Bay of Biscay | fram's voyages

Northern Spain and Bay of Biscay

22 June 2011

Leixoes, Portugal

Weather: Sunny and hot, 25C at 09.00. Wind Beaufort 2 SW

Suddenly we find ourselves back on Roam after an incredible whirlwind 12 days in Sweden for Caroline's wedding.

Roam has managed just fine in our absence. Dan was very relieved to see her happily floating at her berth. Besides the sand that seems to be ever-present in the air here and has covered her from bow to stern, there were no other changes.

We now have exactly 4½ weeks to sail 1500 NM back to Falsterbo and the end of our year-long sojourn.

24 June 2011

N 42 07.145 W 08 50.409

Baiona, Spain

Distance Travelled: Actual: 134 NM, should have been 62NM if we had been able to sail without tacking...

Total Time at Sea: 33 hrs 48 min

Sailed: 25 hrs 48 min Motored: 8 hrs

Weather: Sunny, 18C out at sea, Beaufort 6-7 NNW

We left Leixoes at 16.00 after checking the weather and taking a walk out to the beach to see how the Atlantic looked. It was relatively calm with some swell. Wind was about Beaufort 3 from NNW. We had had the first good night's sleep since before we left for Sweden and Caroline's wedding so felt ready to start moving northwards. There was nothing untowards in the weather reports; winds were forecast at 10-15 knots with a maximum gust speed of 20 knots. No big deal. The wind wasn't in our favor, but since it wasn't going to be all that strong, we figured we could motor the 60 NM and be in Baiona before lunch next day.

What we got was something totally different. The wind picked up about 2 hours after we left port to about 25 knots. The swell increased with the wind and we could no longer make headway. We went from 4-5 knots to 1.5 knots. Which did not work for us at all, so we turned off the engine and set the sails to tack our way up the coast. It's normally nicer to sail as the boat moves more smoothly through the water than when motoring. But because of the strong winds which steadily increased to 30-35 knots, we were barely making headway. We were heavily reefed but even so we were driving into the swells with Roam's bow rising high into the air to crash down on the backside of a swell and dip her bow underwater. The water came flooding back to the cockpit with only the sprayhood to fend it off. Every few waves, a big one would come and spray right over the sprayhood and hit us if we did not duck in time. Consequently, our hair got soaked in salt water. Sleep was nearly impossible as we were heeled over and bouncing off waves all the time. It's sort of like trying to sleep on a roller coaster. When morning came we got a brief respite in the wind and turned on the motor to make as much direct headway north as we could before the wind came back, but we were only doing about 3 knots and when the wind came back in full force we went down to 0 knots. The GPS stops counting time when our speed goes to 0 as it figures we have stopped so we lost a whole hour on this trip due to being stalled by the wind and waves. It was very frustrating to keep seeing the same 2-peaked mountain on land and not being able to move past it. By 20.00 on Thursday, we realised that we would not make Baiona by nightfall and indeed, we did not drop our anchor until 03.00 on Friday morning. The wind howled through our rigging and roared in our ears nearly the whole way and we were totally exhausted hours before we got here. At one point I was sitting tucked under the sprayhood in the cockpit holding my

knees in and trying to stay wedged in place when a big wave came and knocked us sideways, my grip was lost and I was thrown across the cockpit towards Dan on the other side. On the way my toes jammed into the mainsheet shackle causing the most excruciating pain in my second and third toes. Just as that pain was receding about an hour later another wave came while Dan was sheeting in the genoa and he lost his balance and stepped on my hurt toes inducing another bout of screaming pain. I am sure my third toe is broken but Dan says it's just very bruised. On our way in to Baiona bay, we noticed that our port nav light was not working. Must be all the water when the bow was forced under so many times.

We finally dropped our anchor in Baiona Bay amongst several other boats, shed our soaking wet foul weather gear, downed a shot of whisky each and went to bed and slept like the dead.

This morning the sun was out and the wind down so we treated ourselves to a breakfast of baked beans, sausage and fried eggs with steaming hot coffee. Sooooo good! Then we set about hanging up all the wet stuff to dry on deck. As we have been puttering around we have found that a lot happened to things on the boat while we were on this passage. So much salt water rushed through the drain pipes on deck that the pipes which, stupidly, go inside the boat before going out, started leaking. We actually saw water seeping out from under the stove locker on our port side while we were underway, but could not see where it was coming from, just that it was salt water and not fresh water, indicating that the leak is coming from outside the boat. We found the leaking pipes this morning when I took out the coffee cups half full of salt water. Another cause for leakage is the fresh water tank. It is placed in the center and under the V birth and at an extreme heel the tank will be higher than the faucet on the SB side so water will start running into the sink by the law of physics. We cannot shut it off, so the sink gets its share of water that sloshes around and out as we bounce around. The water leaked out and down into the locker below where we keep all our towels. Each one had to be hung out to dry today. Although we batten down pretty well, things in lockers shifted in a way that they never have before. I found silverware all mixed up in the drawer, glasses on the wrong shelf, clothes lying willy-nilly all over the v-berth mixed with fenders, ropes and Dan's guitar. On deck, a plastic cover protecting the furlex swivel base is completely gone and salt water got into just about every where it could seep into. Our decks were awash constantly throughout our trip. And, of course, we have to fix the port nav light.

The wind has decreased now to about what it was supposed to be 2 days ago, which is 10 knots. It's a nice sunny day, good for drying out. This afternoon, Alchemy came in to our anchorage. They came over in their dinghy to say hello and we hitched a ride with them in to the town to do errands. Afterwards they invited us for a beer at a café which was very nice. So fun to see them again. We met in Lagos, Portugal. They are going north tomorrow too so hope we will see them again.

26 June 2011

N 43 07.878 W 09 10.131

Camarinas, Spain

Distance Travelled: 80.2 NM

Total Time at Sea: 20 hrs 46 min

Sailed: 10 hrs Motored 10 hrs 46 min

Weather: Gloriously sunny, 28C, wind Beaufort 0-2 NE/NW

It's times like today that we remember why we love being on this adventure. It was a magnificently sunny warm day, light winds making for comfortable sailing with a calm here and there so we could swim off the back of the boat in the Atlantic. (Dan had to watch for sharks for me.....just in case, we are in the north Atlantic you know…) At one point my foot hit the velcro strap that hangs down off the ladder, used for fastening it when underway and I nearly rocketed out of the water, thinking it was a shark.....The water was about 19C so very refreshing if you weren't sweating in fear like I was:) 180 degrees different from our previous sail from Leixoes to Baiona. We waved to Dick on board Alchemy as we motored out of our anchorage early this morning. They were soon coming up behind us as we sailed up the coast of Spain towards Finisterre. Both navigational lights had stopped working after our last sail - they were constantly submerged- and having them fixed or not would decide how far we were going to sail today. Dan set to work on the wiring and the lights and used a sailbag to stop anything that slipped out of our hands to end up in the water. A couple of hours later the lights were on and we were set for another night passage.

This coast is much more interesting than the Portuguese coast. There are islands, mountains, beaches and the rias stretch in towards land promising lots of lovely coves with nice anchorages everywhere. Rias are sort of fjords or calanques and these rias are well known for this part of Spain. Unfortunately we do not have time to explore them this time round. But we look forward to coming back one day and sailing into all of them. We saw lots of dolphins throughout the day; some swimming languidly along the surface of the water, others swimming playfully at our bow.

We sailed with some tacking most of the day until the wind died totally at about 19.00. As the weather was so good, we decided to go all night and get round Cape Finisterre which has a reputation for rough seas and nasty passages. As we pass these famous landmarks we are always awed at the thought of sharing the same visual experience with Dias, Columbus, Da Gama, Magellan ...... and are very much impressed by their navigational skills and seamanship. We passed the lighthouse on the point of Cape Finisterre at about midnight and set course for the Camarina Ria. From the mouth of the ria there were good leading lights as well as a lovely strong scent of Pine forest that took us in to ''Camarinas'' where at about 06.00 this morning we dropped the hook near a wooded beach. The 6 dolphins that had accompanied us all the way to our destination left us when we turned off the engine. When we woke up the whole ria was encased in dense fog. Now at 15.00 it is slowly dispersing and the sun is coming through. Apparently this is very common here at this time of year. Looks sort of like the late spring/early summer fog we get in Falsterbo.

Our plan is to go to La Coruna tomorrow and make that our jump-off point for our passage across the Bay of Biscay. We are watching the weather and waiting for a good 3-day window to make the passage.

27 June 2011

N 43 22.069 W 08 23.748

La Coruna, Spain

Distance Travelled: 50NM

Total Time at Sea: 10 hrs 51 min

Sailed: 3 hrs 21 min Motored: 7 hrs 30 min

Weather: Overcast and fog which burned off by 14.00, then relatively sunny. 18-23C. Wind: Beaufort 0-3 WNW

Dan hauled up our anchor at 07.00 this morning and we motored out of Rias Camarinas. We couldn't see much as there was fog lowering our visibility. We followed the lighthouse segments out to avoid shoals and when we came out of the rias we set a northerly course which was then adjusted to an easterly course as we came around the northwest corner of Spain.

We had to motor most of the way as there was next to no wind but in the afternoon around 15.00 a breeze came up and we were able to set the sails and turn off the engine. We sailed the rest of the way into La Caruna arriving here at 18.00.

La Coruna is Galicia's biggest city. It is also a very well-known harbor for sailors going north to northern Europe or south to Gibraltar or the Canary Islands. It's located on the northwest corner of Spain and is a very protected harbur which is why everyone makes it a stop-over point. We imagined a bustling marina filled with boats either going south or north, their occupants provisioning, fueling, and everyone meeting at the local bar to discuss strategies for the crossing of the Bay of Biscay or the southward journey down to Gibraltar. What we found was a very quiet Darsena Deportiva Marina, half empty and most of the boats that are here have been locked up and left. We are one of about 5 boats out of 50 that are living aboard. There is no activity whatsoever, the bar is a posh Spanish Tapas bar filled with Spanish businessmen and women. Looks like this is one of the trendier bars in La Caruna. The harbormaster says that the season hasn't started yet. In July and August it will be busier. It's all very nice but sterile.

Once we got settled we went in to see the town and have dinner. We walked around the old city which is very pretty. Some buildings are very old with the glassed-in balconies, others are very modern; there doesn't seem to be any order. But there is a nice atmosphere here and a lot of people strolling along the pedestrian streets and boulevards. We found a super Tapas restaurant and enjoyed Spanish beer called Estrella Galicia and had a platter of serrano, bresola and salami served with big chunks of home-made peasant bread.

The weather is deteriorating and a gale is expected to blow through here from Tuesday-Friday so our earliest departure date will be Saturday. Total bummer, but do not want to sail in big seas again....

Dan and I have lots to do; we have to fill up on diesel and water, get the spare computer up and running with all the navigation programs installed, take down our big genoa and replace it with our working jib, do laundry, make dinners for the crossing, and start editing photos from the wedding week. La Coruna is a big city and has everything one could need to amuse oneself for a few days so we are in good shape.

1-5 July 2011

N 50 09.866 W 05 05.005

La Coruna - Falmouth Passage

Distance Travelled: 483 NM

Total Time at Sea: 104 hrs 30 min

Sailed: 74 hrs 30 min Motored: 30 hrs

Weather: Day 1 Beaufort 8 NE sunny, Day 2 Beaufort 4 NNE sunny, Day 3 Beaufort 3 N - calm sunny, Day 4 Beaufort 0 - 5 N to SW sun then rain,

Day 5 Beaufort 6 SW rain

Day 1: The weather in La Coruna this morning was sunny, warm and calm. We knew it was blowing out in the southern part of the Bay of Biscay, but we decided to brave it as we knew that the gale was due to blow out by 06.00 next morning. We said good-bye to Pat and Chris on Pelagia who left a few minutes before us to go south, and David and Marilyn who were going to wait until Sunday to continue their journey home to Scotland, tossed off our lines and set off at 10:45. As soon as we left La Coruna bay, the wind hit us like a sledge hammer. We put in the first reef in the main and furled out the jib. But after about half an hour we could tell by the difficult steering that we needed to put the next reef in the main. That didn't help much either so reefed the jib to about half its area. The wind kept increasing till it was at about 35-40 knots from NE. Nelson still had a hard time steering so we took down the main completely and sailed on just the reefed jib. That did the trick. We were still doing 6 knots! The waves were about 3-4 meters and washing over the deck and sometimes right over the cockpit, filling it with water and drenching us. We both sat huddled under the sprayhood trying to be as small as possible but we still managed to become completely soaked right down to our skin. We didn't eat anything until about 03.00 in the morning when I braved the cabin and heated up ready-made taco meat and macaroni. We did 3-hour watches during the night but there was so much movement down below that it was difficult to sleep. Nice to get out of the wet cockpit though and rest. Unfortunately, the port navigation light got swept away by a wave so we had no navigation lights up front during the night. The starboard light shorted out too. There were no other boats out though so did not have to go out with a radio warning. We did 117 NM in the first 24 hours

Day 2: The wind eased right on schedule this morning at 06.00 and Roam became steadier and calmer. The waves took a while to settle though. We put up the main again with one reef at 12.00. We had coffee and a hardboiled egg for breakfast, no lunch except for some candy:) and for dinner we had leftover taco meat and macaroni. Appetites were not at their peak yet... Around mid-day when Dan was resting, I saw whale spouts off in the distance. First behind us and then up front. I never saw a whale though. In the afternoon we

hung out all our wet gear to dry in the sun. A lot of it was so saturated in salt that it was stiff. But the sun dried things right quick. Dan got to work on fixing the nav lights. He had to clean up the wires and reconnect them and then replace the port light cover. Luckily we happened to have a spare. He also had to replace a light bulb as one of the LEDs was not working. In the early evening we were sailing along and suddenly heard a big Bump, then several more bumps and looking back saw that we had hit a long wooden plank about 3m x 20cm x 4cm on our starboard side that hit the wind pilot rudder as it went by. It was a terrible sound, but after checking the bilge for water and the windpilot, we couldn't see any damage. We saw several tankers during the day and night, but they were also far away.

We did 106 NM during this 24-hour period.

Day 3: The sun rose at 06.46 this morning and it was a beautiful day. The winds were light, still from NE. We had French Toast for breakfast and Risotto for dinner. Spent the day reading our books and basking in the sun. Our speed was not the greatest but it was a comfortable ride. We made 105 NM in this 24-hour period.

Day 4: We put the motor on at midnight last night as the wind died completely and changed our course from due North to 75 degrees. During Dan's watch from midnight to 03.00 dolphins started appearing by the boat. Soon there were masses of them alongside the boat. By the time I came up at 03.00 for my watch he was thoroughly sick of them. Being new on the scene I was delighted at their antics. I was happy for the company in the lonely night. But after an hour even I started to wonder what was going on. They were not behaving normally. The navigation lights and the phosphorescence that streams off them when they swim made it possible to watch their movements which were really erratic. They splashed a lot with their tails and darted at high speed at right angles away from the boat only to zig-zag back again. They swam so recklessly under the boat that I worried they would collide with our hull and hurt themselves. After a while, I noticed that small silver flashes were appearing above the water and realised that it was small fish like sardines. They start running in June, at least according to the Portuguese. We seemed to be driving the fish forward and the dolphins were in the middle of a major feeding frenzy! At one point, 2 big dolphins looked like they got in a fight right beside the boat as there was massive splashing in an explosion of flashing phosphorescence. Probably caused by a choice sardine, I guess...

It was very entertaining and nice to have the company in the dead of night. When daylight came high clouds obscured the sun. A low from the Atlantic is due in tomorrow night or the next day. At 17.30 we were able to turn off the motor and sail again. Our course was now 27 degrees. The wind went over to SWW and increased to Beaufort 5 but as it was behind us, it was not too troubleseome. For dinner we had leftover risotto and cabbage salad.

We made 113 NM today.

Day 5: The wind freshened around midnight and was right behind us so took down the main and sailed on the jib alone to make for easier steering and smoother ride. It started raining at 02.00 and continued pouring down until about 08.00. Heavy clouds hung low in the sky and scudded past. Breakfast was a ham wrap and coffee. Lunch was candy. We put the main back up after breakfast which gave us a bit more speed but the current was killing us. With the wind we had we should have been doing at least 5 knots and we were doing 2-4 knots. It's hugely frustrating. The sun came out briefly between rain showers during the day and then we would get warm and dry. Out in the channel we were passed by an enormous trimaran, one of those ocean racing ones, incredibly sleek. We were doing 2 knots with both sails up and they were doing about 12/15 knots with just their mainsail up. A very unfair advantage we thought as they waved merrily to us as they sailed past!

As we got close to Falmouth Bay, we could see dozens of sailboats racing or just cruising around. Very nice to see as we saw so few on our passage. We rounded Manacles East marker and headed in towards the entrance to Falmouth, past Black rock and between the Castle on port and St Anthony's Head lighthouse on starboard. We lowered our sails and motored into Penryn River past Falmouth town to Falmouth Marina. It's a maze of pontoons and one gets very easily lost in there. The harbor master talked us in by radio but at one point he mixed us up with a French boat also coming in and nearly put us up on the river bank. I

hailed him on the radio and told him where we were and that the left turn was an impossibility whereby he got our bearings and gave us new instructions which got us to our berth safely. We turned off the engine at 19.15 very relieved to end this passage. Our total distance was 483 NM and it took us 104 hours and 30 minutes. We hugely enjoyed a shot of whisky, smoked a cigarette and went into town for a steak dinner.

6 July 2011

Falmouth, England

The bad weather continued today with rain showers and lots of wind. But every once in a while the sun peaked through the dark clouds and warmed things up. We had lots to do today; laundry, provisioning, website update, and the fun part; to see the town of Falmouth.

Dan cleaned up and dried out the boat while I went to the harbor master to pay and do laundry. The harbor office is really nice here. The showers are lovely and there's a big laundry room, complete with ironing board and iron! I got our wash started and then we walked 5 minutes to a Sainsbury's supermarket. We bought lots of marmite to take back to Sweden, and even bought a ready-made dinner of Shepherd's pie that just has to be warmed up in the oven:)

When we got back to the boat with our provisions and laundry, we noticed that the tide had gone out big time. Suddenly where there had been water, there was none. Different areas of the marina were high and dry. There is a 5 meter difference between low tide and high tide here. It was truly scary! Right on the other side of our pontoon, there's a sill that became visible, totally cutting the inner harbor off from the outer harbor. Imagine hitting that unknowingly when making a fast exit early in the morning!

Having a tide to consider is not in our blood so it takes some effort on our part to add that into the passage planning. It is particularly challenging to plan to cross over the channel since the GPS XTE (cross-track-error) is of little use and you need to calculate the net effect of the sideways drift. The tide has also a very strong effect around the headlands and we know to stay well clear of them. No “kustnära segling” here unfortunately.