Homeward Bound

This was my second time in Gijon. As I arrived in the early hours of the morning, there was a welcome sense of familiarity emanating from this old working city located in the centre of the Biscay-toughened Northern coast of Spain. I had set off sailing single-handed in my Dufour 34 Performance from my home port in the SW of England five days earlier. I had appreciated a brief, unplanned diversion into Camaret after hitting stronger than expected headwinds off Ushant, and then a superb two-day crossing of the Bay of Biscay, enjoying a reach in 12-15 knots of wind for most of the way – although a sudden squall in the early hours of the second night discouraged complacency and encouraged a reef in the mainsail, shaken out a few hours later.

By way of Biscay

Having at various times sailed to the Baltic, south along the Normandy and Brittany coasts as far as Piriacsur-Mer, and from Gijon west to the Rias of NW Spain and Baiona, I was keen to explore the bit in between – to “join the dots” as it were, from Gijon to home. I had previously heard a number of people talking about crossing Biscay