Where to landfall in North Spain?

Tim Good

Tim Good

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We'll be sailing across to Spain from around Belle Ile in Brittany in the coming days or week.

Where might we make landfall based on both interest and a safe harbour entrance? We don't want to go straight to the NW corner of Spain and miss a lot of interesting places. We also don't want to miss Picos De Europa.

Would Gijon be a reasonable place to aim for or are we missing a lot to the East?
 
Graham376 said:
We've done Gijon from LaRochelle, course is outside the missile area. If you want to head further west Viveiro has a sheltered marina or you can anchor off the beach.
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Was Rochelle worth visiting? We're considering going down there or just crossing from Belle Ile.
 
northcave said:
Was Rochelle worth visiting? We're considering going down there or just crossing from Belle Ile.
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I(t's 11 -12 years since we last did the French west coast. La Rochelle is worth a visit but Les Minimes was packed out then and friends tell me it's even worse now due to the increase in dry berth boats all launching for summer holidays but, having no home marinas, they fill everywhere.
 
We did this last summer, and enjoyed La Rochelle. Then crossed to Gijon which was relatively straightforward, although didn’t particularly enjoy Gijon itself. North coast of Spain was quite damp and cloudy, and the wind was always from the wrong direction. Lots of swell too. Coruna was great, and from there it was a blast. Allow plenty of time for the rias
 
While Gijon is probably the best for exploring the Picos since you can leave the boat in a secure marina and hire a car, we made landfall from Falmouth at Ribadesella - which is actually closer to the mountains. You can tie up along the wall for free and the town, countryside and beach is pleasant and worth exploring. We also loved Lastres.

The CA almanac is worth having aboard.
 
Agree about Ribadesella and Gijon, we enjoyed both. Also about the weather being wet , it was May I suppose, but it never seemed to stop raining for large parts of our time in Northern Spain.
We first made landfall at Santander, which personally I wouldn't bother with again.
Aviles, just around the corner from Gijon, was also very good. Small Marina there, quite cheap and lovely old medieval town almost hidden in the centre.
Another nice place was San Vicente de la Barquera, where we managed to tie to the wall.
Also worth it if you have time is Cedeira where we anchored off the harbour, but well protected
Ribadeo was also quite nice, with a Marina run by the local sailing club
 
I'd definitely head further east than Gijon or you will miss a lot. Last year we sailed Port Medoc to Mutriku, 150 miles in 21 hours with very favourable winds. On the return we did Bilbao, Bermeo, Zumaia, San Sebastien, Hondaribbia, St Jean de la Luz, Cap Bretton, Arcachon, Royan and La Rochelle, all of which are well worth visiting.
Similar plan in place starting next month but one way to the Algarve over 10-12 weeks.
Don't rush it. I crossed the bay a couple of weeks ago from Loctudy to Coruna; quick but nowhere near as enjoyable, though the weather may have had a hand in that.
 
Made a short stop in Gijon last summer - nice harbour in centre of town. Very different from San Santander, with a guest harbour a long way from town. We tried to stop in Ribadesella, but touched bottom so we turned away (low tide should give 3m, we need 2,2m).
 
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San Sebastian is a lovely location with a bay and lively town, but you've a long way to the west. Gijon is a nice town, so perhaps head there.
 
Tricky one. If the plan is to get down round St Vincent this year then there may be an argument to head straight for A Coruna or even Camerinas then start chilling out with longer stops and longer legs rather than try to see everything. It's all lovely anyway :cool:
 
Missing a lot of lovely places if set off direct from Belle Isle. We enjoyed visiting (in low season) all of the main Vendee islands, Ile de Yeu, Ile de Re and Ile d’Oleronne. And Les Sables and La Rochelle are classic sailing venues, albeit the old harbour at La Rochelle is too shallow for most fin keelers.
Depends on where want to spend time
 
dunedin said:
Missing a lot of lovely places if set off direct from Belle Isle. We enjoyed visiting (in low season) all of the main Vendee islands, Ile de Yeu, Ile de Re and Ile d’Oleronne. And Les Sables and La Rochelle are classic sailing venues, albeit the old harbour at La Rochelle is too shallow for most fin keelers.
Depends on where want to spend time
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Thanks. Yeah we had hoped to get into the town at La Rochelle and not be stuck out in a clinical marina. What is "too shallow". Is there a lock to enter the Viux Port?
 
dgadee said:
San Sebastian is a lovely location with a bay and lively town, but you've a long way to the west.
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Great town but very congested marina. I was given a good thump there by a school boat instructor demonstrating rafting technique. We were already on the outside of a 3 boat raft.
 
northcave said:
Thanks. Yeah we had hoped to get into the town at La Rochelle and not be stuck out in a clinical marina. What is "too shallow". Is there a lock to enter the Viux Port?
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No lock for the Vieux Port - so depths depend on the tidal coefficient at the time you are there. Others will be more expert than us, but my charts showed Vieux Port depths at datum less than 2m (and certainly looked less visually at springs). Approach channel 0.5m in places, but can approach at suitable tide height.
Can sometimes be allowed to lock into the other two basins nearer the town.

But in fact Les Minimes isn’t too bad for a stay. Sure it is big, but with creperies overlooking the beach it beats most English marinas. And water bus or nice cycle into the old town.
 
I explored some of the Spanish N coast in 2015, a result of the wind blowing me that way when trying to get to Portugal!
Previously I had been as far East as Aviles which I love (once past the industrial entrance). A safe, sheltered marina, a bus ride to an airport and a lovely town and beach.
At Gijon I stayed in Marina Yates which is cheaper than the marina 'in town'. It's a bit of a hike round the bay to town, but a nice flat bike ride. The marina also has fuel and bikes that you can borrow.
I also enjoyed my stay in Santander, but only because I stumbled on an idyllic anchorage and didn't go near the marinas.
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The pictures I took are on http://montymariner.co.uk/north-spain-2015/ and there are more pics of Aviles and Ribadeo HERE
 
northcave said:
Where might we make landfall based on both interest and a safe harbour entrance? We don't want to go straight to the NW corner of Spain and miss a lot of interesting places. We also don't want to miss Picos De Europa.
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Depends whether you're returning north, or whether this is first step to going further south or west. If you're returning north, It'll be worth going all the way to Bayona if the wind is favourable, then beating back ria to ria against the prevailing northerlies, exploring each in turn in a series of day trips. Then from Cedeira, work as far east as time will allow before returning north.
Would Gijon be a reasonable place to aim for or are we missing a lot to the East?
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Further east there are lots of ports, ranging from cities (Bilbao, Santander, San Sebastian) to tiny niches in the rocks supporting fishing fleets with few yachting visitors. Fascinating variety . . . and very friendly. But only some places can be approached in any conditions. Smaller spots are often limited to approaches a couple of hours before high water - and never attempted with a ground swell over 2m.

This page of my web site is a cruise guide to the area east of the rias. You'll see a dramatic picture there of an AWB entering Zumaia when there's a slight ground swell . . .

A sketch map on that page colours "green" the place names you can enter in any conditions.

It took me three seasons exploring Biscay before I eventually voyaged further south to winter in Lagos, then carried on for many more seasons in the Med.
 
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I have done this twice, once coast hopping each way and once crossing from West France.
If you are doing a return trip why not coast hopping down and do a longer passage back? South of Royen you need good timing to avoid the Landes exclusion zone (not used at weekends and one of the summer months) and benign conditions are recommended for Arcachon and indeed Cap Breton.
But there is much to appreciate in Atlantic France, the Basque region, and North Spain.
 
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