When I set out from Port Medoc I was aiming for Gijon in Northern Spain,
as backup for this aspiration I had a good weather forecast, as alternatives
Ihad Santander and then Getxo Marina. Suffice it to say the weather did not
live up to expectations so I had to take then shortest alternative, namely
Getxo Marina. Getxo is the name of the area and the nearest town to the
marina is Algorta, up ontop a hill, next is Las Arenas and without crossing
the river there is Areeta. Areeta and Las Arenas seem to run into each
other. Because Algorta is ontop a hill I decided I should go to Las Arenas
for shopping, there I found 3 supermarkets and an internet cafe. The
supermarkets are not huge but are sufficent and do stock some well know
products which makes life a lot easier if you don't speak the lingo. A
shopping trip was taking me about three hours, wasting half the sunbathing
time. I decided to upgrade my shopping trolley to a GT model and bought a
typical tourist bicycle with a basket on the front and a carrier on the
back, I started using it and to my delight the shopping trip came down to an
hour with time in hand, two hours more burning time!
One thing nobody mentions about the marina, it has mosquitos.I solved
the problem by having a fan blowing over me all night, and by getting
sunburnt. The marina itself is quite well organised with the usual array of
eating places plus a small shop which supplies mostly sweets and papers but
does have a few essentials.
There is a Volvo Penta dealer and two quite good chandlers, nobody speaks
english! but if you are trying to buy something they can always sell it to
you. Camping Gaz is available in Algorta, which was the cause of my
downfall.
I had intended to spend one week at Getxo, but failed. On the Thursday
before I was due to leave I ran out of Gaz, no problem, get a new one within
two weeks, I enquired around and found I could get one in Algorta, at the
top of the hill. further enquiries revealed that there is a lift which will
take you and your bike up to Algorta. I went up in the lift for 20cents with
my bike and Gaz bottle on Saturday morning so I would be ready to go. The
new full bottle was the cheapest I've ever bought at 6euro about. I dumped
it in the basket on the bike and started back to the marina. Going downhill
is quite fast, I remember seeing the Gaz bottle jump out of the basket and
then thinking I wish this tarmac scraping across my face would stop, it did
finally and before I knew it I was being dragged to the side of the road.
The local police appeared, an ambulance appeared, I went to Las Arenas
hospital where I was patched and examined, the doctor was very relieved when
I told her my left eye didn't work because it had an implant. Finally I was
freed and went back to Algorta to retrieve bike and Gaz cylinder, which I
then rode down the hill back to the marina. The only permanent loss is my
top set of teeth which got broken in my mouth giving me a few cuts. By the
time I got back to the boat everything was stiffening up and I started
hobbling about. I booked my self into the marina for another week. I spent
the week doing as little as possible, getting sunburnt, and turning all my
food into baby food.After a week I could bend my leg a little and becoming
more active. I booked another week and started riding the bike about to get
some movement back. At the end of the second week I considered myself fit
enough again, and even though I still have patches on me I tried to
leave,after all I would soon need more Gaz, and we didn't want that again.
I prepared everything to leave on Monday 20th and the weather was good
again. The weather said the sea would be "Slight" with a NNW wind strength 4
to 5.
So I packed everything and prepared to leave on Monday. Monday at 11:32 I
motored out of the Marina and headed out to sea, the sea was a little lumpy
but I put that down to it being wind against tide and it would ease once I
cleared the harbour. I cleared the harbour and the sea was a little lumpier,
no problem, this is because we're in a bay which is acting like a
funnel,press on. I pressed on with the sea getting lumpier and the wind
strength increasing and the wind was blowing straight into my face.I cleared
the bay at a bout 10 miles, nothing was getting better, in fact it was still
getting worse.It had taken me three hours to do this 10 miles, the sky ahead
looked incredibly threatening, so I finally gave up and opted to go back to
the marina, at about 15:30 I turned back, as soon as I turned my speed shot
up to 6kts instead of 2.5 to 3 I had been doing before. I got back to the
marina at about 17.42,parked the boat and went and booked in for another
week. As I came in there was a group of boats just going out,I don't fancy
there luck unless they are going East.
About an hour after I parked the storm really hit, I think the wind must
have exceeded F8 because my generator was producing 6amps. Glad I was tied
up.
The local Gurus tell me I won't be going anywhere before Thursday so perhaps
we get to try again next Monday!!
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