# 21.01.2018 Ferry to Bilbao



## StewartJ (Nov 20, 2009)

Any members on tomorrows two nighter to Bilbao


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Hope the weather is better than it has been today - VERY strong gales in SW France and forecast to be bad for next few days....

At present no delays listed and reported as "Running to schedule"

Heavy snow forecast for Northern Spain;

http://infocar.dgt.es/etraffic/

Have a good trip


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Hope it's calm for you Stewart!


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## Don Madge (Jul 26, 2016)

Penquin said:


> Hope the weather is better than it has been today - VERY strong gales in SW France and forecast to be bad for next few days....
> 
> At present no delays listed and reported as "Running to schedule"
> 
> ...


We were on the Sat 20th sailing from Portsmouth to Santandar and it was the worst sailing we have had in 47 years of travelling to mainland Europe. It started to roll once we had cleared the Isle of Wight and it only stopped for an hour or so as we passed close to France near Brest. It gave us a chance to have a cup of tea, get undressed and back into bed where we stayed until mid day on Sunday.

We always tune the cabin TV to the ships route so we had a good idea what was coming up. What amazed us was the ship docked on time at 14.15hrs.

The warning about the heavy snow was for the previous weekend, Brittany ferry's were a bit slow in removing the warning.

We had a good run to our first nights hotel at Valladolid a very pleasant drive in warm sunshine with no snow in sight. Our next night stop was in Seville a trip of about 360 miles which was not pleasant as we were both feeling the effects of the horrendous crossing.

We are now safely installed in our cottage at Lagos, we have to be home for Easter as the refurbishment on our new retirement apartment starts after Easter.

We managed to get 45.3 MPG with our Honda CRV 4x4 Auto, a bit down on the 60+ we were getting with our Citroen C3 Picasso.

The weather looks set fair for the next week or so. Once we have got sorted we will meet up with Ray & Pru.

Will check out the local camper stop when we do our shopping in Lagos tomorrow.

Safe travelling.

Don


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## StewartJ (Nov 20, 2009)

Docked earlier than expected 06,45hrs yesterday, parked out on after deck exposed to the elements and salt encrusted so not chuffed. Almost the last in the queue to disembark a blessing which meant we were behind the manic Bilbao rush hour. After such an early start and not much sleep it was onto the AP68 toll road and a 90 mile motorway drive to Logarano and Camping Navarrete, nice little site very quiet and ultra modern spotless toilet block, recommended when as now Haro is shut. Nice bar free Wi-fi big thumbs up for a stopover.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Glad to hear the travellers have all arrived safely, if not feeling terribly sound! I read the Navarette name just the other day - must have been in MMM.


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## wug (May 19, 2011)

StewartJ said:


> Docked earlier than expected 06,45hrs yesterday,


6:45 UK time, 7:45 Spanish time? We have always docked at the latter time. We were once on the Pont Aven when people didn't realise boat time was UK time and had set their watches to CET time and arrived an hour early for breakfast and had to wait for the restaurant to open. :smile2:

Good to hear all's well. Graham


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## StewartJ (Nov 20, 2009)

Quick update, very quiet undisturbed sleep at Camping Navarrete, speaking to two tuggers in adjoining pitches also off the ferry their usual itinerary is a good nights rest then a 270 mile drive SE to Navajos and Camping Altomira. We drove the AP68 toll road to its end just North of Zaragoza and pleased we did, traffic as usual was very light but the fog was horrendous down to 100m or less on some stretches switched to cruise at 62mph and maintained it, this would not have been safe on a non toll road with more traffic. At Zaragoza we switched to the A23 for the rest of our journey to the Navajos turn off, again traffic was surprisingly light, stopped off at a services on route for lunch and fuel, diesel 1.186 Euro per litre not bad for a motorway. The campsite is nicely located and easy to find, ACSI at 17 euro per night with no tourist tax. The pitches are terraced and access to many has been difficult/impossible without grounding this has been addressed with new Tarmac surfacing. There is free Wi-fi around reception and restuarant areas, electric is only 6 amp but I would certainley use the site again at this time of year when very few in the area are open. Now at Bonterra Park, Bencassim for a weeks rest and weather isn’t bad.


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## StewartJ (Nov 20, 2009)

wug said:


> 6:45 UK time, 7:45 Spanish time? We have always docked at the latter time. We were once on the Pont Aven when people didn't realise boat time was UK time and had set their watches to CET time and arrived an hour early for breakfast and had to wait for the restaurant to open. :smile2:
> 
> Good to hear all's well. Graham


It was nearer 09.00hrs local time before we disembarked Graham and traffic though busy wasn't manic.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

We have camped at Navarette before, it has developed a lot since our first trip in 1999 and our last in 2002.










Peter


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## Don Madge (Jul 26, 2016)

StewartJ said:


> Docked earlier than expected 06,45hrs yesterday, parked out on after deck exposed to the elements and salt encrusted so not chuffed. Almost the last in the queue to disembark a blessing which meant we were behind the manic Bilbao rush hour. After such an early start and not much sleep it was onto the AP68 toll road and a 90 mile motorway drive to Logarano and Camping Navarrete, nice little site very quiet and ultra modern spotless toilet block, recommended when as now Haro is shut. Nice bar free Wi-fi big thumbs up for a stopover.


Hi Stewart,

We are thinking of using the 2 niter from Portsmouth to Bilbao in October and having just one night stop at Plasencia instead of our usual two at Valladolid and Seville. I've found a ideal night stop it's the 2 nights on the ferry that worries me a bit, we are not brilliant sailors.

We will be using Bilbao port for the first time just before Easter on our way home from Portugal.

Any tips about the ferry would be appreciated.

Don


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## StewartJ (Nov 20, 2009)

Hi Don the two nighter apparently hugs the inshore waters so is usually a much quieter if weather iffy, we would certainly use this crossing again, also being the crew change much less likely to be cancelled because of weather.


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## Don Madge (Jul 26, 2016)

Thanks for that Stewart I think we will give it a try.
Don


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