We departed San Sebastian a day earlier than expected due to the weather changing for the worse.

On our departure Teresa caught our second fish, another Spanish mackerel.

The return trip to La Rochelle was another over night sail which provided us one more great sunset at sea.

The next day the winds were perfect for us to deploy the Code O for the first time.

Sea Rose back in La Rochelle.  We put up the sun shades just to make sure we had all the pieces and also for a little privacy at the dock.

Sea trials are over.  We will return September 26, 2015 for our big trip to the Caribbean.

Here’s a track of where we traveled the month of August. We began in France sailing from Les Sables d’Olonne, to La Rochelle, then onto Spain, stopping at Santander, Castro Urdiales, Bilbao, San Sebastian and finally back to La Rochelle.

On our trip from Bilbao to San Sebastian we caught our first fish.   Capt. Glen holding our Spanish mackerel.

The northern coast of Spain was surprisingly picturesque.

San Sebastian does not have a marina so we initially tied up to a mooring ball before an official (marinero) came out to tell us the mooring balls were not strong enough to hold Sea Rose, so we untied and dropped anchor instead.

We lowered the tender and Capt. Glen kindly took Teresa and I ashore for some sight seeing and food.

Walking the streets of the old town with an old church at the end.

What do you know, another old church.

We stopped into a pincho restaurant for some quick bites.

More local architecture.

After a walk around town I took a cold refreshing swim.  Although it was August the water was still very cold.

The cold water does not seem to keep the locals away from the beach.

On day two we decided to hike to the top of the mountain and visit Jesus.

On the way up, we had great views of the town and beaches below.

Can you spot the big guns?

We made it to the top.

Great views below. Sea Rose at anchor.

Teresa resting before the walk back down.

Capt. Glen arriving to pick us up from town.  It was low tide, that’s why he is so low.

The Guggenheim museum gets its own subsection.  Maybe someone out there can explain this type of Art to me, because I just didn’t get it.

Approaching the museum from one of the main streets in Bilbao.  The highlight for me was the actual museum building itself. http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao

A massively large dog by Jeff Koons that stands 12 meters in front of the museum made of flowers.  This was the scene of a foiled terrorist attack by E.T.A during the Grand Opening in 1997.

That’s me, not knowing what I am just about to be exposed to. Still happy.

OK, it starts here…  This is an inflatable lobster, something you may find at the beach, hanging by a chain from the ceiling. (a.k.a. art)

Next up, if you haven’t guessed it, this is an inflatable life preserver, similar to something a child would be playing with at a pool.  I got told off by the security guard after taking this picture. I’m not sure why, but maybe my flash could have damaged the “art”.

The following metal panels are replica’s models of the actual “art”.  The actual metal panels are about 10 feet tall and you walk through and around them.

After walking through and around the actual “art” I was still confused.  Fortunately for me, there was this explanation on the wall written by the artist Richard Serra himself, clearly explaining exactly what is happening.  After reading it, it only confused me more which lead to a headache, which led me to a bar and a drink.  You must read it yourself!

We arrived Sunday evening and the captainere was closed so we tied up to the visitors dock for the night.

We set out for a little sight seeing around Bilbao. Unfortunately, this church was not open.

We walked along the Nervion River which runs through Bilbao. There were many nice pedestrian bridges, like this one to cross over.

The following is the famous Vizcaya Bridge which was built in 1893.  People and cars are transported on the lower gondola.  You can also take an elevator to the top span.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizcaya_Bridge

Teresa on top of the Vizcaya Bridge.  It was a warm sunny day.

The Bay of Biscay off in the horizon

I do get in some pictures.

A refreshing cider after a lot of walking.

Two Lagoons passing in the night?. Our friends (Toomey family) from Les Sables d’Olonne arrived in Bilbao and tied up in front of us.  They are their way to the Mediterranean for the winter.

The locals love the beach on a hot sunny day.  Don’t let them fool you, the water is still cold.

There was a medieval festival in the old town with plenty of local food to eat.

Teresa is ready to go home.  We had to find our way through all of the narrow cobblestone streets.

This was the one time we wished we had our bimini installed.  We’re leaving Santander on our way to Bilbao in the rain.

On our way to Bilbao, the weather cleared and we decided to stop in Castro Urdiales for some sightseeing and lunch.

Church of Santa María de la Asunción 13th centuray

Anchored inside the harbor.

Sea Rose anchored off in the distance.

  Touring the grounds of the Church of Santa Maria de la  Asunción

Looking out over the harbor from the Church with Sea Rose anchored in the upper right side of the picture.

There was a festival going on when we were there.  Individuals had to run to the end of this greasy pole and grab the red flag.  No one was able to accomplish it while we were watching.

Local architecture along the harbor walk.

Sea Rose had her first overnight sail.  The trip from La Rochelle to Santander took 32 hours.  The winds were 10-12 knots and the seas were moderate.  When morning came it was a beautiful day.

Not a single stinking bite.  Looks like we’ll be having lunch meats again.

Doing night watches will eventually catch up with you.  Resting up for the big night in Santander.

Land Ho!  After about 29 hours, the Spanish coast was in sight. The winds had increased to 22-25 knots and the seas were now 5-6 feet.  We had to put our 1st reef in. We lost Teresa for the remainder of the trip (down, but not out).

After a 32 hour overnight sail it’s time to clean the salt off the Sea Rose.  Capt. Glen and Teresa are breaking out the water, brushes and mops.

Sea Rose is all cleaned up now and securely tied to the dock.  We planned to stay here 3 days, but due to high winds on our departure day we stayed an extra 2 days.

We rigged the Code 0 up in the marina.  We wanted to make sure we had all the parts and also knew how to deploy it when underway. It’s a big sail.

Now it was time for the famous pinchos (fast food) in Santander.  Our marina was on the other side of the bay, so it required a taxi ride into town.  Fortunately, we had our Spanish translator with us.  Thank you Teresa!

A typical street in the old part of town.

The Spanish love their jamón serrano.

Here’s an interesting shop that caught someone’s attention.  No, we’re not in Colorado.

A bad case of munchies after the shopping.  Enjoying pinchos.

We’re not sharing, it’s just me and the mouse.

Bob making friends with the staff, to be expected.

We didn’t only eat and drink.  We did get some historical sightseeing.  We visited the  Santander Cathedral.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santander_Cathedral

Santander at night.

We got the needed repairs in Les Sables and then headed back down south to Ile de Re’.  Motoring out of Port Olona and heading out to the Bay of Biscay.  Lisa and Teresa on look out.

Did someone call my name?

Giles & Bob

Teresa & Lisa counting jellyfish as we passed over them.

The seas were calm and the winds were light. Giles, Bob, Teresa & Lisa sunning on the foredeck.

We arrived at the small town of St. Marten on the Ile de Re’

St. Marten harbor entrance.

Tied up outside the city walls.  A lot of boat traffic and a bit rough.  Capt. Glen did a good job squeezing us in what was initially a very tight space.

Let’s see if there is anything to buy here.

Oh look, a market!  There must be something here I would like.

Having lunch at a marina restaurant.

Whaaaat???  Someone burgled my pub while I’m on holiday in St. Marten.(Giles just received news that one of his pubs was burglarized back in England).

Teresa & Lisa heading back to Sea Rose after a lovely day of eating, drinking & shopping in St, Marten, minus the bad news about Giles’ pub.

After picking up our wonderful friends in La Rochelle we sailed back to Les Sables d’Olonne.  We were having a problem with one of the main sail cars jamming and wanted to have someone look at it.

Giles, Lisa & Teresa

Low tide

Giles: “Let me know when you guys get that sail fixed”.

Entrance to the old port of La Rochelle, France.

We had to wait for this bridge to open before we could enter the Bassin des Chalutiers.  You can only enter the basin during high tide.

Now we can enter.

Safely inside the Bassin.  Sea Rose now is tied up to the floating pontoon along the sea wall. Surrounded by bars and restaurants.  We’ll spend the next few days purchasing more supplies and enjoy touring the old town.

Chain Tower, La Rochelle

Shopping in the market

Sailing isn’t all fun and sun.  Someone has to do the laundry. Believe it or not, that is Teresa in a public laundry mat.

After a night on the hook off Ile de Re’ we motored over to Ile de Aix for a short day trip.  On the way, we passed Fort Boyard which was built to protect the French arsenals from Royal Navy incursions.  It only took 56 years to build.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Boyard_(fortification)

We dropped the dingy for the first time and Capt. Glen was kind enough to run us ashore.

Ile de Aix is famous for being the last French soil Napoleon stood on before the English exiled him to St Helena where he eventually died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele-d%27Aix

Fort De La Rade fortification

Napoleon did not sleep here.

Fort De La Rade main street. It was very hot this day and we all know Teresa does not like the heat.

A pleasant surprise was a very nice Napoleon museum.

After our Ile de Aix tour and lunch at anchor, we motored back to Ile de Re’ for the evening sunset.  We needed to position ourselves there for the early morning Bassin des Chalutliers’ lock opening.