Spain

There are mornings when you wake up on a sailing boat and immediately start thinking about wind direction, tides, weather forecasts and where you might get to before dark. This was not one of those mornings. After the long afternoon getting into Barbate, neither of us was particularly interested in sailing anywhere. La Sirena was

We left Cádiz at lunchtime, which was not the plan. The plan had involved dawn, coffee in travel mugs and the sort of efficient departure that makes you feel briefly competent. Instead, we had spent the morning staring at a battery monitor, buying a replacement part and watching other boats leave without us. By the

The alarm went off at 5:30. I was already awake. There’s a particular kind of excitement that comes before departure day. You’ve checked the weather twelve times. The route is planned. Water tanks are full. Food’s onboard. The marina bill has been paid. All that’s left is leaving. The forecast looked decent. Light easterlies early,

Ryan We left the boat in the marina in Cádiz and spent the day exploring the old city on foot after arriving by sea.It was the first proper break from the boat, the kind of slow day where you walk without a plan and let the place unfold around you. The marina sits right beside

Ryan We arrived in Cádiz by boat after a few days at sea and ended up taking a full harbour day to sort the boat out and reset.It started with oversleeping in the marina, the first proper rest after the crossing, and that strange feeling when everything finally stops moving. First thing I noticed when

The first thing we noticed wasn’t Cádiz itself, it was the boat. She stopped leaning.Not dramatically. Just enough that a mug stayed where you put it. After the Strait, everything still felt switched on. The engine noise lingered in your head. The radio crackle. The sense that something very large and very uninterested in you

Ryan’s Take:  Leaving A Coruña was easy. No drama. No grand send-off. Just a quiet morning, ropes untied, engine humming low as we slipped away from the dock, another chapter closed. The Tower of Hercules faded behind us, and ahead—Galicia’s legendary Rías Baixas. Deep inlets clawing inland, half-river, half-sea. Perfect for sailing, if you know

Ryan’s Take:  Bilbao in the rearview, A Coruña dead ahead. Longer passage, bigger seas, proper Atlantic swell—the kind that slaps you in the gut and tests both your patience and La Sirena’s guts.  First few hours? Smooth. A rare thing. Sails full, Basque coastline slipping into the haze behind us. The kind of sailing that

Liam’s Take:  Waking up to a calm marina in Bilbao and the soft hum of a city coming to life felt like a reward in itself. If you’d read our previous blog, you’d know why! We spent close to two weeks in Bilbao, planning our route and stocking up on supplies for the next leg of

Ryan’s Take:  We really liked our time in San Sebastían, and the connection we felt to Mum’s roots (even though we don’t speak a word of Spanish yet!). But we hoisted the sails and pointed La Sirena westward. Back after the wake we was making plans and decided we wouldn’t stop in San Sebastián. We’d