La Coruna

In a welcome change from updates sent from ferries and trains, at last I am writing this update sat on our boat in Spain wearing shorts and a t-shirt and getting ready for our next voyage! We are currently overshadowed by the US Supply ship “USN Big Horn” which sits on the large ship dock the other side of a harbour wall from our berth. When we arrived there was a large cruise ship, which announced it’s departure during our post-crossing afternoon snooze by the loudest horn you have ever heard, which certainly got our attention. This is a port of many comings and goings, being a good jumping off point for south or west journeys. The town itself is a little run down but large and has all the facilities we need for our restocking.



Landfall at the Spanish Rias

I thought I would also write a little more about our journey across Biscay, because I know that it has been a question from many friends about the actual passages and what it is like. We did manage to time the crossing perfectly with a really good weather window so it was very smooth, this was not luck as some would have it, Kevin has been studying various forecasts for months and judging their accuracy (Ugrib being the program of choice, which proved accurate to the hour). He had also spend 2 months before the actual crossing looking specifically at the Biscay forecasts, so we knew when we saw that forecast that it was the right time to go. We had planned a delivery skipper previously when I was not going to be doing the crossing. However he was delayed two weeks from our original planned delivery date which would mean we would miss the good weather, so we ended up as so many times in the past reverting to our first original plan which was Kevin and I doing the passage together.



One thing which wasn’t in our original plan was a 1 am finish the day before our 7 am departure. However, as we were enjoying a drink on the beautiful Fountaine Pajot Eleuthera “Papillon” with owners Lawrence and Lexie and crew Harvey and Todd. A very pleasant evening was had and I guess it helped us to sleep when we did go. Best Wishes to all on board Papillon for her onward journey and we hope to see you in the Canaries.

We had to fuel up before departure and finally slipped our lines from La Rochelle at 8.30am. It was a steady crossing out of the bay of La Rochelle with some adverse tides as we entered the Atlantic but by midday we were out in the open ocean and beginning to loose sight of land which is always an exciting time for both of us. I think we were both a little tense on the first day as a forecast is only a forecast, we are not the most experienced sailors and the Bay of Biscay has a fearsome reputation and we both struggled to sleep on our first night of night watches, which we gather is a common phenomenon for new boat owners. However, I think things really started to relax coming into the second day, Kevin had had a very close sighting of our first dolphins at night and saw a fantastic sunrise. We had the Spifurl out and we averaging 7 knots the sun was out and weather was sticking to the predictions. The shipping traffic is always worse nearer land, so by now the manoeuvring and watching of approaching vessels had reduced. The dolphins sightings started about three times a day from day two, sometimes just for a few moments, other times a pod would stay and play in the bow waves for a while.



I was quite surprised by the amount of wildlife we did see out at sea, we saw sunfish a weird looking almost rugby ball shaped fish that lies on the surfaces and flaps one fin above the surface as it warms itself in the sun, beautiful white fulmars and cormorants (?) which kept making Kevin wind in his fishing lines as they kept trying to dive bomb for his lures! We even had flies invading the boat over 100 miles from land when the sea was glassy calm! Perhaps associated was the visit of a little house martin when Kevin and I were sitting in the salon dinner one evening, which we thought was very sweet trying to find a little perch to rest its weary wings after it’s long flight. Little did we know he was casing the joint for his mates, as Kevin came in from a night watch to find 4 house martins perched on the galley cupboard! Luckily they flew away without making any mess. They obviously found the deck level salon a welcome respite from the weather like ourselves!



Finally Kevin also had a very close encounter with two whales alongside the boat, possibly pilot whales but very large. I managed to get on deck in time to see the still patch on the surface as they left, I think I have still got to get my eye in, as you can see from the above, most of these sightings are Kevin’s.

The sailing aspect went really well and we enjoyed the chance to work out our way of doing things together as we went, which I believe is the best way to learn. The Mahe 36 is an excellent boat to sail short handed, we are both now doing sail changes single handed as all lines lead back to the helm. The Spifurl is however a bit of a handful and this one is still a two man job, especially furling which is difficult and needs to be done early, we had problems with a jamming line on this trip and opted to drop it to the trampoline and try again in easier conditions. We have just had it out on deck now in the marina and think we have solved that problem. Generally, we are really pleased that all our preparation has paid off, there was nothing we needed at sea that we didn’t have. We did some stock cooking before departure and didn’t need to cook until the last day which worked really well. We did 3 hour watch system starting with me at 6pm and Kevin getting the 3-6am graveyard shift but also sunsets and sunrise, which works very well for us.



It does get very cold at night and we are looking forward to wearing a few less layers as we head further south. We are planning to depart tomorrow morning at 7am for the Canaries, taking the route via Madeira, though we may choose not to stop in depending on time, the forecast is for some steady trade winds rather than some stronger blasts down the Portuguese coast. Additionally there will be less trawlers on that route, something which we both already wish to build into our route planning!



Overall then we are extremely happy with both the boat and our change in lifestyle, we have taken really well to life at sea, so much so that Kevin did not want to come into La Coruna, but to keep going! He has also taken to calling our last leg the La La Run (La Rochelle – La Coruna) which is I guess a sign of our comfort. We got to see a bit of more difficult conditions on our last day in Biscay with some long Atlantic rollers which we were tacking into in order to make our course for La Coruna which makes for a bumpier ride. However, both crew and boat handled this well and we are ready for the next leg which is a good sign, which should in steady trades be a comfortable run.



We will endeavour to update via our Iridium phone on route, but please do not worry if we miss any days, we won’t risk damage to kit or boat by that distraction if the conditions aren’t good.