Phew - we made it!

The bay of Biscay ... tick! And indeed this post is being written in Spain, in La Corūna in fact, an ancient port on the NW tip of Spain. Thanks to the Cruising Association, we managed to link up with one Peter Whyley, who is on a sabbatical from his teaching job in Yorkshire. Luckily he was able to join us at short notice and hot footed it down to Plymouth last Sunday, ready for the off on Monday 15th June. The weather window had opened. So by 08:00 on that day we had slipped our mooring in Queen Anne's Battery marina and soon waved goodbye to Plymouth Hoe behind us.

Having dodged a couple of warships,

excellent sailing was had in easterly wind force 3/4 for the whole day as the Devon and Cornish coast disappeared behind us and we emerged into the Western Approaches. Regrettably this situation did not last, the wind died and our engine went on. Still, that gave our new crew member a chance to catch up ... he'd had a long day!

All sails were dropped before the dark and an uneventful night watch was passed, shared between the three of us, uneventful apart from the wonderful stars, some of them shooting, several planets passing overhead and of course the Milky Way clearly visible. Off-watch crew were able to sleep soundly as the sea was calm and this continued into Tuesday. This photo below was taken at midday. The red thing on the left is part of our new self-steering gear, the 'Hydrovane', which works a treat.

During Tuesday a turtle was spotted going on the opposite direction as it slowly swam passed the boat, and a collar dove caught a lift with us, sitting on the upper spreaders for several hours. In the night, dolphins were heard and glimpsed around the boat. But Wednesday was THE Dolphin Day as we saw so many we lost count. Getting good photos of Dolphins is not easy. I have numerous shots showing swirling water at various points around the boat where a dolphin is about to emerge or has just submerged again. The one below is the best one but nothing beats seeing them and hearing them in real life.

They came and went all day, playing round the boat and weaving in and out of our bow wave. Again the sea was very smooth with little or no wind so we were motoring again. That morning our AIS system allowed us to identify a large ship that was passing us on our port side, about 5 miles off. It was the QEII! I had a brief conversation with her watch keeper over the radio - they were bound for Gibraltar and due to arrive by 05:00 the following morning - when we would still not have arrived in Spain. Well, I suppose she is a tad bigger than us... 

A brief bit of wind came up in the afternoon, so the Magic Zero sail was hoisted. What joy to lose the engine noise for a short while!

Night watches on Tuesday and Wednesday were spiced up a little by all the large cargo ships that were on their way between UK/Northern Europe and points south. We were essentially crossing a huge motorway in the sea. The AIS system makes it so much easier to see who and what is out there in the pitch black, the direction they are taking and whether or not one is on a collision course. Lots of time to take avoiding action!

Thursday dawned overcast and very grey but fortunately no rain. We didn't see the sun all day. And we knew that a NE gale was forecast in the area into which we were heading. An increase in the wind allowed us to sail properly (gull-winged using our new pole arrangement) for the first time since Monday. As evening drew on the wind steadily increased and by 20:00 we had three reefs in the main sail and a only 50% of the jib sail out. But Follyfin was still clipping along at a goodly pace. The sea state changed and quickly went from the smooth, slight state we had become used it to moderate and occasionally rough. Not good for sleeping! Still, we now knew we would make landfall earlier than anticipated and in the dark, so all hands would be needed for the next few hours. Arriving in a strange port in a foreign land in the dark can be very tricky. This it proved to be as we weaved our way through numerous fishing boats, some very poorly lit and without AIS, as we got nearer to the port of La Corūna.

At 05:30 Follyfin was berthed in the marina and had had a wash down. She had completed the 478.9 miles in 93:5 hours, 57.5 motoring or motor sailing, and 46.0 sailing. Maximum boat speed achieved was 8.7 knots (although the instrument recording this data broke down halfway across), average speed 5.2 knots. So we had arrived and felt very pleased to be here!

More about the place itself in the next post. We'll be here for a couple of days at least before heading on South.