12th January 2016
Life on the ocean
wave……
The time has come
to hit the road again, and at 6 am on the 12th Jan we left
Margaret’s in Milford in the dark and headed to Portsmouth to catch an 8.45 am
ferry to Santander Spain. We had decided
to catch the ferry to Spain instead of driving through France because it was
only a few pounds more expensive, yet saved us 2 or more days of solid
driving. Whether we would have bounced
and crashed quite so much if we had driven rather than sailed is a mute point !
We reached
Portsmouth in just an hour – Very different from July when it took over 4 hours
due to an accident on the freeway, and I ended up missing the ferry ! But it was getting cold compared to the last
few weeks of mild weather – about 4.5 deg C when we arrived, and when the sun
finally rose, it was a clear blue sky !
Having queued up
for an hour or so as we shuffled through customs (they didn’t even stop us,
just waved us through – Yet again !) we
finally boarded the ferry – Brittany Ferries Baie de Seine. This is an “Economie” service, on a slightly
smaller ferry and with less night clubs and dancing girls on board, but very
adequate. We had an outside cabin not 50
feet from where we parked Troopie, so were soon sorted out and exploring the
ship.
Even though it is
off season, there were lots of motorhomes heading south for some sunshine, plus
quite a few English residents of Spain heading down to their holiday houses for
3- 4 months. It was smooth sailing as we
headed out of Portsmouth past the Naval dockyard and a number of naval ships,
past Nelson’s HMS Victory, and the 1860 vessel HMS Warrior, past the tower on
the Portsmouth waterfront, and on past the beaches and walks around
Portsmouth. We then headed down the
eastern side of the Isle of Wight, and as we rounded the bottom of the Isle, it
suddenly became quite
rough, and people we having to hang on as they walked
around the ship. And as we headed out
into the Channel, it got rougher and rougher – If the channel is like this,
what will the infamous Bay of Biscay be like ?
We took our sea sick pills just in case !!
Since the ferry
takes some 32 hours to get to Santander, there was plenty of time to do
nothing, and after our early morning start, we decided a quick afternoon nap
was in
order. We awoke at about 2.30 pm
to much noise and banging – And on looking out of the porthole of our cabin,
there was a tug right beside us, tied to us and pushing us sideways !! What had happened ? Had we hit an iceberg in the channel and were
being rescued ? Had the rough seas
damaged our ship badly ? What was going
on ???
We went out on
deck and found we were in port – Cherbourg, to be precise ! Asking around we were told there were
“Technical Reasons”, but obviously something was going on, and the tug was
beside us to keep us straight on the mooring in the high (and cold) cross winds. Eventually they lowered the car ramp – and
about 40 people with suitcases came walking up the ramp from a bus parked on
the quay. Who were they ? Syrians or other refuges ? Or were we being
boarded by pirates ? Eventually another
40 people headed off the ship with their suitcases – Guess what – It was simply
a crew change for the crew ! Seems odd
that no one bothered to tell anyone about it, or our subsequent 1+ hour delay
to our ETA in Santander. Maybe it is all
part of the “Economie” experience !!
Whatever, we eventually set sail from Cherbourg, and continued west in
increasingly rough seas.
The ship was
crashing and banging through the waves, and doors to the outside decks were
closed “for safety reasons”. We bounced our way between Guernsey and Jersey,
and as we had a drink in the bar before dinner, heavy spray was crashing into
the forward facing windows making a wonderful show above us ! During our dinner, just getting to the table
with one’s tray without spilling anything or falling over was a bonus, and
things (and people) were sliding all over the place. It looked like we were in for a rough night
!
When we went to
bed at about 9.30 pm, it was getting rougher and rougher, and we were rolling
around in our bunks. Janet took a sleeping pill and zonked out, while I decided
to tough it out, and eventually fell asleep despite all the noise. When I awoke at about 3 am, everything was
remarkably quiet and still – It seemed that once we rounded Brest, the seas
improved considerably, and it was now quite pleasant.
Having enjoyed a
good breakfast, we continued across the Bay through the morning on almost
millpond like seas. Due to the stop in
Cherbourg, and the slower progress made earlier due to the high seas, we were
now going to be 2 hours late into Santander, which on local time is about 4.30
pm, so we now plan to find a camp site somewhere in Santander and set up before
it gets dark. Since we have been living
in the lap of luxury in houses for the past 3 months, it will probably take us
a bit longer to remember how to set everything up !!
We eventually
arrived and cleared customs (ie drove out of the port – No inspections or
questions asked) in Santander at about 4.30 pm.
Luckily it stays light a bit longer down here, so we drove to a campsite
that we were told was open all year, eventually finding it down by the sea
about 10 minutes out of Santander.
Having roused the lady, we were the only people in the campsite, so we
set up quickly before it got dark. While
sorting out our stuff, I realized I had left my Kindle on the boat ! I quickly called Brittany and found a helpful
lady who said she would call me back if she found it. 5 minutes later she called me back – She had
it !! Great relief as I do not know how
I would live on the road without it, and we agreed to return to the port in the
morning to pick it up. After that
excitement, not too many problems remembering how to set up camp, so after a
quick supper of noodles we turned in for the night quite early. Clear sky, moon shining, but cold. Looking good.
Rest of the pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0395PortsmouthUKToSantanderSpain?authkey=Gv1sRgCJSV9qTDv9X0Vw
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