The classic yacht Blue Bird with a long and illustrious history is moored in Puerto Adriano. She was built in 1931 by Thornycrofts of Southampton, as a twin petrol-engined wooden motor yacht for Sir Malcolm Campbell, the British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called Blue Bird.
Campbell sold her after three years, as his motor-racing experience made him wary of the fire risks of petrol engines aboard. He was also highly superstitious and believed a gypsy warning that, "his death would come from the water".
She had three further owners before being requisitioned by the Admiralty at the outbreak of World War II. She joined the flotilla of "little ships" of the Dunkirk evacuation, though not without two false starts, first due to engine trouble and then over-crowding.
Her return from Dunkirk was even more fraught: after first refilling the fuel tanks with water, then fouling her screws on debris, she returned under tow.
In 1984 the Chelsea art dealer Martin Summers discovered her in France and decided to restore her. Some initial work in France made her apparently fit for a single-engined Channel crossing, but once again another engine failure meant that she returned from France under tow.
H & T Marine (Hiscock and Titterington) of Poole performed an extensive restoration. After re-launch in 1986 she now lies alongside Cadogan Pier in Chelsea.