Portsmouth to Santander on the ferry

We have now spent our first night happily in Spain. I have now recovered from the nightmare crossing!!

This is the 3rd time we’ve crossed this way – twice to Spain and once home. We never intended to do it again after the last time, but of course we’re not allowed to traverse through France at the moment….

Our first crossing to Bilbao back in January 2017 was wonderful. We were confused as to what everyone was going on about when they said how awful it was. I didn’t have to retreat to the cabin once, except to sleep of course.

Our second crossing was 10 weeks later out of Santander. This time I managed a few hours out on deck before having to admit defeat as we navigated the bay of biscay. I then couldn’t get up for the rest of the crossing! Although I was able to eat a little and drink.

This time. This time…!! Wow. Well it was relentless almost from the start. Boarding just before 10.15pm I did actually see the public areas as we had a quick drink before going to bed just before midnight – I was already needing to lay down. And that was it tbh. I barely moved for the next 32 hours. Not because I was being lazy you understand, I simply couldn’t get upright, not even to sit! During those hours I managed to eat a quaker breakfast bar (it took me all day), drink half a can of coke, a cup of green tea and half a bottle of water. Heading to the loo was a bit of an issue as I had to be upright, obviously (sadly those bodily functions don’t shut down in times of stress)

Yesterday when we parked up for the night at Arando de Duero, I met a lady who suffered the same as me but was far worse off, only having a seat, not a cabin.

Calv said the boat was very quiet in the public areas and that the food was ‘okay’. I think this crossing was particularly awful due to the weather – when I snatched the odd 30 seconds looking out of our window – all I could see was high seas with peaks and troughs constantly roiling. The boat was beaten on all sides all the way – it was truly horrible. 🤢

There was a highlight. I managed 30 seconds of watching a large school of dolphins jumping in and out of those waves (before I had to lay down again) – that was a real privilege 😊

Anyway the conclusion is that I never want to do that crossing again, ever. So we’re really hoping that France will let UK nationals drive through by the end of March. Please, keep your fingers crossed for me! Thank you 😁