As the position of the French warships remained unknown to the Spanish, Santa Cruz spent some time searching them along the estuary.
I was not until 14 October when a French squadron of 3 galleys and 8 brigantines was sighted entering the Blaye's channel.
Santa Cruz immediately dispatched 4 frigates and 2 fireships to block the mouth of the channel and sent Lieutenant General Luis de Guzmán to explore the area.
It proved to be a gut inaccessible for the biggest ships, as during the low tide the water level was extremely low, so it was planned attack the French squadron by land.

By 20 October the preparations were ready.
At 3:00 AM.
of that day Melchor de la Cueva's, Duke of Veragua's and Francisco de Meneses' tercios landed on both shores of the channel and moved towards the French vessel's concentration, located in front of a castle garrisoned by a French and a Scottish regiments.
These troops, along with a cavalry corps coming from a nearby village, skirmished with the Spanish tercios until 5:00 PM.,
when the high tide allowed the Spanish seamen to sail 3 galleys and 7 brigantines out of the channel.
2 frigates, 2 brigantines and 15 barges were set on fire due the impossibility of refloat them, as well as the houses of the bourg after being sacked.
The whole operation was carried out with no casualty.
As the position of the French warships remained unknown to the Spanish, Santa Cruz spent some time searching them along the estuary. I was not until 14 October when a French squadron of 3 galleys and 8 brigantines was sighted entering the Blaye's channel. Santa Cruz immediately dispatched 4 frigates and 2 fireships to block the mouth of the channel and sent Lieutenant General Luis de Guzmán to explore the area. It proved to be a gut inaccessible for the biggest ships, as during the low tide the water level was extremely low, so it was planned attack the French squadron by land.
By 20 October the preparations were ready. At 3:00 AM. of that day Melchor de la Cueva's, Duke of Veragua's and Francisco de Meneses' tercios landed on both shores of the channel and moved towards the French vessel's concentration, located in front of a castle garrisoned by a French and a Scottish regiments. These troops, along with a cavalry corps coming from a nearby village, skirmished with the Spanish tercios until 5:00 PM., when the high tide allowed the Spanish seamen to sail 3 galleys and 7 brigantines out of the channel. 2 frigates, 2 brigantines and 15 barges were set on fire due the impossibility of refloat them, as well as the houses of the bourg after being sacked. The whole operation was carried out with no casualty.
Battle of Bordeaux (1653)