Current location
Where we are now
Getxo - Our Spanish home from home
We came back via a couple of nights in Castro Urdiales again - we are flying back to the UK for a week (from Bilbao airport) so this is a good place to leave her! Good security and good shelter!
Laredo, Cantabria
Ventured out of the Basque Country and into Spain!
Its a bigger town than we expected and we have had a lot of cloud! But the hike up the mountain (OK, hill) gave some great views and it was probably better that it wasn't too hot.
Getxo, near Bilbao
Came back in to Bilbao to set Lauren and Oliver on their flights home.
Its been so great to see them and share some fun times swimming in the sea, eating out and seeing a bit more of Spain.
Castro Urdiales
Decided to head over to this bay / marina for a change of scene - we heard it was easy to pick up a buoy (oooerr, misus), so we thought it would make a nice change of scene from a standard marina for Lauren & Olver
What a treat! Lovely town - very vibrant with lots of pintxos, but also a lot of history, great views, and we finished with dinner in the yacht club that looked after us EXTREMELY well. Oops, went a bit Donald Trump there...
Getxo, near Bilbao
With no city centre marinas its a matter of picking one of the 3 main ones at the mouth of the river. Getxo marina has a beach next to it, access to local Pintxo bars and is only a 20 minute walk to the metro to get us into the city.
A bit grey here but at least there was enough wind to sail half of it. And tomorrow we look forward to welcoming Lauren & Oliver!
Lekeitio
First proper rain we have seen in a while motoring our way to this little town inbetween San Sebastián and Bilbao. Its a small marina and its office is shut. Thank goodness for the kindness of the sailing community as our immediate neighbour has lent us one of their pontoon access cards - otherwise we would be pontoon bound and unable to get to the the local festival that seems to be running judging by the live music.
San Sebastián
What an absolutely incredible city - absolutely love this place and so glad we were able to get a space in the small marina in the heart of the old town.
This region's "Pintxo Crawl" puts me in Hog Heaven - and with the Basque Cheesecake to finish its the ultimate foody destination. Move over Tapas there is a new Sheriff in town...
Hondarribia
Our longest ever sail in Moonshne (29 hours) took us down the rest of the French coast (plagued by flying insects) and around the corner (and some pretty unexpected rough sees in the middle of the night) and on...
... in to Spain. Well, Basque Country as I keep getting told every time I make the mistake of saying I am in Spain to one of the locals! Great town with a lot of bars, food and life.
Royan
Having stayed close to here a couple of times when Lauren and then Lauren & Izzy were very small (with Andy & Sylvie) it was really good to re-visit this area.
The town feels likle a kind of up-market Bournemouth - crossing the Gironde river on the way in and out was good to do but nothing like the scary experience the guides warn you it can be like. Fortunately.
La Rochelle - Again!
We sailed back over for the last couple of days of Izzy's visit. We are staying on here for a week so Anna can pop back to Hednesford and get her Mum home and settled from Hospital.
Its a great location for these kind of things - a vibrant city and a beach next to the marina. Easy to use "Boris" bikes and a good bus network. The airport is on the edge of the city and Ryan Air flights are around £40 return.
Ile d'Oleron
Great to be on the move again - sadly no wind to sail, but so good to be back at another favourite from last year - and to be joined by Izzy!
We've already managed a trip up to the lighthouse - superb views and only a couple of hundred steps...
La Rochelle
Back to another of our favourite locations. Some practical reasons for legging it down here so Anna can do a quick trip home to visit her Mum in hospital. I'll stay and look after the boat and pick another slot to visit.
Its such a huge marina here but the facilities are really good - and our current location is a short walk from the beach, the bakery and a take-away pizza place. And the public transport here is also excellent - we are next to the water bus stop into the city.
Saint-Gillies-Croix-de-Vie
Sorry, missed a place out - Too hot to be huddled over a laptop! After Vannes we did 2 nights in Pornichet including an afternoon/evening on the huge beach there.
Now we are on the river Vie just in from the coast in this chraming little town. There are boutiquey shops, bars, restaurants and some great sections of beach all alng here.
Vannes
We had last night in Port du Crouesty as a single night stop so we could time the entry here (strong tides and swing bridges to co-ordinate). Its our first go at sailing right into a city - so great to be here.
Coming in through the Gulf of Morbihan was a revelation too - what a beautiful sailing cruising ground - we are thinking we'd like to spend some serious time exploring here - one day...
Quiberon
Paul's attempt to get stronger antibiotics transformed into an emergency root canal so there was a delay of another day - but we have at last left Lorient! Hopefully we can get some serious sailing in now!
Quiberon is a favourite of ours from last year - we are in the inner basin along with a lot of other Saturday night revellers and a load of classic racing yachts here for a special event.
Kernével (Near Lorient)
Well it took us all of about 15 minutes to get from our last location to this one. But what an eventful trip! The need to find a dentist and being closer to the city was the reason we moved.
The marina on the Lorient side has quite a strong current running through it at times, and of course the wind blew up as well as we were coming in. After all that kerfuffle as we were finishing tying up Anna slipped - and now we know all about how to navigate A&E in a French Hospital. Wow were they quick though - and everyone was so friendly!
Locmiquélic (Opposite Lorient)
Quite a trip into the Lorient area - first time we've sailed past a Submarine on active service! We are holed up in St Catherine's Marina which is one of 3 big marinas in the Lorient area.
We've been to the other two (Port Louis and Kernevel) so this was a chance to try a different one - quite similar to the others, so good to have a choice! We have some chores to do so planning on sticking around here for a few days...
Concarneau, Brittany
Since L'Aberwrach we've made good progress and anchored overnight at Pen-Hir and Auiderne. The comfort of a marina for a couple of nights now, and a chance to re-stock the fridge which was looking pretty empty!
There is a fantastic walled village right next to the marina - a bit like a mini St Malo and well worth a visit. Tomorrow we are heading down to Lorient - quite a bit of rain forecast so we will pause for a few days there.
L'Aberwrach, Brittany
We had to motor here - not enough wind and in the wrong direction, but we have arrived at this busy stopping off place on the North West coast of Brittany.
Its a popular staging post before going through the strong tides of the Chanel du Four - It seems extra busy today as its the May Day public holiday on France. But we bagged the last space on the inside of the visitor pontoon and the sun is shining. At least it is for now...
Roscoff, Brittany
Hello Roscoff! We're back... We got a bit stuck here last year waiting for the wind to calm down, and after a long day's motor sailing we arrived back this evening.
There is quite a bit of wind due again this time - but not quite as long - and after a lot of travelling days we are actually ready for a few days chilling (and re-stocking!).
St Quay Portrieux, Brittany
We had quite some sailing to do to get here - after Cherbourg we went to Jersey to break the journey to here in half. We had some big seas - 3m waves beam on at the early stage (we hand steered to ride these out and try to take them at slight angles). We had some winds gusting F7 and sailed a lot of it in F5 and some in F6 which is more than we would normally choose to do. The Predict Wind app doesn't always get it right...
The trip from Jersey to here was a complete contrast - very calm seas and not much wind! We managed to sail for a couple of hours but had to motor or motor sail the rest.
Lovely to be here in St Quay - the marina complex and beaches give it quite a holiday feel. And the sun has been out a lot lately too :)
Cherbourg, Normandy, France
Well we made it across! No great problems and a lot smoother than our last trip to Cherbourg where we had Lauren crewing with us and I (Paul) made a mess of the navigation AND underestimated how short the finger pontoons are here!
We checked in with the border police this morning (we have a 6 month tourist visa) and that was all OK - so we feel like we have really started this year's adventure now we have hit France. While we were shopping in the supermarket (tried out our new scooters for transport - great fun) I was struck by a strong feeling of "Wow, its so, so good to back"!
Studland - Inbetween Poole & Swanage
The weather looks like a Sunday Channel Crossing will suit us - not quite as much sea as Saturday.
We sailed out of the Solent and over to Studland - there are a lot of mooring buoys here to help discourage anchoring which otherwise damages the sea grass. Old Harry's Rocks makes a great backdrop!
Yarmouth - Isle of Wight
The bottom part of the English Channel has some pretty big waves at the moment, so rather than sit in Gosport we decided to track west and have stopped in Yarmouth.
Its a lovely part of the Isle of Wight and gives us the chance to go across to France via the Needles. We'll stay here a couple of nights and then either cross, or sail across the bay to Studland Bay where there are a load of mooring buoys - another good place to cross from!
Gosport - Home Port
Gosport, near Portsmouth in Hampshire, UK is our home port. We've kept Moonshine here since her berth on The Hamble in 2022.
Berthed in Premier Marina's Gosport Marina we've found the staff here to be excellent, and had great service from Apex Marine, JTR and Solent Boat Repairs to help us get ready for the next adventure.
West Country Summer 2025
After our French Cruise we had a quick trip back home and then on to Devon and Cornwall for the end of the summer.
A real thrill to re-visit some old favourite holiday locations like Fowey, and find some new gems like Salcombe, plus the iconic sailing location of Falmouth.
France Spring/Summer 2025
Took the best part of 3 months out to sail down the Franch coast to La Rochelle.
Had a fantastic time getting into the French Sailing life - too many memories to put into a sentence! Polar Steps link on the right has the best view of the trip...