41:22.309N 8:45.912W

 

Dear All,

 

The R&R in Bayonne was very welcome, we found a very knowledgeable rigger who diagnosed our problem and carried out the repairs all in the same day, now that's impressive!

He traced it to an oversized halyard block that had been rubbing through the rope that holds up the mainsail (halyard)

In Bayonne we also said goodbye to Paul who returned to the UK we thank him for his support us on our Biscay crossing.

Bayonne was a typical Northern Spanish town full of sleepy day time bars and cafes who come to life at nine o'clock, it is usual for the Spanish to eat late up to midnight,

It was an easy routine to fall into.

 

An interest sting fact we burnt 270 litre's of fuel for 53 hours of engine time which works out at 5 litres an hour at 8 knots we carry 400 litres which gives us a range of 1200 miles,

not enough to get us across the Atlantic.

 

Another monetary fact Bayonne was the most expensive Marina ever, because we are a Catamaran marinas usually charge an extra 50% the charges in Bayonne were 117 Euros a night! we were given a 25% discount because we were participants of the Atlantic rally but still a hefty charge when you consider our current location   http://marinadapovoa.com/en

45 Euros for two nights!

 

Thursday last after a night at anchor we left Bayonne with a light Northerly wind forecast we set off for Pova De Varzim leaving Spain and entering Portugal.

Within an hour we were in thick fog and steadily fleshing Southerly wind right on our nose.

It soon became apparent that we would not make Pova we consulted the pilot books for an alternative,

the problem with this coast is the lack of harbours I noticed on the plotter a river entrance, the mouth of which was facing South West causing a large swell to build up in the entrance.

We had no charts and no information apart from a sheltered  anchorage that was shown on the Ray marine Plotter which is a GPS bit like a marine version of a car Satnav.

Once we were in the entrance we were committed the entrance is full of shifting sand banks the Ray marine information in our plotter could be taken from a survey over a hundred years ago!

We watch our depth sounder with anticipation as we passed over the sand banks then disaster.

 

Have you ever been on a new section of road and your Satnav has not been updated?  You find yourself off road and driving through fields.

At this moment our only means of navigation the plotter, was showing me going up the beach and heading for a hotel! clearly this was not the case so we were down to the mark one eyeball and our depth sounder.

 

Click the Link to see the entrance.

 

 

After fifteen minutes we were there, gently snugged up in our sheltered anchorage with a bar on the beach.

After a meal we got in the dinghy and ventured ashore. Awaiting on the dock was the Portuguese Maritime Police who had the cutest bottom and friendliest smile. After taking our details and showing an even better anchorage our Heineken beers tasted oh so sweet.

 

The next day we awoke to perfect conditions and carried on to Pova where we are currently tied up. Tomorrow I think a visit to Porto is planned to buy a bottle of ????.

 

Lynn Derek & Gary.