07-06-2006

 

During the night watch we crossed the shipping lanes on a heading towards Finistere which is the headland that has to be rounded on the coast of Spain to get to our destination of Bayona.  There was a lot of traffic so I had to come join the watch after my own to slip between the lights of the shipping. 

 

Having crossed the shipping lanes (about 4am) I then turned in to catch up on the many hours of lost sleep.  We had been travelling well and the boat was racing downwind.  As I was trying to sleep I could here the see conditions getting rougher and the boat was shuddering as went other the waves. The shuddering was progressively getting worse and a look through the companion way confirmed that Christian and Si would like some assistance reefing the sails.   I clambered back into my sailing gear and lifejacket and joined the crew on deck.  We put two reefs in the main sail and furled some of the foresail and the boat settled down again.  

 

For the third time I went below decks to try to get some sleep, my sub-conscience kept me awake and I could feel the conditions getting rougher and before long I was back on deck and we were putting the main sail completely away.  The roller furling jammed on the Genoa, but luckily with just the right amount of sail to form a storm sail.  We had not been able to run our engine in gear since the coast of France as we had picked up a large rope on the propeller, with some reverse persuasion we managed to shake the rope loose engage forward gear.  We motor sailed until about lunch time with massive seas that seemed to grow when the sun came up.

 

All the crew were sea sick and with the help of the sea sickness tablets were sleeping even in the heaviest of conditions.  Looking at our position we were 165 Miles from Bayona and about 85 Miles from the port Ria de Vivero on the Northern coast of Spain.  Due to the conditions fatigue of everybody on board we decided to accept defeat and headed for Ria de Vivero which also promised a good place of refuge during heavy weather.

 

During the heavy weather it was found that the Auto-helm was a real blessing as it enabled us to just keep a watch from the companion way from under the spray hood with the wash boards in.  At approx 12:00 I decided to stop the engine and try sailing with just the reduced foresail,   although slower this proved to be much smoother as the boat was no longer crashing into the waves.

 

At approx. 16:00 the wind suddenly dropped to about half its strength and the waves became much smaller in less than a minute.  To our surprise dolphins surfaced all around our boat and gave a fantastic display for about 30 minutes.  It was difficult to count them,  but there must have been between 20 and 30 dolphins,  it was such a wonderful sight after the storm.

 

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures during the bad weather as we were too busy with survival tactics.

 

Some pictures of the dolphins (they are very good at evading the camera):

 

 

 

 

 

Me at the helm:

 

 

The Sun going down:

 

 

 

 

8-6-2006

 

Woke up to a much calmer day in Rio De Vivero, Although we were approx. 220 Miles from the Rally,  we put our flags up to give a festive feel and this bought much attention.

 

 

Unfortunately both Christian and Si had to leave for England on this day so both left for the airport.   Because of the lesser numbers and still being tired from the crossing we decided to stay another day.

 

9-6-2006

 

At approx. 13:00 on 9^th June we finally departed from Ria de Vivero and set sail for Bayona.

 

Good bye Ria de Vivero:

 

 

 

 

 

Tereza at the Chart Table:

 

 

We sailed all night and I took the night watch, we were very keen to meet up with the rally in Bayona.

 

10-11-2006

 

The night sail was good and we made good progress, unfortunately when the sun came up a strong force 7 southerly wind developed which meant that we had to tack towards our southerly destination.  As the wind and sea became stronger our progress slowed and we spent all afternoon covering only a few miles.  Missing the extra hands we had for the Biscay crossing and with fatigue we diverted to a port called Camerinas.  It was very windy in the port when we arrived and it took several hands on the pontoon to hold the lines.

 

Camerinas Marina.  Lady Drake again is dressed with her flags.

 

 

 

11-6-2006

 

We finally made it to Bayona!

 

This picture shows the swell of the North Atlantic – see how little of the mast we can see:

 

 

Jive on Deck during our Sail:

 

 

Approaching Bayona:

 

 

Bayona Castle:

 

 

We arrived into Bayona Marina during the Skippers Briefing, but all the same many rally participants were on the key side to welcome us in.  This was really a wonderful welcome after our long journey.

 

 

 

 

12-6-2006

 

No rest for the late comers!  The day after arriving in Bayona, we were off on our second leg (well, in Lady Drake’s case – fourth).

 

Pete Taking it easy:

 

 

Lady Drake in her glory:

 

Some of the Rally Boats:

 

Mary Lou:

 

Waylander:

 

Mary Lou and Waylander as we Cruised Past:

Phaedrus:

 

Tereza:

 

Arriving in Port:

They had a different outfit hair/hat style for every occasion.