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Thu 26th June –Falmouth Mike’s getting land sick – still no solenoid for the starter motor, but we decide on an afternoon sail from Falmouth Harbour around to Helford River. (Home of the famous Oysters & mussels). It’s quite breezy, gusting 4-5. Get overtaken by two French yachts having a race on the way out to sea, Mike most perturbed! It’s about 10nm into the river from the Marina. Very pleasant sail with the Pinders – despite Mike having to climb into the engine room to start the engine each time! Once we get into the mouth of the river, we have to keep tacking across the width of the river along with another three yachts doing the same. Probably the most close quarter sailing I’ve done, but quite fun! Helford River moorings seem quite popular as there is barely a free visitor buoy & boats are rafted up on the buoys too. Spot three yachts rafted up with the crews looking strangely at Disco Volante, trying to work out what design she is – we get that a lot. We put the sails down and then motor down the river for a bit, before cracking open some fizz.. On
the way back the winds died down, so we had some ravioli on toast at sea.
Once back in the marina we got dolled up for a night out in Falmouth. Mike took us to a savage club called ‘Club International’. We were the oldest by at least a decade. Vodka & shark bite has not improved! Nothing for it but some chips & a taxi home!
Distance = 20.6nm
Crew morale = 9
Fri 27th June – Falmouth departure Today Mike is ever hopeful that the part for the emergency rudder & the news starter motor will finally arrive. (After much debate & toing & froing we can’t actually buy the solenoid part separately, so we end up either having to spend £750 on a Volvo started motor, or buy a non-genuine one for £180). Mike hops about nervously all morning, until the garage tell us the man with the starter motors van has broken down – so part is delayed until the afternoon! It finally arrives at about 4pm! We decide that there is still enough time to start our voyage across the channel. The sooner we get going, the sooner
we’ll get there. We all dash around getting the boat ready to go while mike empties out the cockpit locker and fits the new starter motor. Moment of truth – IT STARTS! Diesel on board, marina fees paid, Thai green curry cooked and off we go!
Once we get out in open sea it’s very breezy – Force 4-5, but gusting to 6 and raining. At least we will get there quickly! It’s my first experience of sailing at night for a long period of time. It’s pretty eerie... You also feel pretty conscious of other boats being out there as it’s such busy shipping area. Rach & I dose ourselves up on sea sickness tablets and we dish up the pre-prepared dinner. The boat is heeling over quite a lot and it’s cold and wet on deck. I start to feel really tired and sick, so put myself to bed in the front cabin. The front of the boat is banging through the waves and it’s hard to sleep with all the strange noises a boat makes while at sea. Sometimes I am sure I lifted a few inches off the bed when the boat went down a
particularly steep wave – feels like zero gravity. By this point Rich is also starting to feel unwell. Rach has wedged herself in the corner of the cockpit and Mike is at the helm. Freak small waves occasionally break over the boat; Rach got more than a few mouthfuls that night. We are bombing along nicely, but it is certainly rougher than I was expecting. I will leave Rich & Rach to fill you in on the rest of the night, but I didn’t make it out of bed until 9:30am. Rich puked & Rach pulled and all-nighter (20hrs), she still hadn’t gone to bed by the time I finally got up & only went for a nap after lunch. On a plus note I haven’t felt seasick since and now didn’t need any seasickness medication
Distance = 80nm approx..
Crew morale = ranging from 4-7
Sat 28th June – Arrival in France Just realised out Spot tracker stopped working mid channel – ooppss. Apologies to those who may have been slightly worried we had sunk! Batteries now replaced.
It’s fair to say the team looked just a tad rough round the edges
after our first big challenge. I was surprisingly fresh after 12hrs sleep, but the others looked a bit broken. Mike took himself off to bed, Rich & Rach steered while I made some breakfast and drinks. Come 11am though and we were all feeling a bit more upbeat. We had made good progress through the night and apart from a few small issues the boat had held up well and we had tested the saloon lee-clothes which worked really well and held the crew nicely in bed! At about 1pm we started to see seabirds and knew land was going to come into view finally. We spotted some lighthouses which litter the coast just off Brest. We woke mike up to tell him the good news. We figured we were about three hours from Brest Port. At this point I think tiredness really kicked in as we made a BIG mistake. Instead of cutting in between the island just off Brest and the mainland we decided to go around. Little did we realise that not only was it the high spring tides, but also a 4-5 knot tide against us – OH DEAR!!!! That 2-3 hr sail turned into a
6hr sail! And that was only as we diverted away from our intended marina in Brest and instead anchored in a little bay called Anse De Bertheaume. (It’s about 20nm from the sea into Brests marinas, which is best not done in the dark as there are so many rocks and obstructions to look out for) All dreams of hot showers, French cheese and dry land fade away…. The depressingly slow sail begins. Finally make it into the bay at around 8pm. We weave our way through moorings and lobster pots and drop the anchor. Only enough energy to watch a DVD before bed.
Distance = 130nm from Falmouth to Brest
Crew Morale = a tired 7
Sun 29th June – St Guilvenic Rachel has been saving a bottle of champagne for our arrival in France – so we had a lovely champagne breakfast with waffles, banana & French toast with maple syrup to celebrate our safe arrival in France. Rich & I also managed a quick dip in the sea after breakfast. Then we pulled up the anchor, ready to head off for an 8-10hr sail along the coast. Only one problem, when
we pulled up the anchor chain there was no anchor attached! The day had barely begun and we had already had a mini disaster - £350 anchor lost in 10m of water… Second problem – We had got the times wrong and we couldn’t make the river marina we were trying for so a quick look at the almanac and we decided to push on for a little fishing port called Saint Guilvenic. We were flying along at this point in force 3-4 winds. We even had the spinnaker sail up for the first time (the big colourful one a bit like a hot air balloon). Mike was so chuffed to finally sail under the spinnaker – he was smiling like a Cheshire cat despite the earlier anchor loss. We finally arrived after a very pleasant sail in the fishing port, but as was our luck that day all the visitor moorings were taken, so in a very tight a skilful manoeuvre Mike got us onto an empty locals mooring – Rach I hooked the buoy & Mike tied a rope around the front buoy – unfortunately the ropes were cover in stinging sea anemone and he got stung all
over his hands along with a stubborn fishy smell. So here we were in another French town, stranded on board. We still hadn’t touched French soil!
Distance = 50nm
Crew Morale = 7.5
Mon 30th June – Belle Ile (Island) So today is big in lots of ways.. Mike & I have been gone for a month already & finally we get to set foot on foreign soil. We set off at 7am from the harbour, hoping that no one had spotted out dodgy mooring in the harbour – We were happy to leave the smelly concrete fishing port behind!
By now our weather forecast was 4 days old, but still quite accurate. We had decided rather than continue to hug the coats we would head for the pretty sounding island called Belle Ile, which wasn’t much of a detour if we then decided to tackle Biscay next. Once out of the harbour it was basically a straight line all the way to Belle Ile. Spinnaker went up again and we made brilliant time, sometimes hitting nearly 10 knts. The sun was shining and we had the autopilot on, allowing us to sunbath,
play games and read. We all had shorts and t-shirts on. Rich & Mike have started a competition to see who can get the brownest bottoms…
We arrive ahead of time and slip into the harbour at 5pm. We are met by the harbour master (Captainairie) and shown to a visitor buoy in the harbour walls. Rach & I do a mean job of catching the buoy & tying ourselves on, with quite an audience. Now there is just a deflated dinghy between us and our first drink on French soil… Once on dry land our legs feel really weird & weak.
Lovely evening spent eating pizza, mussels, beer & wine. (but walking a little bit funny)
Distance = 50nm
Crew Morale = 9
Tues 1st July – Exploring Belle Ile Decide it is best to have a day off sailing and stay on our mooring. Was a rough night, which winds and waves making it into the harbour and knocking us about on our mooring! So we all woke up a bit bleary eyed. Rach is a really light sleeper, so any noises on the boat wake her up! It’s raining
unfortunately, so the planned bicycle ride is scrapped in favour of crepes for lunch & FINALLY some Breton cider. We go for a little stroll after lunch up to the old fort/battlements with lovely views of the harbour, then back to the boat to prep for an early sail in the morning. Then out for dinner. We can all barely finish our pizzas and beers as tiredness is catching up with us. Early night.
Weds 2nd July - Biscay here we come We’re up at 7am to make the most of the tides/winds to get us ahead of schedule. The sea is pretty unsettled as we motor out of the harbour, but we quickly get the sails up and get underway. Everyone part from Mike is feeling a little nervous about the two day / two night journey ahead. For the first time we will be running proper shifts overnight from 10pm-10am. Rich & Mike are both doing solo 2hr shifts, which Rach & I sharing a 2hr shift. That means we all get 4hrs straight sleep through the night.
Once we are clear of the islands the seas really calm down. The boat is
pretty upright and it’s easy to read and play games. In fact it’s almost idyllic sailing weather. Everyone except Rachel is in Bikinis or shorts baking on the front deck. We get some seriously good tanning action and it’s all very un-Biscay like. There is lots of wine drinking, cheese eating and general relaxation, especially as we can pretty much have the autopilot on the whole time, so none of us even need to steer. There is also hardly any other ship traffic nearby as the route we have taken is fairly unusual. As it begins to get dark though the mood changes, we are all hoping the weather & winds won’t change overnight. We downloaded a five day forecast before leaving, but the accuracy decreases as we go. We are in luck though and all stays calm, we even have to motor some of the time as we are trying to keep above 5-6 knots. Rach & I’s shifts (10pm-12pm & 4am-6am) happen to coincide with both sunset & sunrise, so we have a lovely view. 2hrs flies by to so it’s soon back to be for us – well once we have woken up Rich & Rach has
found all his clothes for him. This normally takes around 30min for Rach to do as Rich (Like all men) is incapable of finding anything himself..
Thu 3rd July - Biscay cont.. Rach & I are woken up by shouts from Mike, a huge pod of dinky dolphins are chasing the boat, frolicking about at the bow of the boat jostling past each other to get in front. They are racing about for at least 30mins – lovely start to the day. We see them several times of the course of the crossing, they seem to be attracted to the sound of the engine. Rach could hear their clicking noises though the hull. Today passes much the same as yesterday – the crew are feeling very relaxed and spending lots of time topping up our tans. Rach & I are forcibly applying sun cream to two very white bottoms! Again the night shift goes smoothly, if anything not quite enough wind, so we are motor sailing more than planned. Getting into our strides with the shifts & I even managed to start this blog whilst on night shift.
Fri 4th July – Land Ho!!!!!!!!!!! (Viva Espana)
The sea gets a bit rougher today, blue skies are replaced with clouds, mist & a little rain. Seas get s choppy, wind direction means it would be a tough slog to get to A Caruna today, tacking most of the way, when we are all a bit tired. We decide to go to plan B and pull into one of the nearer ports along the Northern coast of Spain. This brings our ETA down to around lunchtime. We decide on Viveiro as it has a marina – We are all craving tapas & Spanish wine. WE’VE DONE IT!!! A pretty easy uneventful Biscay crossing – We all breathe a BIG sigh of relief.
Viveiro is a really pretty harbour. Galicia itself is very green – described in my guide book as having a climate & landscape more like Ireland. It’s is certainly very green as we drive into the harbour, ringed by tall hills full of wind turbines. As we cruise into the port, we see a dolphin which we are later told is a regular fixture in the harbour and is even seen coming into the yacht marina occasionally. Viviero has an old
town at it’s centre, which is full of lots of criss-crossing alleyways & archways that are too narrow to let cars into. It also has a nice beach just off the centre. We don’t bother blowing up the dinghy, instead we take Disco to the beach & anchor in about 5m of water. We are quickly joined by the arbour dolphin that swims around us for about an hour. Mike spends a comedy half an hour trying to take pictures of him underwater in his mask and flippers! We swim from the boat to the beach and finally set foot on Spanish soil. Then it’s time for a well-earned siesta before heading out for dinner in the old town. We are recommended a nice Spanish restaurant & Mike finally gets to order a humungous meat dinner – he’s been complaining nonstop about the lack of meat on the Biscay crossing! Have gorgeous Galician wine, which we hope to track down in the supermarket!
Distance covered = 308nm
Crew morale = 10
Sat 5th July – Dreaming of A Coruna So the plan today is to get to A Coruna for a nights clubbing to
blow out a few cobwebs and basically get very drunk in celebration of the Biscay Crossing! As always mother nature always has a way of knocking your cockiness out of you. We set out for a nice 8hr sail to A Coruna all in a happy mood – sun shining, sea just the right side of lively. Once out of the shadow of land & heading around the point the sea & wind picks up. Rach and I suddenly realise maybe it isn’t short and t-shirt weather after all, but it’s too late to change as going below is too rough. Lifejackets & lifelines come out. It gets really gnarly and we soon realise the 50nm trip to La Caruna isn’t going to happen. We batten down the hatches and head for a little port / marine reserve called Cedeira. 8hrs latter we arrive soaked to the skin after some pretty savage waves & 6kn winds. Mother Nature 3 – Disco Volante 0.
We did see several pods of tiny dolphins during our journey obviously enjoying the rough conditions, unlike us. Everyone is too knackered to go anywhere so we soend the evening eating beans on toast & watching
DVDs (Thanks Tom!!!!)
Sun 6th July –A Caruna or bust.. I am finishing writing this epic blog on the sail to A Caruna. We should be there by 2pm, but I am not banking on it – wish us luck! Mike thinks he just spotted a whale. Once we arrive in the marina we are planning to spend a whole three days in one place. We are even going to spend a night away from the boat in a hotel (And a spa if Rach & I have any say in the matter) – We are heading off to Santiago De Compestela (The end of the pilgrims way – A Camino, which is kind of ironic). Then we have two more stops in Spain (Pontevedra for the vineyards & Bioina, just outside Vigo to visit three islands described as the prettiest in Europe with white sandbeaches) Then onto Portugla with planned stops in Porto, Lisbon, Cabeiro on the Algarve & then finally the Guadiana River, before beasting it to the med via Seville.
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Auntie Rona
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Enjoy your hotel break!
Your followers can also take a few days rest. I wonder how many others lost sleep over the disappearing tracker? Thanks for the update. Envy you part of the experience.... Swimming with dolphins, visiting new places, not so much the seasickness or eating lots of fish. I'm with Mike as a meat lover... Thank Goodness for the tins of Spam