St Jean de Luz is in a
stunning location, but, like Cornwall, the wind blows and it rains a lot. The
reception from the locals was truly amazing, we were treated like guests of
honour in the local fishing club which became a regular haunt. We are not
accustomed to drinking out much, living on a tight budget as we do, but this
really was an exception and was not expensive. During the week we were invited
to an evening of traditional Basque singing by the local male voice choir which
was fantastic.
The club members didn’t
want us to leave and kept saying that the weather would continue to be bad and
we would have to stay there. Much as we enjoyed being there, we felt it was
time to move on as soon as the weather would permit, and on Monday, after the
wind blew very strongly all night we woke up to a flat calm and took the
opportunity of the afternoon tide to make tracks. A weeks’ marina berthing came
to 51 euros and the Capitainerie gave us a 2011 almanac as a parting gift, so
all in all an absolute bargain. The 6 mile sail to Hendaye went without
incident, and we very soon found our way around the back of the marina and
anchored in the bay, sheltered from the worst of the winds that were forecast
for later that night.
In the morning we wanted to
go in search of bread, and having stopped first at the local sailing club to
ask permission to leave the dinghy, we found no one so moved on to a pontoon
belonging to the Yachting club. A request to leave the dinghy for a while was not
granted, with apologies, but the mayors orders, and by the way, anchoring is no
longer permitted in the bay and if you don’t go and move your boat we will
report you to the local authorities! We went round to the marina at Hendaye who
quoted us 42 euros for 2 nights, with the 3rd free. Not in the
marina but on a cheaper pontoon on an outside wall, no water or electricity. We
walked over to inspect it, the wind was causing some steep slop, and agreed it
would make a very uncomfortable berth.
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These were the waves inside the harbour! |
We decided to take our
chances and go and enquire on the other side of the river, so upped anchor to
motor over to SPAIN. At Hondaribbia we found a very welcoming Capitanerie and
the offer of berthing for 11 euros a night including wifi. Another very scenic
location on the odd occasions that the rain clears and you can see the
mountains. Several days of high swell (5M) and SW winds followed so we stayed
put exploring the area on our folding bikes. John has been delighted to be
speaking Spanish again, although a little rusty and somewhat complicated with
all the French in his head. My vocabulary extends to about 20 words, and I am
not planning on breaking my other leg in order to be able to converse in
another language.
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The old walled town of Hondarribia |
On Saturday the pontoons
burst into life when all the locals arrived to do waht boaters do when the time
permits but the weather is not good. Spring cleaning, general maintenance,
catching up with old friends, checking out new neighbours etc. John went out to
speak to a local couple who were peering at Freya Frey, and, as is his wont,
invited them onboard for a cup of coffee. 4 hours later and with a lot of
information exchanged, we moved to their boat for a very enjoyable evening
meal. This was another lovely and to us typical example of the camaraderie that
exists within the boating world.
Today we set off, with two
destinations in mind depending on the weather. The favoured one being Getaria,
20 miles away, with Posajes, a commercial port available 6 miles away if the
weather/sea turned disagreeable. Plan C came into play around half an hour
after setting off which was to return to Hondarabbia as the swell was very
uncomfortable. I have taken a screenshot of our electronic chart software, the
purple squiggly line is our “track”, showing how we poked our nose out beyond
the headland to test out the swell.
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The track out beyond the headland and back! |
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