Goodbye summer

Some things run strictly by the calendar regardless of the weather. Boat yards are one of those things. On the 1^st October with the sun warming everyone nicely, the first boats came out of the water for winter storage. As people moved around the boat yard in shorts and t-shirts the car park was being converted into hard standing for boats.

Autumn seems to have arrived fashionably late and in a rush this year. Last week we were still swimming in the sea and feeling that somehow we had Spanish weather whilst this week we’ve had strong winds and pouring rain.

Our favourite park in Gijon last Autumn 

 

We have enjoyed late autumns’ for the last couple of years being further south. In Gijon we watched fascinated as the trees slowly turned orange and brown whilst we still walked around in summer clothing. Our blog feed is filling up with the names of different ports that fellow sailors are planning to overwinter in. Most boats will be settling down now and staying in one place for the next six months in order to avoid the worst of the weather.

 

Some marinas start to shut up for the winter in October – you want to use the showers in Santander? Sorry, closed for winter. You want to pay your bill at Carteret and move on? Sorry the office is only open for 2 hours a day over winter. For cruisers the pilot books are essential for finding out which marinas stay open and which to avoid.

Gijon

 

So for now it is time to get the jumpers and thick socks out and enjoy the colours of the trees changing. And just in case you wondered, yes, we are rocking in the wind.

 

 

It must have been windy this time last year too - Sounds of the wind, a blog from October 2013