On the Spanish main
A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Mon 20 Sep 2010 15:33
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43:25.70N
003:48.41W We've been in Spain since an inconveniently early
hour this morning. We arrived in Santander in the dark, which was fun, with
dozens of little fishing boats dashing round in the night like mice after
scraps. A chirpyly named Island of the Dead has to be navigated safely past
before you get into the city. Then we dropped the hook and dived below for five
hours of badly needed sleep. Bizarrely, we found ourselves next to another
English boat which had had the same idea.
So we've only just got our feet onto Spanish turf,
and are planning to hit the city for drinks and supper shortly. It's gloriously
warm in the sun and feels like the holidays are still in full swing. Apparently,
locals spend hours swanning about on the promenade in the evening, before
heading off for something to eat at about 10.30. I don't know if we'll last that
long, but we'll give it a go. Apparently 'los aperitivos' are a meal in their
own right, lasting for hours. Or so Alex has been telling me in an effort to
stop me from dragging us into the first resto we see.
The passage was pretty pain free really, apart from
the night watches, which take their toll. We were excorted into the coast by a
troupe of dolphins splashing alongside last night. Otherwise, we saw two ships
up close throughout the entire 40 hour journey. We have a device that fools
ships radar into thinking we're the size of a supertanker, so maybe that's
why...
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