Position:  43:32.75N 05:40.03W

Gijon, Spain

After our Biscay crossing we needed a couple of days off, and I can’t think of a better place to spend it than Gijon.  It is a lovely city set on a peninsula with the harbour on one side and a lovely sweeping sandy beach on the other, with the old town squished between.

After a few hours sleep, registering with the harbour office and moving Nutmeg onto the visitors pontoons, we took ourselves off for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the port and had a superb lunch washed down with a litro of sangria.  However, sangria was probably the wrong choice, as the locals here drink cider, in a very flamboyant manner, involving pouring it from above your head, into your glass, inevitably pouring most of it on the floor!

A local pouring himself a glass of cider

The girls collecting rose petals from the cobblestones in the Plaza Mayor after a wedding

The following day, we met a couple of other boats and their crews, and spent much of the day chatting on the pontoon, sharing experiences.  One boat was a Halmatic 30 called “Sally”, with its down-to-earth crew Andy and Liz, who were sailing down to Northern Spain and had crossed Biscay a day earlier than us.  They had had a similar crossing to us and Liz had been quite seasick.  In addition, halfway across they had fouled their prop on an old fishing net, and Andy had had to pump up the dinghy, and cut the net off by diving underneath the boat in his wetsuit!  Full-on. 

Then, in the morning, the Dutch yacht “Tyche” arrived, a lovely steel 31ft sloop with a family of similar age to us – Issa (6) and Finn (4), taking their parents Robin and Zita with them on a year-long cruise round the Atlantic.  It was great to talk to like-minded people and very soon the kids were happily climbing on and off each other’s boat, fishing together off the pontoon and drawing on the pontoons in chalk, while the adults all swapped stories. 

Teddybears picnic – a post-Biscay party for the girls

We spent the next day at the beach, and I took the alternator round to the local marine engineers.  An hour later and it was returned and pronounced to be fixed, although the engineer couldn’t speak English so it wasn’t clear what he had done. 

The lovely beach at Gijon

The following day I tried the alternator but still no charge, so I jogged the 2km back round to the marine engineer, who then came over to the boat.  He spent the morning trying to fix it and convinced himself that it wasn’t the alternator that was at fault, but the installation.  I was unconvinced.  He told me he would return later so while he was out I continued to analyse the problem and with a bit of trial & error, managed to get the alternator working.  When he returned (with an automotive electrician chap), the alternator only worked intermittently, so they faffed about for about 2hrs with the most rudimentary equipment, trying to work out what the problem was.  It turned out to be a loose solder within the alternator, which they soldered back on doing probably as bodged a job as I could have managed myself.  It was all a bit agricultural, and it was clear that they knew less than I did about the blimmin’ thing, which was annoying and didn’t leave me with any confidence that the thing was properly fixed.

Sarah and the girls had a pancake party on “Tyche”, then spent the afternoon on the beach with Zita and the kids – far more pleasant way to spend the day!  The kids have all really benefited from having other children to play with, and the language is not a barrier at all.  It is really lovely to see them playing.

Finn, Emilia, Jemima, Issa having tea on “Nutmeg”

One of the nicest times we spent in Gijon was an impromptu pontoon party with the crew of “Sally” and “Tyche”.  We all returned from our respective days’ chores and brought drinks out onto the pontoon.  The kids played and drew on the pontoon whilst the adults chatted and the sun went down.  Each boat then brought food out and we had our first “pot luck” meal – really enjoyable.  This is what this trip is about – great company, lovely location, food and wine!

Pontoon party in Gijon - Clockwise from bottom left: Robin, Andy, Issa, Liz, Emilia, Sarah, Jemima, Zita and Finn