Leg 8 – Bay of Biscay

We stayed in Camaret-sur-Mer 5 days during which we got the visit of Emilien’s family during a couple of days. Thank you so much for joining us in our journey!

The two of us did not share the same enthusiasm regarding the opportunity Brittany provides to eat fresh oysters (someone onboard loves oysters – guess who?, the other one still wonder how people can put that stuff in their mouth). But we both found very good food to make us happy.

We took some time walks in the surroundings prior to get the boat ready for crossing the Bay of Biscay towards A Coruña in Spain. Lovisa was in good shape. We cleaned the propeller from algae that were stuck there, checked the state of the zinc anodes and went through our regular checks of boat conditions. Since the beginning of this trip, we noted that the position of the boat sometime stops updating on Marinetraffic.com and we also got the information from our friends on S/Y Alba and S/Y Texas White Lady that we sometime disappeared from their plotter. This means that our AIS sometime stopped transmitting our position. It seems that this happened mostly when the boat rocked. One possible cause could be a faulty contact somewhere between the AIS and the VHF antenna or the AIS not getting the position from the GPS antenna (and therefore had nothing to transmit). The AIS has its own GPS antenna and on Lovisa it was located inside the boat. Although some GPS antenna can work inside, it is recommended for better performance to have them placed outside so they have a clear sky. We decided to move the GPS antenna outside and route a new cable from the new location of the antenna outside to the AIS, and see how it would work.

Day 1, August 8

We left Camaret-sur-Mer at 5 o’clock in the darkness with a full tank of diesel around 130 L and a reserve jerry can of 20 L just in case. The weather forecast indicated no wind for the first day and good winds for the following days. The journey started on flat waters as predicted. For an easier transit we decided not to go through Raz de Sein that needs more careful planning to pass safely, Instead, we went directly offshore and round the Chaussé de Sein. We got the company of many dolphins all along the first day, already from early morning. Quite often we met them while they were fishing. They fish in groups and from far away we could see the splashes of fishes that try to escape them, dolphins jumping out of the water and sea birds that probably take the opportunity to grab some of the fishes left aside by the dolphins. Funny fact, even when they are busy fishing, they always come to play at the front of the boat. It is like they just can’t help themselves, they love that too much. They swim in front of the boat sometimes just 30 seconds, sometimes 10 minutes or more. Some groups have young ones that are barely 1 m long. The adults we have seen were around 2 or 2.5 m long. With the flat transparent water, we could really see all the details of their skin, their eyes, the shape of their fins, the tail, and how they swim. So wonderful. On the first day, we also saw another kind of dolphin probably as long as 3 or 4 m but without the same enthusiasm to play as the common dolphins we have met so far. For a short while we were scared they could be orcas.

During the first day, we got the visit of a bird that we believe was a swallow. Our little feathered friend was probably very tired as it crash landed on the boat as we were going. We tried to give some water but it didn’t seem to want any. It seemed to be only willing to rest. Sadly our friend passed away during the night and we gave its little body to the ocean.

Day 2, August 9

The wind slowly picked up during the night and at 3:30 we decided it was enough motoring. We rolled out the genoa and spent the rest of the night sailing between 3 and 4 knots with the just genoa up. Turning off the engine was such a relief, not only for our ears but also for the wallet because our engine consumes around 2 liters of diesel at normal speed (1800 rpm).

After sunrise, we rolled the genoa back in and hoisted the Gennaker instead to get better speeds. We spent about 13 hours going with only the Gennaker up until we started to get winds over 7 m/s and decided to get the Gennaker down, hoist the main sail and roll out the genoa as the winds continued to increase slowly and with the winds, the waves also started to get bigger. By the end of Day 2, we had steady winds around 10 m/s with gusts up to 13 m/s.

Day 3, August 10

With the winds increasing and the waves becoming bigger, during the night we took a reef in the mainsail and partially rolled the genoa to try to get a good balance. However the boat was still hard to steer, especially when surfing on some of the waves, so we had to steer by hand nearly the entire day. We got quite a lot of waves breaking on the side of the boat spraying water on whoever was the helmsman. One wave in particular laid the boat on the side and we got a lot of water entering the cockpit so we were happy that Lovisa is fitted with extra 3 inch cockpit drains in addition to the standard smaller drains. Steering the boat by hand in these conditions was very tiring so we did 1 hour shifts at the steering wheel the entire day; one hour at the steering wheel, one hour resting or sleeping. We had some VHF contacts with the crew of another Swedish boat, S/Y Anne-Mon, who were also on the way to A Coruña and the crew of a Norwegian boat, S/Y Miss U, who were on the way to Cedeira.

The winds decreased in the evening as we were approaching the Spanish coast so we had to motor the remaining 4 hours to A Coruña.

Although we would have preferred sailing through calmer seas during the third day, we believe this was a very good practice and learned a lot. We also probably have a lot to reflect over.

Some personal thoughts

Emilien: The arrival in A Coruña in Spain after crossing Bay of Biscay has concluded my first real Ocean sailing. During these 2 months of sailing from Sweden, we got used to sailing in winds around 10 to 13 m/s and bumpy seas but I feel that it was us choosing to sail in such conditions and in any case it was only for a short period such as Karlskrona to Bornholm or Bornholm to Sassnitz. Although sea conditions in Bay of Biscay where far from extreme, I felt that I was much less in control compared to how I felt during previous legs: In the middle of Bay of Biscay with the coasts of Spain many hours ahead, whatever the weather would become to the better or worse, I will have to deal with it, tired or not tired. There is no harbor to go to, nowhere to anchor. This is a new sensation for me and I guess this is part of Ocean sailing. This feels like a new step in my sailing adventure.

Maria: August 11, La Coruña, harbor office. I am so happy to have arrived here. When it blew up to 14.7 m/s and waves were fierce, I wondered for a short while how we would arrive. Other than that, I have felt safe. But it was hard work for the back to steer by hand in large difficult waves since yesterday night. One hour steering, one hour rest. We collaborated so well. Talking with other boats on the radio felt safe. After arriving at the dock and preparing the boat, we sat down with a glass of rum and I laughed and cried by exhaustion and by joy to be here. But still, I have also enjoyed being in the waves. It was fun to play with them and the adrenaline gave a nice feeling in the body. One has to be 100 % focused all the time, or else one gets splashed by missing a wave. The wave has to hit the stern of the boat but not with too large angle, or else the boat surfs down the wave and we loose steering capacity. The latter happened and one time water was flowing in to the cockpit on the leeward side. Wow! I did not think that would happen on Lovisa. But still it did not feel unsafe. Shortly speeking, I felt safe on the whole trip except just when the hardest winds hit us. And I did not get sea sick by the largest waves, only before when there was a calm swell. Perhaps it feels better when the boat has good speed forward. I feel so happy about life. All the things that came back, one by one: First to be able to use the autopilot again, then to walk in the boat without it shaking and squeeking (wood interior) or rattling (glasses, cuttlery etc). Then a hug, a good nights sleep, a wonderful shower and now sitting in an armchair reflecting and contacting friends and family while I wait for the laundry to finish. I am so happy about my life and everyone I love, family and friends.

Exactly 2 months after our departure from Sank Anna, here we are in Spain, happy to have the Bay of Biscay behind us. And yet, a new flag is flying high up on starboard side of Lovisa.