Index | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | References
Day 6 and 7
This time we were on the road by 09:00 as we had to be at the ferry terminal by 10:15. Silvia had said it would only take 40 minutes to get to Santander and we did it in slightly less but there was a bit a a traffic jam in the town so we arrived at the ferry terminal at 09:52.
Day 6
For bikes the recommended option seems to be to scoot past the cars and send your pillion into the terminal to get the boarding pass.
This time we only had the small ramp as we were on the lower deck, this was absolutely no challenge after what we had survived.
Bike was tied down and off to the cabin.
The previous day's storm had left a decent sized swell in the Bay of Biscay so again the restaurant was quiet as it was at dinner - more prawns for me.
At about 3 am the motion became quite violent and Susie woke as did I. Come the morning at about 08:00 and a quick check of the GPS from the cabin port said that we had 4.5 hours to go to Plymouth breakwater. Strange - as we were due in at at 09:00. I jumped into suitable clothing and went to get a proper fix (satellite) on the upper deck - NASA was telling the truth.
It transpired that one of the passengers had become seriously ill during the night and had had to be Medevac'd off by helicopter. The Captain had had to close the French coast at best possible speed to facilitate this, hence the change in motion and our current delay. Fortunately, so we heard, the passenger was OK.
We arrived back in Plymouth at about 12:30 and were on our way at 12:56 and back home by 14:18. Unloaded and put the bike away, a quick shower and change and I was back seeing patients by 15:30 - such is the life of the self-employed :-(
Addendum
1. The dress I bought and Susie packed never got worn.
2. Having set my brand new Avon Azarro III tyre pressures at the beginning of the the trip the front was only down by 1 psi and the rear was spot on.
3. The chicken strip on the above rear is 10mm wide each side, proving that I did not, contrary to my passenger's assertion, ever really try to emulate Barry Sheene (sorry my age is showing here).
4. In future Susie will pack lighter and not buy a book on the ferry that is so big it takes up most of the top-box.
5. I will make sure we have one day's rest in the middle of the trip.
6. I will not promise fantastic weather - there is a reason the Picos mountains are so green!
7. Both Susie and I will ensure our knowledge of the Spanish language is better before our next trip.
8. There will be a next trip - the boss says so.
9. I will take the electrically heated clothing next time as well.
Distance ridden 35 miles in Spain, 45 miles in UK
Index | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | References