Arrival Santander

Pyxis
Karen & Richard
Sat 1 Sep 2007 22:23

Saturday 1st September – Arrival Santander

43:25.697N 3:48.394W

 

¡Hola!  A new month, a new country.  We arrived at Santander in Spain this afternoon after motor sailing most of the way across the Bay from La Rochelle, c.200 miles.  We managed to sail a couple of times but with light winds astern, our progress was slow and we motored on to make port.  It was amazing being out there all on our own, with, at times 2000-3000m of water depth below (the depth gauge just gave up!).  The night watch was fine and, to be honest, I was pleased to be motoring.  I didn’t have to worry about the sails on my watch and I’ll bet Richard slept better knowing that.

 

As you will know from my blog entries, the weather in the Bay has been very unsettled this summer.  Since we arrived at Brest there have been either gales at the top, gales at the bottom, or a mixture in the middle.  Having reached La Rochelle, the shorter hop to Santander beckoned.  Even with light winds, the residual swell was quite enough for me.  I couldn’t say that the Bay was a pussycat for our crossing – more like a sleeping tiger – I never felt totally convinced that something wouldn’t blow up.

 

A surprise came after dawn when I turned around to see another yacht converging with our path – they must have been tailing us all night, and were also going to Santander as it turned out.  Very odd to be so close to another boat when in the middle of nowhere.  I hadn’t seen it when on watch and so I am sure that they didn’t have their navigation lights on (naughty, naughty).  Also, it means that I was not as alone as I thought I was.

 

Having turned back in for some sleep after my watch, Richard called me back on deck around 9.30 – we had a pod of dolphins playing off our starboard bow. Soon they were on their way but great to see them jumping.

 

As we arrived in the marina, we saw the 47 foot yacht with the friendly crew of Welshmen we had previously met in Les Sables d’Olonne already alongside.  We had helped them with their lines on their arrival in Les Sables after their five day sail from north Wales.  They set off for Santander the day we set off for La Rochelle, so we have arrived a day behind them.  They are making their way south too as they are planning to do the ARC (Atlantic Rally Crossing), which means they need to be in the Canaries by November when it starts.

 

This marina is fabulous.  The harbour master is lovely, helping us in to our berth, and his office has superb views across Santander and the mountains.  We have really nice neighbours on the berth next to us (from Falmouth); they have been giving us a few tips as they are seasoned travellers.  Best of all, the showers here are the best since leaving home!

 

I’d like to stay a couple of days and see a bit more of Santander, but, if the weather is right, we will need to keep moving on across the north coast of Spain.