Month: February 2024

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesWe’ve arrived in Rota in the Andalusian region of Spain after a 22 hour passage from Lagos in Portugal.  For most of the passage we were able to sail with a pleasant downwind breeze keeping us moving between 5 and 7 knots, a real treat after all of the motoring we have had to do.  …

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutesWe had a very civilized arrival in A Caruña. Nice calm seas which meant I could prepare the boat for marina docking with ease as opposed to the ungraceful crawling around the deck I’ve had to do on some other approaches.  By the time we were secure at the dock we realized we were melting…

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutesAside from being a good spot to take a break, we’d decided to stop at Bilbao in order to see the Guggenheim museum. Back in the 90’s Bilbao was struggling with increased poverty and social economic problems due to the decline in mining and industry. Then along came the Guggenheim’s who wanted a museum presence in…

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutesJust as dawn was breaking on February 1st we slipped away from the dock in La Rochelle and set sail for our first port of call, Bilbao in Northern Spain. The forecast was for light winds on our nose so we anticipated motoring this first leg, all 30 plus hours of it.  We’d also been encouraged…