| Anna M | ||
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We sail to Santander
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Mary-Emma and I headed for sea again as quickly as possible, at 1730 on Friday 20th April to be precise, since the north wind was only supposed to last for another day. It gave us a good start anyway, so that by 2130 we were 5 miles south of Hoedic. I entered a way-point off Punta Candalaria on the north-west coast of Spain, which the navigator informed me was 293 miles away. There followed a fine sail, with the added interest of a large school of bottle-nosed dolphins, with some pilot whales and plenty of gannets in attendance, as we left the continental shelf behind. |
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| At 2100 next evening our way-point was only 135 miles distant, but the wind had backed westerly and become light and variable. | ||
| Overnight the wind continued to back and freshened, while the glass fell from 1026 to 1006 mb. By morning it was blowing force 7, SW x S, and the sea was beginning to get ugly. Although we were only a little over 70 miles NNE off Gijon, we eased the sheets and headed for Santander, sorry that we could not rescue a poor wind-blown curlew, whose pathetic flapping made such a sorry contrast to the graceful fulmars and gannets. A very dirty sea built up rapidly; it seems those Bay of Biscay swells really do kick up badly on the narrow but shallow continental shelf of the north coast of Spain. We were indeed glad to see its high hills, and then an apparition high above it again, the snowy Picos de Europa, such a contrast to the homely coast of south Brittany. We were gladder still to round Cabo Mayor and enter the great harbour of Santander in the early morning. | ||
 Cabo Mayor |
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