14. July 12th La Rochelle to Gijon (nm 254)
Well, we made it. Another of our objectives achieved - to cross the Bay of Biscay!
This was the first time either of us had done any extended passages. Our longest to date was about 24 hours. At a projected 60 hours, this was a much more demanding leg both physically and mentally. After hours of weather research, we felt that the weather was settled enough to do the trip. I admit I was as apprehensive as hell...once you are out there, there is no turning back or running to the nearest port - well you can, but it is probably 80 to 100 miles away - that's a 24 hour journey for us. The Bay of Biscay has a fearsome reputation when a SW gale hits and I did not want to be anywhere near one of those. Fortunately Terry was much more confident and Roam is a terrific boat that will look after us if things turn nasty.
Day 1. We left La Rochelle 7am Tuesday morning in a light North-westerly breeze. Terry decided to try and use the cruising chute in semi-spinnaker style and spent about 40 very active minutes jumping about the deck, weaving ropes across the deck and swearing alot only for the wind to completely die away as we rounded the northern tip of the Isle d'Oleron outside of La Rochelle! So all the knitting had to be undone and fore sails stowed so we could put the engine on and make some progress. Only another 250 miles to go.
2 hours later a small breeze kicked in and we were able to start sailing. Motoring is very dull for hours on end and we are always worried that something may happen to the engine that it will stop working. As well as something seizing or over-heating outside influences can play a big part - the primary other cause is getting something wrapped round the propeller and shaft that stops the blades from spinning, usually things like discarded fishing nets or line. So once we had the sails set, we got Mildred connected and off we went sailing at last. As we had left La Rochelle, there were 3 other yachts seemingly headed in our general direction, but we lost sight of them as the zoomed off after about 4 hours. We saw one other yacht pass about 1/2 mile behind us later in the afternoon and one other going north.
Dolphins. During our crossing we were visited 3 times by dolphins. they interrupt their journey for a little play in the bow wave if we are going fast enough. They seem to prefer it if we are sailing rather than motoring as we have seen pods ignore us while under engine. It's truly magical to see them swimming, diving and jumping around the boat. They get so close but never seem to touch either the boat or each other.
Fishing. we always hope to catch some fish for supper. As i mentioned, our fishing plane was ripped off by a fish buoy in brittany. Terry bought a french one and launched it. 10 minutes later - fish!!! He reeled it in, but before we could land it, it jumped off. I can confirm it was there, I saw it too. We thought, brilliant - loads of fish! But after trailing it all the way across Biscay we didn't catch another thing apart from seaweed.
Night 1. During the night the wind died
to make sailing impossible. there was not enough wind to keep the sails
filled and in the swell all the blocks, lines
and sails were just crashing
around. it is a really unpleasant time as the noises are awful as the sails
slam around and lines slacken and tighten bar taught. the strains that must
be put on the equipment is not something you want to contemplate too much
100 miles out at sea. So we motored again for nearly 3 hours till dawn.
During the night we took it in turns to keep watch - mostly for other boats
that may be in our way, but we only saw 2 sets of lights all night. (I
thought I saw a very strange light at one point, it looked a bit like an
illuminated orange bollard (in the middle of a ocean?!) I blinked and looked again - it was definitely
something but smaller now. i looked a third time, but I couldn't see it any
longer. Weird. For a couple of hours I put it down to my night vision being
effected by some of the illuminated equipment we have on board or just being
completely bonkers and then I
realised, I had seen the final tip of the moon as it set!)
Day 2. At dawn we felt the wind fill
in again, this time from the north. We
decided that we would run goose
winged with the genoa poled out. This was a fabulous days sail. Once the
sails were set and Mildred engaged we virtually let the boat sail herself
till after sunset again. The weather was fabulous and we were thinking - if
it is this hot out here, what must it be like on land?! (answer:46°C
in Madrid) I spent most of the
day either reading sitting on the side deck with my feet dipping into the
sea or on the foredeck keeping look out. We took it in turns to have a sleep
or a rest while the other took care of Roam and Mildred (wind vane
self-steering).
Again we saw virtually no other boats during the day, only 4 or 5 very large fishing boats heading SE (Bilbao?). One appeared to be on a collision course, so we slowed down for a few minutes till the bearing had changed. Another one passed close astern. To be honest although I had heard it, I had not seen it. I was aware of engine noise for ages, but having scoured the horizon several times and found nothing, I could not pick out where it was coming from. I was reading my book and suddenly was aware of the noise again, but much closer. I jumped up and saw a large fishing boat just about to pass astern of us about 400 yards away. There were people on the deck, so I waved my thanks and they waved back. Fortunately they were a bit more alert than me. At sea, most vessels are supposed to give way to sails anyway, but just because you have right of way does not necessarily do you any good when you are in a liferaft with your boat heading towards the bottom of the sea (if you're lucky).
Night 2. Again the wind went down with the sun and the sails would not keep filled so we were back to rolling around till we had got the sails down and turned the engine on for a couple of hours. Again, there was very little traffic out there. I saw one other set lights. After a while you begin to wonder if you are in the right place, but the ocean is a vast place and anyway its nice to have a bit of the planet to yourself!
Day
3. At Dawn the wind looked to be about the same as it had been
the day before, so up went the mainsail, the genoa and the pole, However
Mildred was absolutely refusing to work. After a lot of reflection, we
decided she didn't like the sail plan - and when we checked the wind
direction, no wonder , it had swung round about 90 degrees!!! so, down came
the pole and we set off on a broad reach, every one much happier now. an
hour later the wind died and we tried the chute, but there was hardly enough
wind to fill that either, so on went the engine.
We had heard the weather forecast from the Spanish coastguard which confirmed why we could not see any land despite the fact there are 1000m mountains on this coast -there was fog blanketing it from our view. Still only another 20 miles to go and we've got the radar to assist. I saw another pod of dolphins idly swim passed as well as humungous piece of rope float passed our stern about 6 feet away - not something we would want round our prop!
At about 15 miles to go, still no sign of the coast, I was beginning to doubt that there was anything there at all - a continent had just disappeared! Then i could see some significant winds coming in from the SW, so motor off, sails up and off we go! a west wind of force 1-3 had been forecast, so we thought a gentle beat into Gijon would be our final leg. However the wind just kept increasing to a force 6. Big waves were dolopping spray over us and the lee rail was buried. we rolled away a lot of the genoa which eased the motion. But we still couldn't see any land! I put on the radar - it definitely was there, so we kept going and eventually about 1.5 miles out, we saw the dark grey outline of the looming cliffs. Spain was there after all, but what a welcome for us after our 3 day crossing.
Gijon looks like a great place. The marina is close to this small city that seems to have everything. The most fascinating thing is the Cider or rather the way it is poured. The cider comes in 75cl bottles that are corked. when you buy one at the bar, the cork is removed for you and if you are going to sit outside, you are given one large, wide glass between about 2 or 3 of you. Then in order to add a little fizz and head to the cider, it is poured from an outstretched arm above your head to the glass that is held at about hip height. if you are really good at this, you don't even look at the glass. Needless to say, about as much is usually spilled as goes into the glass. Add to this that only a small amount is poured each time. If you are sharing a glass, each time you have your go, any amount you leave is poured away for the next person to start again. It is as bizarre to watch as it sounds but its great fun and very tasty! AND it's also only €2.10 a bottle.
Logbook 5: Portugal - Atlantic
Logbook 2: On Our Way, Devon & France
