The older I get, the better I rember things
whether they happened or not
-Mark Twain-
Bayona, Spain
Aahhhh..... It's amazingly easy to get used to wearing just t-shirt and shorts. It's amazingly easy to get used to walking bare feet again, much to the horror and disappointment to Annina. But nevermind. (I'm not going to waste 2 million years of evolution by packing the best walking tool - the feet - into a box.) I'm now banned from coming back in the boat before washing my feet. We are full of joy. The Spanish sun is shining, the temperatures hoving around a lovely 25 C and the Portugese trades... well, we're still waiting for them.
Ever since the camera was invented, sailors have been taking this photo after arriving to Bayona. The fort, providing both the foreground and the viewpoint, has been here since 13th century, maybe longer. The walk around the fort gave us a little excercise, which we immediately nulled with giant ice creams and fatty BBQ dinners.
Bayona or Baiona in Galician, is apparently the place where Europe first heard of the new world. Pinta, the fastest of the fleet reached the bay in 1493 from the first ever Caribbean cruise by a European yachtie. (Mr. Columbus never knew where he was going, when he got there he had no idea where he was and when he came back he didn't know where he had been. My hero!) A replica of Pinta sits permanently in the harbour and acts as a small museum. The now 4-star hotel that overlooks the bay was once the fort from which soldiers waved and greeted the arriving ship. (Columbus himself was on Niña and got blown in Portugaland. There he got himself arrested for violating the Portugese sovereignty of Atlantic. The Portugese Atlantic at that time reached as far west as the next galaxy, by the decicion of the vicar of Christ himself, the Pope of the Catholic Church, the holy rep of the landlord of our planet, apparently... (This is the same sales rep that in 1992 - after 13 years of deliberation - admitted that Galileo was right about the solar system. In God we trust?)
Am I talking about Bayona? One would never know...
The narrow alleys in town had a nice atmosphere. Drinking is more recommended than eating. We did our best to get a really nice meal, but nothing would beat our own garlic loaded BBQ steak with curried spuds and salad.
After a few days in the marina, we moved to the anchorage and started the charcoal grill for the first time in a while. The Spanish loser of a bull fight was tender and cheap.
Okay, we drove in the calm, warm bay of Bayona and before we had time even slow down, the local "agent" was out to meet us, just like the boys in Madagascar and village entrepreneurs of PNG. This was a clean, swift and professional european style job, with a high speed inflatable. I said, I'd like to go to the Yacht Club, not the new marina. "Si, si, si" said the man and made demanding gestures, pointing us to one of the two marinas. He was nervously busy, glancing at the next arriving yacht behind us, perhaps thinking: "Jeez, do I have time to take this tub in before losing the next one to the yacht club". We followed the man in. He was waiting for us at our very own marina berth, ready to take our lines and point out the office, before rushing off to see if he can pull in the yacht after us. The fact that we got pulled into the marina we didn't want to go, was good. The Yacht Club turned out to be 50% more expensive.
We had power, after buying a water hose from the local hardware store we even had water, we had wifi internet, we had a shower and we had the sun. Man, what else can one wish from life?
Annina has been smiling non-stop now that the standard clothing is - finally - shorts and t-shirt. Bayona marina, Spain, making diary entries
Tero and (Anne not showing), Tiina and (Tuomo not showing) arrived in Bayona after us, in their 42 Lagoon cat. Party started with some snacks and a drink in town. It ended sometime around 4am next day.