Greetings from the Bay of Biscay, approximately 130 miles from our waypoint at Finisterre.
Shortly after writing our last blog on day 2, we were joined by dolphins for some 5 or 10 minutes, swimming alongside us, really magical. Unfortunately the sunshine was short lived, we knew there was a weather front coming in, the wind picked up to 15-18 knots so we reduced both the mainsail and headsail before dark and pushed West. Around 4am Tuesday we hit the centre of the weather system, “the calm before the storm”... the wind dropped right off and we found ourselves doing zero knots, literally bobbing around a very calm Bay of Biscay so we had to resort to engine power for a while. Before long we were back into the weather system, the wind picked up, along with the waves the boat speed. After several hours of rain the sun reappeared, we headed South and the boat settled in to a steady 7-8 knots which allowed us to make some good progress.
Sue managed to concoct an incident free lunch, even managed to keep all fingers intact chopping veg whilst trying to remain upright, that’s progress from the soup incident! Simple, everyday tasks that we all take for granted on terra firma take so much longer at sea due to being constantly thrown around the boat. Dave decided he could not wait any longer and had to have a shower, Andy & I are still toughing it out in the interest of saving valuable water. Who will be the first to cave in?
Yesterday evening we were treated to more dolphin antics as well as a small whale that blew water up in the air really close to the boat. Money cannot buy these kind of wonders of nature and we feel really privileged to have been able to witness this.
This morning (Wed, day 4), more dolphins played alongside us and we managed to get some video footage of them darting underneath the bow of the boat.
We have also been treated to some spectacular cloud formations, squalls, rainbows, lightening (fortunately away from us) and a glorious sunrise, it’s interesting watching the weather patterns change.
The food incidents continue... when I took over helming this morning the cockpit was awash with popcorn, a minor ‘incident’ on Dave’s part apparently. Clearly wanted to join the hot chocolate that I managed to upend last night...
As I write we have Lyonie approx 1 nautical mile directly behind us. She appeared on our horizon at dawn. Having only seen a few cargo ships in the past couple of days it’s comforting to see another yacht so close in what is a vast ocean. Yet again the sun is shining but as I was finishing this blog we have just managed to speak to Lyonie on the radio. We have learned that there is a weather warning for tomorrow and we may have to divert to La Coruna. The skipper is now examining various options, our Atlantic adventure continues.
Author: Sue