8/31/2022 Bilbao, Spain

Up early expecting rain and thunder, though only gray skies and calm. The plan was to wait out the rain and lightning tucked in to the far reaches of the harbor. We are in Bilboa a day or so early of the plan, but weather dictates. A good opportunity to do laundry and chores. Finally changed the transmission fluid, bigger job than I expected. Managed to get a few things off the list.

After dinner we dingied over to the Real Club Maritimo del Abra yacht club and enjoyed a sangria as the sun went down. A beautiful club with two pools, bar, lounge and dining area.

9/1/2022 Bilbao, Spain

Up early for a leisurely morning as the sun was starting to show its face. Headed out in the dinghy to find a place to park it in the marina. Finding a dingy parking spot is harder than finding a car parking spot. We finally tucked into the back corner of the marina, out of sight as much as possible. It was a short walk to the Metro station and a short ride to downtown Bilboa. We waked through downtown stopping on the way for a cappuccino and a latte on the way to the Guggenheim Museum. The Museum is a Geary design similar to the Disney Philharmonic Music Hall in LA. Ironically the temporary exhibit was the history of the automobile and the future of architecture, a couple of my favorite subjects. The permanent exhibits are mostly modern art, of which I am not a fan.

Afterward we took the opportunity to shop in the big city. I finally found a label maker so I can label clutches and blocks for my future crew. Suzette found a great paella pan and more kitchen utensils. We stopped for a bite at a Basque restaurant. The elderly group of women at the next table engaged us; they could not understand why we would vacation here when we live in southern California! They gave us a tasty candy before they departed. After the stop for libations and tappas we found the Pig Meat store and bought chorizo for Paella. Suzette exhausted every shoe store downtown, but did not find a pair she liked in her size.

Back on the boat Suzette made a fabulous Paella, I am hoping this is the last pan we add to the galley and the first of many delicious Paellas. Relaxing evening as we anticipate rain tomorrow and a lazy day at anchor. This has turned out to be a great anchorage; calm and quiet yet close to interesting places.

9/2/2022 Santona, Spain

Unexpected guests turned our pleasant anchorage into a not so comfortable place to sleep, mosquitos! We decided it was time to go. A little weather checking and route planning had us heading to Santona, about 16 miles west. The wind was running about 15 to 20 from the west and the swell was coming from the west as well. Made for a bumpy motor boat ride.

Like all these river estuaries, Ria de Santona silts up at the mouth. We carefully and slowly navigated the shoal, fortunately we were in the lee of the land. Inside it was a beautiful bay surrounded by hills, a peninsula of sand beaches and a small fishing town. Like we have seen a few days ago, there was a carnival set up on the shore in the little town.

We found the anchorage and dropped our hook in 5 m of water. Time to relax, have a cocktail, take in the surroundings and nap in the sun. Refreshed from my nap I set about labeling all of the clutches, 16 in all. Our able-bodied sailor friends know all of the lines, but every boat is different, so labels help to get everyone quickly acclimated.

The rain arrived on schedule at about 1930, just an off and on sprinkle, but enough to rinse the salt off and shut down the carnival. As the weather cleared the carnival fired up with lights, music and even a fogger for fun. All was calm and mosquito free for the night.

9/3/2022 Santona, Spain

Awoke to a very quiet and gray morning. Took advantage of the calm and gave each other haircuts on the swim platform; it was the least messy place. Went to shore in the dink and easily beached it in the middle of town. There was a life guard on the pier, we asked if we could leave the dink on the beach and he helped tie it up to a ring. It has been very hard finding places to leave the dinghy, this was a welcoming change. Took the folding wagon and shopping bags into town. There were lots of people in the streets and restaurants. There was a concert going on in the square, so we checked that out.

Along the way there were some great shops, Suzette found a couple things that she could not resist, a cute red striped shirt and diner napkins that perfectly matched the fish patterned serving bowl she bought in Les Sables. It was a big grocery haul, but prices were good, it seems that things are cheaper in Spain.

We walked the street fair then headed back to the boat. It was a beautiful afternoon and fabulous view in the anchorage so we decided to stay another night. Suzette did some cleaning and I finally finished putting the boat name on the tender. You do not need to register your tender if it has the boat name it is the tender to, so it is now “tt Raffaellesco.” Grilled fresh Bonita and had fish tacos for dinner. An international dinner, French wine, Spanish fish and go alongs from where ever…

9/4/2022 Santander, Spain

The day started with full sunshine and a breeze from the west. Weather man said the breeze would clock to the NNE around noon, high tide at 11:45 so a noon departure for Santander and maybe some sailing. In the mean time we took care of some chores. I managed to run the wires for the new fan in the guest cabin. While working on that I discovered a cut wire. Tracing it I found it to be connected to the auto pilot and labeled rudder. Do you think that it is important? Repaired the wire, cleaned up and got under way on a rising tide.

It was a beautiful day, wind NNE 10-15 making for a perfect broad reach. The swell was running 1-2m, but with a very long period making for a comfortable ride. Sailing past Cabo de Ajo we stayed our course, as Santander came into view, until we could head dead down wind. Code zero and main wing on wing was a pretty cool sight, but you really had to stay vigilant on the wheel.

Coming into the estuary that is Santander there is a fabulous castle on the point. Rounding the point we found a great anchorage looking at the back side of the castle and well protected. Lots of boats anchored so we selected a spot where we thought the boats were just there for the day. As evening came on our guess was proven correct and we had plenty of room to swing. We enjoyed our sundowner on the swim platform watching the sun set behind us.