2017-09-13 Spain – Roman and Moorish sites Portsmouth to Bilbao

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Ferry overnight Portsmouth to Bilbao

Roman and Moorish Sites in Spain by Hymer Motorhome

Portsmouth to Bilbao
The day dawns calm and sunny and we drive to Portsmouth, it takes us about an hour. We arrive about 10.30 for our 11.45am crossing and check-in. As always there is a queue waiting to board and at 11.45am we are still waiting, this is nothing new. The inbound crossing was bad in the night and the ferry was delayed arriving! We guess it probably needed more cleaning than usual if the passengers were sick.

We finally board with Hymer at the very rear of the ferry, just outside (not under cover) near to the rear loading/unloading ramps. Maybe we will be first off? I think that if it is rough big waves will wash over these vehicles. I make sure all the windows are closed and we go to our cabin on deck 7, the main deck so convenient for restaurants, bars and sitting areas.

We spend the afternoon watching the spray and the big waves. Many people are sitting in the bars drinking plenty of beer and wine,  I hope the sea doesn’t get any rougher! We eat in the restaurant at 6.30pm, a good meal from a set menu, fish for starters, Mr C. has steak and I have sea bream paella for mains. The evening passes and the rock and sway on the ferry gets steadily worse. We go to our cabin which is near the front of the boat, here the rock and sway feels worse, the ferry rises out of the water and as it falls it hits the wall of water with a tremendous bang!

I begin to feel the ill-effects of the motion so lie on the bed and feel much better. At 9.00pm we put our PJs on, hardly able to stand up without falling over and get into bed. I don’t even clean my teeth as I don’t feel able to stand and cope with the sway. We lie in bed and I feel the motion of the boat rock me to sleep. In the night, I wake and feel the motion has steadied so get up, clean my teeth and visit the bathroom. It is around midnight. I go back to bed expecting the storm to have passed, but no… I am woken several times by the bang of the ferry as it hits the wall of water on its down-fall. I think that Hurricane Irma only passed over the Caribbean about four or five days ago and wonder if we have the after effects of that also crossing the ocean… after all those huge waves must dissipate somewhere.

Either way, the huge waves and rollers wake us several times in the night. We wonder whether the Hymer will be alright sat out on the deck, not much we can do about that now. This is the first time that our vehicle has been exposed to the ocean like this, I am concerned about the long-term effect of salt spray – we both grew up in Blackpool so are well-aware of the corrosive effects of salt, wind and water.

Our Hymer motorhome trip to Roman and Moorish Sites in Spain.