and the high speed train to Lisbon.

It turns out that all hotels are sold out in Lisbon but some BnB are still available. We book one and get a confirmation from the host but as we arrive there is no one meeting us. After some calls to the AirBnB service desk we can cancel the booking and get a hotel that got some cancellation. After checking in and taking a shower, the evening turns out to be good after all and we tumble to bed exhausted from the day.

Next day in Lisboa is a sightseeing day where we walk the streets and go up to the fortress Castelo San Jorge with beautiful views on the city. Later we take the tram to the Baixa Alta district and have a nice meal and some drinks.

The mountain streetcar to Bairro Alto

The Santa Justa elevator raised by Eiffel

View from Castelo San Jorge

Magdalena church

Praça do Comércio

City center

View from Bairro Alto

We go home early to be able to wake up and go to the airport.

Boattrip 2016

Galicia – part I

As we set sail off Avilés, the main halyard gets stuck around the radar reflector and refuse to come loose. We need to send Sofie up in the rig to get it loose – a brave act in the increasing wind.

Sofie after coming down from the mast

After this incident, we continue in the usual swell onto the outmost province of Spain – Galicia. First stop is Ribadeo. We have a nice sail out of the picturesque coastline with mountains far back and a rugged coastline where the seas keep pounding.

As we enter Ribadeo, we spot another catamaran that turns out to carry a Swedish flag. The boat turns out to be Think Twice with Björn and Gertrud aboard who are heading for the ARC on their Fountain-Pajot Lavezzi 40. We go over and have a nice evening on their boat. Always nice to meet other sailors and exchange ideas and experiences.

Björn and Gertrud aboard Think Twice

The next day, we wander around in Ribadeo. The town is small but beautiful with narrow streets. It has a lot of interesting building from the time when people returned wealthy from the colonies in Latin America. A special kid of houses dot the town from this period when these people should display their wealth.

Ribadeo

Ribadeo

We decide to go to the Cathedral Beach later in the evening. At low water it is supposed to be beautiful and this is no overstatement. The cliffs has been eroded to arches and you can walk in the sand with the sea rolling onto the beach as the sun sets. This day, the sun is not to be seen since it is foggy and occasional showers. However, this turs out to be good – there are not so many people and the fog turns the landscape to magical.

Cathedral Beach

Cathedral Beach

Sofie at Cathedral Beach

Cathedral Beach

Cathedral Beach

Cathedral Beach

Cathedral Beach

Cathedral Beach

Ribadeo at night

We leave Ribadeo and go to look at the Cathedral beach from the sea. It is nice but not as impressive as from the shore.

At sea again

Next stop is Viveiro and we have talked to Björn so he have reserved a place for us at the pontoon. Good to see them again and it is nice to have a prime spot in this small town.

Two swedish catamarans in Viveiro

I slip into my running shoes and climb the hill of San Roque, which turns out to be a smaller mountain with a spectacular view over the harbour, the town and its surroundings. I run around the inner lake and out on the beach before returning home and spending the evening with Björn and Gertrud on Melody. Björn has put a lot of research in different communication technology and it is nice to get his views and ideas.

Viveiro from San Roque

The city beach

The day after, we have a walk in the town and I inspire Sofie to join me on a second climb up on the mountain. As we reach the top, there is a wedding going on so we cannot enter the church but the views are still beautiful.

The Viveiro old town with its monastary

We do a negotiation with Viveiro that is the same company as A Coruna and get a good rate for the upcoming two-week leave for both marinas. No big differences so we decide to continue according to plan to the larger A Coruna with more communication options.

On our way to A Coruña

On our way to A Coruña

A Couruna turns out to be a beautiful town with a nice marina. The marina is next to the old town with a fort nearby. The setting is nice with the sea just across the breakwater. We spend a couple of days experience this old town with its nice restaurants and views.

Marina Coruña

Maria Pita square and Concello da Coruña

A Coruña

Santo Domingo church – start of Camino Ingles from A Coruña

Menhires towards the sea

A Coruña

The Hercules lighthouse with history since roman times

Oktoberfest

The city marina

Castelo de Coruña

Boat trip 2017

Asturia

As we have a good distance to cover, we sail off early before the sun rises. We continue west from Santander and enjoy the mountains that build up behind the rocky beaches. A very nice scenery and it is very peaceful to let it sink in as we glide by out on the sea. We try to pause for lunch in Ria de Tina Mayor but the entrance is shallow and the swell is high so we decide to skip this tempting idea.

The Asturian coast

Entrance to Ria de Tina Mayor

Weather is clearing up

The mountains in the distance

We continue westward and decide to take a chance and see if there is space in Lastres – described as a “very pretty unspoilt fishing village”. As we enter the harbour we spot a pontoon and grab a space. Just as we tie up, a Hallberg-Rassy joins us on the other space and we help them tie up. The Italian owner is sailing up to Ireland together with his daughter. We go up together to register but there is no office and there is nobody at the Nautic club so we leave our names to one of the shops that know them and go back to the boats. We return through the narrow streets and have a nice dinner aboard.

Melody in the harbour

The beach at Lastres

Sofie and I decide to explore the village and the narrow streets and the small houses climbing on the mountain is truly pretty. By chance, we stumble into the tourist office and get a map and direction to the top of the mountain. We continue the steep climb up to the church and after a while, we reach the top with its chapel and restaurant looking out over the sea. The scenery is breath taking and far below, we can see Melody in the harbour.

Lastres – climbing the narrow streets

Lastres

View from the chapel

View from the mountain

Lastres

The square in Lastres

I wake up early and go for my daily quest for bread. The village is completely quiet and at a café I get directions is Spanish how to find the bakery. As my Spanish is non-existent I pick up the word for Church and start climbing. The hungry nose then leads me down a narrow passage to a bakery where you stand in the middle of the baking process as you decide your pick. After that, I countinue up to the mountain top. If the scenery was beautiful the evening before, it is now magic. Some birds sing and you can hear the sea below but otherwise this is a completely peaceful place and stunning view. I sit down at a bench and take my time and enjoy the moment.

The church in the morning

Sunrise from the mountain

Lastres in the morning light

We expect to spend some days in Gijon as we heard from friends that it is a nice city. The marina sits next to the old town in contrast with Bilbao and Santander. We take a walk into the town and gets some information. There is two beaches connected to the town and the Playa de San Larenzo city beach is very nice. At the cape to the sea, a park has been set up on the grounds of an old fortress with a concrete monument marking its place.

Gijon from the park at Cerro de Sta Catalina

The San Lorenzo city beach

Elogio del Horizonte

Cimadevilla – Gijon old town

Gijon is famous for its cider culture and we go out on the town to taste. The cider should be poured from distance without looking – the higher the better. The Asturian cider tastes different from both the Swedish sweet cider and the Breton dry cider and is a good refreshment.

Pouring cider

In the harbour, we also spot a Swedish flag. We have not met any Swedish sailors since Brest and it is fun to meet Anders and Lena from S/Y Space. They have just arrived after crossing the Biscay and are eager to experience the town and join us for a walk in the town and some drinks and snacks.

Anders and Lena with S/Y Space in the background

We stay for some days and enjoy Gijon and just relax. Swimming, visiting the roman baths, running, eating & drinking, walking and listening to bagpipe orchestras. The party life is late, and as I go for the usual quest for morning bread, I am in good company of people who are still partying – some even entering into new bars. There is also an army of people cleaning up fighting a never-ending battle with glass, plastic and other remnants after the night.

Gijon from the far end of San Lorenzo

Bag pipe orchestra

The roman baths in the morning light

The hard-working city cleaners

Next stop is Avilés which is not very well described in our pilot book. This is the third largest city in Asturia after Gijon and the capital Oveido and it turns out to be a beautiful town. The harbour is however filled to its rim with small sailing boats obviously participating in a race. We manage to tie up outside of an orphaned trimaran. It turns out that the race is a qualification race for a race to Azores and later across the Atlantic where they start from Les Sables d’Olonne. Funny to think that they have sailed from our starting points in two days when it has taken us two months.

The lighthouse at the Avilés approach

Race boats arriving from Les Sables d’Olonne

We have a light dinner at the main square and then we split up in a shopping group (Sofie and Birgitta) and a city exploration group (me). The town is fascinating with medieval, renaissance, baroque, modern architecture intertwined with parks. The evening is enjoyed in the Sidreria Tiella Asturia that we were recommended for local food. The menu is vast, the rations are huge and the setting next to the square and church is nice. A very good ending of this stop and Asturia in general.

Streets of Avilés

Avilés

Avilés

Avilés

Avilés

Avilés – the 17th century arcade. Note different pavements for people and animals

Avilés

Avilés

Avilés

Avilés

Avilés – the medevial Fransicaner church

Boat trip 2017

Cantabria

We sail out from Bilbao and head west. First intended stop is Castro Urdiales approximately 10 NM away including some miles within the Bilbao harbour. In the pilot book, it should be hard to find a berth and suggested berthing alongside of the wall. I am not particularly fond of alongside berthing as the combination of swell and tidal water make the boat hit the wall continuously as well as having an audience on the quay. I call the yacht club on the radio and instantly there is a guy coming out to us and direct us to a mooring buoy. He tells us that they run a 24×7 water taxi to the moored boats and the price including all services at the club for 25 EUR. Hard to match so we clean up the boat and call the taxi to get ashore.

Castro Urdiales – first stop after Bilbao

Castro Urdiales from the mooring

24×7 Water taxi

The nice club house at Real Club Nautico Castro Urdiales

The city is dominated by the Santa Maria medieval church next to the crusader fortress at the end of the harbour. Timing is perfect, we get time to experience the beautiful church from inside before it closes at 18 and as we come outside, the fortress is opened. The main portion of the fortress is however closed probably since the lighthouse installed on the top is operational. This is why a hideous glass construction with an elevator is raised on the wall facing the sea. We stroll around on the grounds and then we hit the old town. We split up where Birgitta go for the shops and I stroll around in the narrow streets and get a grip of the town. The old town is very dense and on the other end of the city is the nice Ostende (!) beach.

Promenade

Nice architecture

Santa Maria Church

The Santa Ana Crusader castle

Church and Castle

Castle Santa Ana

The Ostende beach

We grab a table on one of the restaurants and try out the grilled Anchoas that is a local speciality. Just delicious! Then we stroll more in the old town as the restaurants and bars fills up with people before returning to the yacht club. It really impresses me how these friendly boatmen handle their taxi boats in the swell.

Rowing team with their boat

Melody in the bay

View of the bay from the Castle

View of the old town from the club

Next day, we start with a breakfast at the harbour promenade before we go for a shopping tour and do some provisioning.

Melody in the morning

We have decided to leave this beautiful town and do a short hop to Laredo further west. After a short but beautiful sail, we enter this big ultra-modern marina at lunchtime. We get a good spot as the marina is half-deserted, which feels weird but the marina is probably too new to have filled up its many berths.

The coast

The modern marina at Laredo

New town to discover and we start by taking a look at the old town and the road that leads up to the Santa Maria church. The road continues up the hill and on the top, we get a great view of the city and the bay over to neighbouring town Santona. We take some time to make the scenery sink in before we go back to the town.

Laredo Marina seen from the hill above

Laredo looking east

Santa Maria church and entrance to old town

Old town entrance

Laredo old town

At the first restaurant there is a typical stag party and another hen party blocking all the spaces so we continue to the next one just to experience that it is also packed with people dressed up as hippies. It turns out that we landed in the Laredo Ye-Ye fiesta celebrating 60:s and 70:s. Music on the streets and people of all ages dressed up. We do not find any costumes for us but we buy some flowers to wear in our hair. The party gets more and more crowded with outdoor scenes all over town. Very nice atmosphere.

Laredo Ye-Ye

Laredo Ye-Ye

Someone graps the opportunity

Laredo Ye-Ye

Laredo Ye-Ye

Laredo Ye-Ye

Next day we check out and go over the bay to Santona. Again the pilot tells us about the limited berthing places and probably only alongside. This time it is correct, no watch on the VHF and no spaces. I find a deserted spot on a hammerhead on the entrance and try to find a harbour captain but there is none. I ask a man in a neighbouring boat but he tells me that I probably can stay for free and offers me his second key to the gate. Feels strange but I put on my running shoes to get a grip of the town and try to find someone to talk to about the berths. The mountain with its forts and lighthouses should also be worth experiencing and I need to move my legs.

The packed Santona harbour

At the tourist office, they do not know anything about the harbour so I decide to climb the steep mountain. The views from the mountain is stunning and a good place to let the mind wander.

The San Martin Fort – one of the many fortifications

View of the Laredo Bay from the mountain

View from the mountain

View eastwards

As I get on the far side of the mountain, Birgitta calls in distress. Some guys have came and told her that our place is deserted because there is a boat on the bottom and we will be in trouble at low water. I run back and exactly as they say there is less than 2 meter at the berth. The harbour was clearly deeper when I entered and as we leave the berth, the depth clears to more than 5 meters directly. On our way out, we pass the same mountain scenery and the small lighthouse at the far end where my run was interrupted.

Leaving Santona

The mountain from the sea

Faro del Caballo

As the weather forecast for next day shows rain, we decide to continue to Santander where we should stay some days waiting for Sofie to arrive. We have a nice sail in fair winds and arrive to Santander in the afternoon.

Isla de Mouro at the entrance to Santander Bay

The city marina is full and do not have possibilities for catamarans so we continue to the larger marina south of the town. This is a modern marina with all the facilities but far outside town.

The Santander marina

View of the town and the bay from the marina

We stay some days in Santander that is a nice town and we have managed to hit it during the “Semana Grande” fiesta so there are music on the streets. As Sofie arrive by plane to the airport nearby we go out to the Magdalena palace that was built for the Spanish royal family in the beginning of last century. Great views over the bay and the main beach – Playa Del Sardinero.

Cathedral of Santander

View of the bay from La Magdalena Palace

La Magdalena Palace

View east from the palace

Playa Del Sardinero

Playa Del Sardinero

We celabrate that Sofie has arrived in our newly found favorite restaurant – Bodega Cigaleña. Apart from excellent food, the classic interior has wine bottles from floor to the ceiling.

Interior from Bodega Cigaleña

Boat trip 2017

Pais Vasco – Spanish Basque coast

We change the courtesy flag to Spanish and Basque combination and cross the River Bidasoa to Hondarribia in Spain. The old French flag starts to look rather bleached after a year in the bright sun and it has served us well since we crossed the English channel last year.

Setting the Courtesy flags

The Hondarribia marina is also big and modern. Half price, great location and friendly, English speaking staff. The city beach is just around the corner and just next to the city. We go to explore and take a Pinxtos break at the central San Pedro Street with its restaurants and bars. There is the Hondarribia Blues Festival going on so music is played on the streets and the big scene down at the harbour making the day even better.

Hondarribia Marina

The Hondarribia city beach next to the marina

The bay towards Hendaye

Hondarribia Blues festival

Hondarribia blues festival

We take a walk up to the old town with a great view over the bay. The impressive but rather unromantic castle of Charles V looks out over the river and the bay and must have had a perfect strategic location. We take some time to wander around in the narrow streets with its shops, restaurants and bars before we return down to the Marina district with its brightly coloured fisherman houses. The evening is spent on the town with music and a lot of people in the streets.

Hondarribia

Jessica and Alexander in the old town overlooking the bay

Hondarribia old town

Hondarribia old town

Hondarribia blues festival in the night

I go up early to get us some bread and I notice that we now have moved from sleepy France to Spain with its late habits. The streets are filled with people looking for some place to go after the last bar has closed at seven, some to cafes, some kiss and hug and others take a morning swim.

Party animals looking for next place to go in the morning

It is Jessica’s birthday and we have decided to celebrate it in San Sebastian. It is some hours away and people have told us that we probably would not get space in the small harbour. We therefore leave Melody in the marina, rent an apartment and take the bus. The apartment is located in the Gros district with a ten-minute walk down to the old town and the city beach Playa de la Concha. As expected, San Sebastian is beautiful with its semi-circled beach and an old town sitting at the foot of the mountain rising high above it crowned with a fortress and a statue of Jesus.

San Sebastian old town

Old town seen from the beach

On Instagram, I have noticed that an old friend and colleague is in San Sebastian so we meet together in the old town. As usual, it is good to meet with old friends and meeting them abroad is even better. We spend a nice afternoon talking of old times and our travel plans.

Meeting Jan and Lisbeth in San Sebastian

We re-join Alexander and Jessica who gets a birthday balloon before we enjoy the sunset and then go to old town for a nice dinner and a walk through the beautiful old town.

Jessica with her birthday baloon

San Sebastian sunset

The next morning, it is time for some running again. The plan is to go up to the fort and have a look out over the town. The road up the mountain is steep so this is good exercise. Well up on top, the view is stunning. As I know that the others will sleep, I stay on this spot, find a corner of the fortress for myself, enjoy the view and reflect about life. I feel extremely energized and filled with energy as I come back to the apartment to join the others.

Old town in the morning run

The fortress on the mountain

The Jesus statue on the top of the mountain

View from the fortress

My secluded bastion

We leave our luggage in the train station and go for a nice Pinxtos lunch in the old town. As I descibed the view from the mountain, we all climb up the steep slopes and enjoy the views before heading back to Hondarribia.

San Sebastian old town

San Sebastian

Pinxtos time!

Model of old San Sebastian

Early in the morning, we steam out of the harbour and set sail towards Bilbao. The weather is nice and we have a nice sunset in our backs. The wind increases and we need to go down one reef outside San Sebastian. We get good speed in modest seas. The coast is beautiful with the mountains with its green sides coming down into the sea.

Sunset as we leave Hondarribia

The Basque coast

A monestary clinging to an island

We reach Bilbao in the late afternoon and check into the modern Getxo marina. This is one of the three marinas located in the big Bilbao port with a restaurant complex connected to it. Bilbao is a half-hour Metro ride so we decide to check up the old parts of Getxo instead. This turns out to be a good decision as the small but beautiful old village is climbing up a steep hill overlooking the old port. A good photographer with patience could make good posters and postcards here. Narrow streets and two neighbouring restaurants on a small garden. We sit down in the garden and enjoy this secluded area of the world.

Getxo marina promenade

The Getxo beach

Getxo old village

Getxo old village

House in Getxo old village

A street name in old Getxo that is hard to say

The village garden

Next day is Bilbao expedition. But first I jump into the running shoes and run out to the lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour. With its hills, it is a good exercise and, as usual, I stay out longer than I thought from the beginning. The fresh morning air, nice views, solitude and thought process fills me with energy and on the way back I manage to get some fresh bread as well.

The cliffs out to the lighthouse

The lighthouse

Cliffs on the ocean side

Ocean side

Looking towards into the harbour

Flower dog outside Guggenheim museum

We take the Metro into the town and land in the bustling capital of Basque. We head for the Guggenheim museum and spend some hours in this futuristic building. As usual, no photos is allowed so I only have a picture from the interior to get a grasp. The building in itself is just as interesting as the art.

Bilbao

Interior from Guggenheim Museum

Interior from Guggenheim Museum

After a shopping break, we continue down to the old town with its narrow streets filled with restaurants and bars. We are getting spoiled with these picturesque settings so we return to the more restaurant district and have a nice dinner before returning to Getxo.

The river

The theater in old town

We go up early in the morning as Jessica and Alexander needs to catch a flight at nine after three weeks at the boat. It feels sad to see them leave but we have had a great time and experienced a lot. Birgitta and I return to Bilbao where she digs one level deeper into the shops and I take a more relaxed tour into the old city soaking up the atmosphere. We meet later and go down to the Plaza Nuevo to have some Pinxtos and relax.

The river seen from the old town

Plaza Nuevo

Street in Bilbao old town

Boat trip 2017

Côte des Basques – French Basque Coast

We need to leave Archachon early in the morning to match currents and tidal water at the tricky entrances at both Arcachon and Capbreton that is todays stop. We leave when it is still dark in the harbour and go through the entrance just as the light permits us to see the sand banks. The sun slowly sets over the giant sand dunes, which is a rewarding view. As we come further, dolphins come to play and make it even better. Weather is nice, but just before Capbreton, the fog comes over us again but it is no problem in entering the harbour.

Dolphins come to play with us

The entrance is very narrow and shallow with a tidal lake and a river inside so caution should be taken. We enter in nearly perfect conditions but the sea and current is noticeable and I should not want to enter this port in rough weather in mid-tide. Boats entering with the flood get shot as a cork through the channel and there is a rough spot of 100 meter with very disturbed seas.

Entrance to Cap Breton

The centre of Capbreton is up the river but we stay in the harbour where there are a number of restaurants and a casino. This part of the city is clearly built around the large marina and its beaches. We take a stroll around the harbour and eat in a nice restaurant by the sea.

Plage Cap Breton seen from the pier

Jessica and Alexander at the pier

The beach

The casino

An interesting setup is the fish market where each boat has its own booth right next to the harbour. Smart logistics and you can really know where the food is coming from.

The fish market

The fishing boats delivering to the market

As we circle the marina, we hear live music and stay at a restaurant where a French Elvis sings. He truly connects with his audience and apart from the well-known Elvis songs, he also shows off with everything from Sinatra to Creedence.

A French Elvis

The next day as we wait for the tide, I take a walk up to the town centre that offers more shops and restaurants in a compact centre.

Canal up to the town

Capbreton center

Capbreton center

Leaving Cap Breton

We leave Capbreton in relatively calm seas and head for Anglet outside Bayonne. The marina did not have any space for us however so we decide to continue to Ciboure further south. This city is located in a bay that hosts three small cities that are interconnected – Ciboure and larger Saint-Jean-de-Luz who is separated by a river and Socoa at the entrance to the bay. The harbour master is waiting for us to show us our berth and help us with the mooring lines. Just as we cleared everything up a hard rain sets in so we stay in the boat for dinner as the rain falls. Nice evening.

Getting closer to Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Ciboure

Rainy evening in Ciboure

Next morning, I wake up early, go for a walk on the new town, and get a pleasant surprise with a market. I buy bread, cheeses, sausages, ham and local produced juice and cider. Very nice start of the day and after a fresh breakfast we go to watch the dancers performing at the market.

Sunny morning at the market

Traditional dancers at the market in Ciboure

Ciboure is located on a steep hill and we decide to climb the hill to a tower that sadly is closed. The view must be stunning from there as we get some nice views even if we could not climb up. We continue our walk out to Socoa, take a nice lunch in the harbour and have a look at the fort and the breakwater.

Ciboure

Socoa

The breakwater at Socoa

Saint-Jean-de-Luz seen from the Ciboure quay

Ciboure inlet

Ciboure

The fishing port

Ciboure seen from Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Saint-Jean-de-Luz beach

In the afternoon, we start to explore Saint-Jean-de-Luz and its beach. This city is a bit larger and boast with a great beach. At the square in the harbour, there is a scene and a number of restaurants around it. We sit down at a restaurant that overlooks a nice summerhouse of Louis XIV. There are bands playing on the scene, weather is nice and we enjoy the city before going back.

Outdoor scene with bands every night

Next day, I take the running shoes and run to the far end of the beach and up the hill to Pointe de Sainte-Barbe. A very rewarding view over the bay and the cliffs north towards Biarritz.

View of the bay from Pointe de Sainte-Barbe

Pointe de Sainte-Barbe

I run back and find a bench on the Ciboure mountain overlooking the bay from the other end. A very calm place and I sit down and reflect over life and its pleasures and challenges.

View to the sea from the bench at Ciboure mountain

Birgitta arrives to the airport and we go back to the boat for a late dinner at a seaside restaurant. A very nice feature of this coast is that the sunsets are great as it sets over the Biscay.

Great sunsets!

Time to do an expedition again. We take the train to Bayonne to have a look at the capitol of the French Basque coast. A very nice town with a majestic cathedral and nice old town along a quay.

Bayonne

Cathédrale Sainte-Marie de Bayonne

Inside the Cathedral

Bayonne old town

Bayonne quays

We would like to go to a visit to one of the producers of the famous ham and we find one but it was in French. The guide speaks very fast so my limited French is not enough to understand the full picture but together with the tour you get the basics as well as a tasting afterwards.

Tour at a Bayonne ham producer

We get on the ten-minute hop to Biarritz to get a quick visit to this famous resort. The pilot book clearly said that this was a fair weather anchorage only and when you arrive you understand why. The port is for small crafts only and the waves are pushed up so even in this calm weather, the water is filled with surfers. Extremely nice views though and since there are direct flights to Stockholm you can hear Swedish everywhere which feels strange. We stroll around, enjoy the views, and have a nice dinner before taking the last train home.

Biarritz – Grande Plage

Biarritz

Biarritz

Panorama of Biarritz and its harbour

Biarritz – Rocher de la Vierge

Biarritz

Last city on the French Basque coast is Hendaye. This town is border town to Spain and a small ferry runs across to Hondarribia on the other side of the river. Hendaye also has a very nice beach where the city center is located further up by the river. The marina is located inside the bay but 100 meter across to the beach so location is perfect.

The ferry between France and Spain

I pull out the running shoes and go out to Pointe-Saint-Anne on the far side of the beach. Again, hard work pays off with a stunning view of the bay and the coast. The train through the park is part of a trail from Biarritz to Hendaye that is called Sentier Littoral.

My running trail at Pointe-Saint-Anne

Running trail at Pointe-Saint-Anne

View towards Biarritz at at Pointe-Saint-Anne

Chateau and observatory

View of the bay from at Pointe-Saint-Anne

Pointe-Saint-Anne

The trail at Pointe-Saint-Anne

Pointe-Saint-Anne

The evening is spent on the Hendaye Chipiron festival – a street festival for mini squids. Many people on the streets, bands playing and dancing everywhere. We also take a look at the town centre and have a walk to the bridge that leads over to Spain.

Hendaye chipiron street festival

Hondarribia / Hendaye bay from city centre

There is a five star PADI diving centre next to the marina and we have decided to go for a dive. Neither Jessica or Alexander has a certificate so they start to get the basic training. They get a very good instructor in Lucille who is pedagogic and calm and everything turns out well. After some hours in the pool, we go out to the diving site in the sea. I join for this dive and as it is the first dive in years so it is good to get “de-rusted” in a calm environment. As Lucille takes care of Jessica and Alexander, I do exercises to feel that I am back in the right element. Feels fantastic and we also spot a nice octopus. Feels very good as we go back!

Jessica and Alexander at dive training

Jessica on her way to first dive in the sea

First dive in years

Jessica and Alexander together with the fantastic instructor Lucille

Boattrip 2016

Arcachon bay

We leave according to plan to get the best tidal conditions. Still some current left but manageable and no severe swell or wind. In a distance, we pass the Cardouhan lighthouse that is the oldest lighthouse in France still in operation. The sail down to Arcachon is undramatic, nice wind and we close in according to plan.

Still pretty strong current

The Cardouan lighthouse at the entrance to Gironde

Arcachon bay is a large bay with an infamous entrance with sand banks that move around so the charts are not reliable. In my pilot book, it states that entrance should only be done in good weather with limited swell and good visibility is required to spot the banks and marks. A couple of miles before the entrance, the weather shifts from clear sky to fog that gets thicker and thicker. All of a sudden, there is a call on the VHF for a boat in a specific position. My French is far from perfect so it takes me a while to interpret the position and find out that it is me that they are contacting. They strongly advises us not to enter in the fog and either go back to Royan (80 NM) or continue to Hendaye (80 NM). Neither feels like a good option since that would mean sailing all night and not be able to see the bay that should be beautiful. As I evaluate the options, the fog clears up a bit and I decide to go in while there is still visibility. Not perfect according to tide but with good lookout and a close look at the depth gauge we manage to get in. The chart is clearly to no use. On the chart, we steam over land half of the time where the bank on the charts obviously has moved some hundred meters.

The fog starts to set and grow thicker

But it clears up and we approach Cap Ferret

We get into huge Arcachon marina just before the dark sets in and take a long promenade to the town and finds that the Café de la Plage is still open so we finally can get something to eat.

The capitainerie

The huge marina with 2500 berths

The city is built around its beaches and become a popular holiday when hygienists began to recommend sea bathing in the 1800s. Entrepreneurs built hotels, casino and restaurants especially for the Bordeaux bourgeoisie and other wealthy people. A number of nice villas was built in the city and forms Ville d’Hiver in the old part. These villas are called ”Arcachonnaise” and has a special architectural style. We stroll around in the city and enjoy the houses.

Arcachon

Arcachon villa in Ville d’Hiver

Arcachon villa in Ville d’Hiver

Arcachon villa in Ville d’Hiver

I also take the time to put on my running shoes and head for the observatory where you have a great look out of the scenery, Arcachon Bay, nearby Cap Ferret and the town. The park nearby is also a nice place to calm down.

Panorama from the observatory

Parc Mauresque in the middle of town

Avenue Gambretta seen from the pier

Everything is centred on the beaches that are long and nice and stretches from east to west where the marina is in the eastern part with its own beach.

Plage Pereire on West part of Arcachon looking over to Cap Ferret

Plage Pereire

City beach

The city beach closer to the port

The sunsets in Arcachon gets very nice as they set on the peninsula that ends with Cap Ferret. We enjoy a number of these fantastic sceneries and together with the calm water and the beaches it makes a good setting.

Enjoying the sunset

Sunset seen from a restaurant

We take a day to go over to Cap Ferret. Martin talked a lot of this famous place and we takes his advise and climb the lighthouse to get a perfect view of the bay, the peninsula and the Dune of Pilat at the bay entrance that is Europes largest sand dune. The day is hot so we decide to wind down in the oyster village and choose the Chez Boulan seafood restaurant that overlooks the pond and Dune Pilat in the distance. Extremely nice oysters and a calm atmosphere.

Cap Ferret landing

The lighthouse at Cap Ferret

Panorama over Dune Pilat, oyster harbour and Arcachon

Chez Boulan seafood restaurant in Cap Ferret

Having fresh delicious oysters again!

I also get some time to do some work on the boat where two tasks could not wait. We got a rope in the port propeller on the way down and the Radar had stopped working. Even if I tend to procrastinate work in the favour of pleasure, two motors are nice and sometimes needed and not having a radar in these foggy waters is no good idea. The rope was easy to remove but the radar took me a while before I could get hold of a wire that has disconnected.

The rope that got stuck in the port propeller

Enjoying the last sunset before going south

Boat trip 2017

New crew! And back to Royan.

Today is a great day – my new crew arrives! Jessica and her boyfriend Alexander is coming down for a couple of weeks. I get an AirBnB apartment in the Bordeaux city centre and go out to the airport to get them. Good to see them again and we take the night out on town with dinner and a then a stop at the wine bar. The concept of trying small sips of good wine is appreciated and we stay for a while.

The appartment in Bordeaux

Next day we have decided to dedicate to the wine museum. I said that it is really worth spending a day and we had seen the city centre the evening before. We have an early breakfast and take the tram. We spend the day here and order a taxi to take us to the bus station to go north. The first taxi company failed to deliver, first tell me not to worry and then when it is too late tell me that they did not have any taxis available. The reception in the museum jumps in and gets us another taxi that drive like a madman so we can catch the bus to Pauillac. The bus takes the route through the vineyards and I can show the castles and sights that I had been experiencing last week. A very good day that ends with ”Moules” at La Salamandre.

Jessica and Alexander

Due to the constraints of tides, we need to cut the trip to Arcachon in two and we decide to go back to Royan. There is a gale building up so I thought it should be good to stay in a good harbour near the entrance to Gironde and wait for the weather to calm down.

We start early in the morning when the tide is right and start steaming north. The weather is fine at first but the gale and the rain is soon over us but as we are in the Gironde, the sea does not build. I notice that the anchor seems a bit loose as it hangs in its holder and before this has sunk into my brain, the anchor dives away on its own! Full stop on the motors but the anchor soon hits the bottom and stops us permanently. All of the chain is out and the remaining rope has been jammed into the winch by the sudden drop. We are in the middle of the canal and large ships are running around us. In combination with the gale, some adrenaline is generated sitting here.

The winch spins around and have no power and I find that the wheel has disconnected from the motor and as I tighten it up, it starts moving again. Since we are in strong current with the gale further straining on the jammed rope, it takes some time before I can unjam the rope and start recovering the anchor. We motor towards the current and manage to get the anchor into the boat before a freighter comes too close to us. It turns out that you do not need to exercise to get a good max pulse!

The sea over the last part of Gironde is pretty rough as it is exposed to the sea and it feels good to enter the harbour. We tie up and are greeted back to Royan. It is good to know that my new friends Martin and Ariane are in the same port so we go visit them. They have their stepdaughter and her friend on visit so later we continue out on the town.

The capitainerie at Royan

Martin, Ariane and their visitor

Rain keeps falling down

Martin is an architect and explained how he sees the town. Modern but still timeless and very nice in its structure centred around the harbour with open spaces leading from the harbour and the market. No shops or restaurants in a “bad spot” but a good flow with easy access on foot. He also urges us to pay the market and the church for a visit. Last time, I just saw a lot of concrete. We spend some lazy days waiting for better weather and with these new eyes; I come to appreciate the town. The market is really a nice building – built like a shell with an open-air feeling inside. The Notre-Dame church is also very special. From the outside, it is very grey, but the inside with the large windows and high ceiling together with dark concrete gives a mighty feeling. As usual, knowing more usually leads to appreciating more.