Messing About In Boats and the Virgen del Carmen

One of the benefits of riding to Spain is that my wife Jackie and Paul's wife Sarah were able to fly down and we all got to spend a week together in Sotogrande in southern Spain. The flight from London is about 2.5 hours, and the drive to the house is a short one of just about an hour. Of course, Sarah flew with their son, Jack, who must be one of the most happy babies I have ever seen.  He enjoyed the flight and didn’t disturb the other passengers!

Having had great weather all the way through Spain on our ride, we were lucky that the weather continued to be terrific and we basked in glorious sunshine for the week.

We are really lucky that our house is next to the water and we have a small boat that we just love messing about in.  But first, the five of us headed out in a larger boat that belongs to a friend and we went along the coast to Puerto Banus, a well known port along this stretch of the coast. This is Jack looking rather worried about his first boat trip, sitting between Jackie and Sarah just as we were getting ready to leave....

Jack still looking worried....

He soon cheered up however when we let him drive the boat!....

On the way, we were spotted by some Dolphins that decided to play in our wake....






Puerto Banus and some of the boats moored there....

Jackie and Sarah relaxing while Jack in between them gets down to some serious relaxing!....

Jack waking up, being cuddled by Jackie....

We had a wander around the marina and had a good lunch before heading back to Sotogrande. Paul was obviously tired as he was asleep on the back of the boat.....

On another day we went into the local mountains by train to a small town called Benaojan where we had a leisurely lunch. The train arrives near the restaurant at around 1pm and doesn’t leave again until 4.40pm, so there is ample time to eat! Here we are at the restaurant....

In trying to match one certain blogger who often posts pictures of his food, here is the salad I ate as a first course. It was delicious!....

Young Jack, taking it easy after lunch....

Jack again, being fed by yours truly....

The second part of this blog post is about a Spanish Festival, called Virgen del Carmen. The virgin icons of the church in Spain are very important and one of these is the Virgen del Carmen who has been adopted as the patron Saint of the sea. On 16th July each year her revered statue is taken from the local church and paraded through the streets and down to the sea. In some towns, the statue is then taken onto a heavily decorated boat and accompanied by other boats, taken for a trip on the sea. Such a festival happens in Sotogrande and we decided to see the parade and join in the flotilla. It was quite a sight!

Here are Jackie and me on our way to see the procession, with the picture courtesy of Paul....

At the front of the procession were three small girls in fancy Spanish costumes....

The procession making its way alongside the port....

The Virgen del Carmen statue, held aloft by the people of Sotogrande....

The parade is accompanied by fireworks. Not just any fireworks, but the loudest fireworks I have ever heard. Next comes the crazy part. The boats that will make up the flotilla assemble on the water and jostle for position to get a good view of the statue. Having so many boats in one place all moving could produce quite a few insurance claims, but remarkable, we didn’t see any of the boats collide. There were some close calls however....

The boat carrying the statue is the white one, in the middle of this picture....

This short video shows the boats following the boat with the statue. Large boats, small boats, overloaded boats and even jet-skis join in....






I cannot believe how many guys were in the small boat on the left....

The flotilla moves out on the sea, with the Rock of Gibraltar in the background....

The boats against the setting sun, thankfully all going in the same direction....

Being Spain, little regard is taken of health and safety. It is actually quite refreshing to see these kids enjoying themselves. Yes I know they might fall in. Yes I know they should have life jackets on....

It was great fun. As the final picture below shows, it looks absolute chaos, but everyone was being very sensible....

I love messing about in boats!