Bay of Biscay - Day 1 - 03 Aug

Itchycoo
Fri 3 Aug 2018 09:20
We wake to another sunny day with good sailing breezes - and this time they are from a favourable direction - what joy!

The beautiful Itchycoo Park rounded the north western corner of France and entered the Bay at around 18.00 yesterday - about 7 hours behind analogue Dave's plan but not losing any more time. At 09.30 Friday (BST) we are at 47 degrees 30 minutes N and 5 degrees 30 minutes W. I include this because we have yet to work out how to send a position with this message but we are working on it. Currently sailing SSW at 5.5 knots with a newly installed preventer on the main.

Enough of the technical material for you sailors (it was requested by our readers). There follows what really matters.

The planned menu for dinner last night had mackeral for starters followed by fresh fish (type undetermined) so at around 14.00 Roger took out his rod and set about catching it. After the excitement of a 'bite' within minutes we landed a few pounds of seaweed and, unsure whether it was the edible variety had chicken curry for dinner - again well cooked by Paul and this time it all stayed where it was intended to stay. Must try fishing again soon.

Sleeping last night was much easier. The wave action from the starboard quarter being much more pleasant so the crew are all in top shape this morning after a breakfast of slightly burnt bacon sandwiches.

The watch system designed by Kevin is confusing everyone but working well for its author who seems to get six hours of uninterupted sleep whilst the rest of us do midnight to 4.00 a.m shifts or 2.00 to 6.00 a.m. We are told this will even out over time but we're not convinced.

A couple of minor maintenance issues saw Kevin on the bow again playing with the genoa furler and we have already worn part way through a jib sheet - which will be replaced on the earlier of its complete failure or light winds. As with the life jacket yesterday, we have a spare so no worries.

Nearby shipping activity has been modest. Enough to keep us amused without being crowded. Notable was the passing of Cunard's Queen Victoria in the afternoon yesterday. The darkness fun of identifying lights and which direction the spotted boat is travelling has been much reduced by the AIS system recently installed. When spotted, instead of studying intensity and colour of lights for minutes (even hours) now you simply click on AIS and it tells you the type, course and speed of vessel and even what the captain had for dinner (the last bit is slight exaggeration). No corrective action has yet been required.

Digital Dave tells us we are still days from northern Spain (280 miles = approx 2 days). Analogue Dave is asleep and telling us nothing.

That's all folks - enjoy the day - we will.



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