Killer Whales and Killer Cider
02 July 2012 | Gijon
Lee , warmer!!
So after a week of lounging around in La Rochelle Steve arrived and then we were stuck again as front after front battered the UK the tails whipped up a storm in the Biscay and we stayed put. We made a detour to Ille Oleron which was lovely, its where Fort Boyard is (where
Dirty Den lived with Melinda Messenger). The marina was a bit of a boat campsite but the town had charm. We met a nice couple Ian and Bev who gave us loads of good advice on the Biscay and North Spain thanks guys. Finally a weather window opened and we set off Saturday morning in big swell, roughish seas and angry skys to do the crossing. After 12 hours of bouncing around heeled over, unable to sleep or cook effectively, we started to wonder if the promised improved weather was coming and I fired up the weather fax in anger for the first time. Its a bit of kit on the boat we bought a year ago that in theory can give us weather forecasts anywhere in the world. As the atlantic pressure charts came streaming in from the nice Navy chaps at Northwood it was clear things were rapidly going to improve and as we hit the atlantic shelf where the depth goes from 100m to 3000m things calmed down. The sea took on an amazing blue colour and the steep swell evened off to long rolling waves which Jon Jon loved. We had a whole day then of perfect wind, sunny skys and I was able to even cook a chick pea curry! At about 5ish I went to the loo and as I looked out of the little window a huge fin passed me. Too big for a dolphin, wrong shape for a shark without having enough time to flush the loo ran up on deck shouting whales!!!! We had a pod of Orcas just off the stern blowing air and plumes of water as they surfaced. they seem to circle around for a bit I I hoped they would keep their distance each one being about the size of the boat and having big teeth. It was a brief bit of excitement in an otherwise uneventful day but what a great spot. Needless to say I did go back and flush!
The second night the wind dropped to nothing and we rode glassy seas, with a blank radar screen we were alone in the world about 100miles from anyone, I got to thinking sailing is one of the few times you can truly say that. As light broke we could sea the Picos Europa mountains and the lights on the Spanish oast. Before we knew it 270 miles and 48 hours of sailing were over. We pulled into Gijon which is amazing place with a truly Spanish feel to it. We had an amazing lunch and hit the cideria where me and Steve gave the local brew a go. You hold the bottle above your head and pur it into a glass below your waist to give the stuff some fizz ( and drop half of it on the floor and clothing ) , then down it in one. This stuff puts Rattler to shame ... lethal. Kirsty polished off a few giant glasses of Rioja and then we came back to the boat and slept that kind of deep sleep we had missed. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane?? not quite some of it fell on the boat we had a shower this afternoon but its warm and feels fresh. One more day here and then its off further down the coast for the turn to Portugal.