Bayona
Magnetic Attraction
Roger and Margaret Pratt
Thu 9 Jul 2009 07:46
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42:07.23N
08:50.6W
Well here we are snugly tucked up in the marina -
best place too as the weather has taken a turn for the worse. It's still
bright and sunny, and would be hot if it wasn't for the wind. It's the
classic weather situation: there is high pressure moving up from the Azores
(complete with a dorsal stretching up towards La Rochelle being squeezed against
the low pressure that habitually sits over the Iberian peninsula. So we
have steady NW -NE winds, reinforced in teh afternoon by the sea breeze.
And it is a hefty wind - peaking at about 25 knots in the early evening,
dropping in the early hours. Too great to feel comfortable about turning
the boat round to face the wind, so even down below it's pretty drafty. We
expect to be here at least until Friday morning, and longer if the wind doesn't
drop. So the washing is done, dried and ironed; and continued radio 4
streaming to ensure we catch up whilst we may. On Monday I had calls from
3 headhunters asking about my availability for 3 jobs - I suspect that the
turnround is coming and it reinforces the message given by the organisations
reporting projected deficits at m2.
Bayona is a lovely town. We have walked round
the old town and also the Monte Real which guards the entrance to the town,
and is now a Parador. There is a sailing club at the base which is clearly
very classy - it has gatekeepers guarding the land side from the hoi
polloi. We're in the "other" marina - very friendly, perfectly adequate,
32 euros/night. There is a swipe card to get through the locked
gates. There is wifi and a welcome pack in English. We think
diesel is about 1,02 euros - not bad, although with half a tank to fill up it
will be expensive. Best not to think too hard about it. There is a
very satisfactory Eroski supermarket, and also a Frigoz, although we haven't
been able to find fresh milk, although the german neighbours found semi-skimmed
in Froiz. In the Eroski we came across a party of very serious Irishmen
with A LIST: they are off to the Azores and were taking the opportunity to
victual up in civilisation. They expect the trip to take 6
days.
We lunched on pastries "Jambon Quesa" - cheese and
ham - excellent. This afternoon we walked into the Monte Real (1 euro
each!) and then up to the Virgin of the Rocks - a statue that was made in the
30s and sits high on the shoreline to the south of the town. We walked for
about 2 hours and it was very enjoyable, and warm despite the wind. For
the first time I ventured out without sun block, although have been wearing
consistently the straw hat carefully selected for its cheapness from a charity
shop in Gosport (£1.50 I think) which has a brim that can be turned down for
maximum shade. Also, the yellow Le Gall T shirt that Lyn gave me in
Martinique - I wish I could get more! Here are some pix.
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