BISCAY
"The Bay of Biscay". An area of the ocean with a fearsome reputation and the mental and physical barrier that lay between us and Spain while we overwintered in LR. Some of our friends had left in April: Suncat and Seaeff to Gijon and Spirit de Nord Est to Bilbao and we were also eager to leave the familiarity (and the fucking harbour staff at Minimes (another story) behind) and discover Spain¡
On Wed 2nd May at 0700 we slipped our lines and left what had been our home port for 7 months behind. Despite Susi losing her breakfast (and yesterdays' dinner) overboard it was a relief to be back on the open ocean. Within a few hours we were clear of Ile d'Oleron & we pointed Vega 1494s' eager bows toward Vivero, about 315 nautical miles away.
Until 1800 the first day we were able to sail at over 5 knots with a little fair tide to help us, but then the wind dropped and we had to hoist the spinnaker. With all that sail cloth we speeded up again but, unfortunately, the wind completely died within an hour or so & we were forced to motor (well, we could have just sat bobbing with sails slatting in the swell and waited, but that's no fun). We noticed in the morning that the exhaust had been leaking water in to the bilge - luckily though we noticed before the carpet started floating (that would be an "oh shit" moment for sure)¡ We pumped the bilge and carried on chugging along.
It was a pleasant day (our second) despite not being able to sail. Susi had stopped "calling for Huey" & we were chatting in the cockpit lazily looking around at the gently undulating ocean when I noticed an aircraft approaching.My 1st thought was that it was a sea plane landing as it was so low but in a second I could see that it was a smart-looking private twin-prop. As it banked around us at about mast-height we were shocked with thoughts of coastguard/smugglers/pirates. He must have just come for a look though as he flew back in the direction from which he had come. The pilot was wearing a red t-shirt and shades¡¡
Thankfully, during the second night the wind returned and we were able to switch the engine off. For the rest of the night and most of Friday 1494 cut thru the waves with "Jackie" the windvane doing all the steering. Dolphins paid us regular visits niught and day & amazed us with their playfull antics around the boat. I could go into all the familiar cliched descriptions of these wonderfull creatures but I shall simply state that they are fantastic and we were very happy to have their company for so much of our journey.
On Fri eve the wind built to a F5 from the North & there was an uncomfortable sea running. I was a little worried as Vivero is open to the North. We reefed sails in order to arrive in daylight but, as it happened, the wind eased off and with first light on Saturday we shook out the reefs and and headed in towards the Spanish coast.
Susi was first to see the steep coast come into view and at 1300, after 78 hours at sea, we tied up in Vivero and headed into town for a well-deserved pizza¡
On Wed 2nd May at 0700 we slipped our lines and left what had been our home port for 7 months behind. Despite Susi losing her breakfast (and yesterdays' dinner) overboard it was a relief to be back on the open ocean. Within a few hours we were clear of Ile d'Oleron & we pointed Vega 1494s' eager bows toward Vivero, about 315 nautical miles away.
Until 1800 the first day we were able to sail at over 5 knots with a little fair tide to help us, but then the wind dropped and we had to hoist the spinnaker. With all that sail cloth we speeded up again but, unfortunately, the wind completely died within an hour or so & we were forced to motor (well, we could have just sat bobbing with sails slatting in the swell and waited, but that's no fun). We noticed in the morning that the exhaust had been leaking water in to the bilge - luckily though we noticed before the carpet started floating (that would be an "oh shit" moment for sure)¡ We pumped the bilge and carried on chugging along.
It was a pleasant day (our second) despite not being able to sail. Susi had stopped "calling for Huey" & we were chatting in the cockpit lazily looking around at the gently undulating ocean when I noticed an aircraft approaching.My 1st thought was that it was a sea plane landing as it was so low but in a second I could see that it was a smart-looking private twin-prop. As it banked around us at about mast-height we were shocked with thoughts of coastguard/smugglers/pirates. He must have just come for a look though as he flew back in the direction from which he had come. The pilot was wearing a red t-shirt and shades¡¡
Thankfully, during the second night the wind returned and we were able to switch the engine off. For the rest of the night and most of Friday 1494 cut thru the waves with "Jackie" the windvane doing all the steering. Dolphins paid us regular visits niught and day & amazed us with their playfull antics around the boat. I could go into all the familiar cliched descriptions of these wonderfull creatures but I shall simply state that they are fantastic and we were very happy to have their company for so much of our journey.
On Fri eve the wind built to a F5 from the North & there was an uncomfortable sea running. I was a little worried as Vivero is open to the North. We reefed sails in order to arrive in daylight but, as it happened, the wind eased off and with first light on Saturday we shook out the reefs and and headed in towards the Spanish coast.
Susi was first to see the steep coast come into view and at 1300, after 78 hours at sea, we tied up in Vivero and headed into town for a well-deserved pizza¡
posted by cinnamon at 10:13 AM
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