Our Barbados trip (and beyond) has begun!

Ken Robertson, Jenny Thomas, Lady Rebel (our beloved Irwin 52 sailing ketch)

Sunday 7 August (the day after Ken’s 50^th Birthday), 0830 hrs.  First leg Falmouth to La Coruna, Spain, crossing The Bay of Biscay, 423.6 nautical miles, 72.5 hrs (14 engine hrs, 27 night hrs), 5.84 knots average speed.

An emotional send off from the pontoon at Port Pendennis by family and friends, Mum, Dad, Clive & Anne Stokes, Paul & Anne Sinnott, Ian & Jane McCluskey, John Robinson (Robbo), Nicky Perret, Daniel & James Robinson, then from Pendennis Castle, joined by more friends, Alison & Anita, not forgetting Lisa and Carole waving us off from St Mawes Castle and Bill, Liz, Ian, Michelle circling us in Bill’s speed boat.  Absolutely fantastic and so much appreciated.

We crossed the line, between Black Rock and St Mawes, with Storm Breaker, at 0905 hrs, with catamaran Maisie closely behind.   We did a ‘sail-by’ Pendennis Castle for a final wave and last few words on the VHF radio.

The sailing conditions were perfect with a good wind steadily rising to 25 knots.  We decided to drop the mainsail before dark which slowed us down and Storm Breaker romped ahead opening up a distance of 4 miles.  They then reduced sail too and the gap reduced.  Amazingly we were in each other’s sights, changing ‘lead’ boat several times, for the complete distance.  It was great to have regular chats on VHF radio, channel 72, too.

Ken and I did a shift pattern of 3 hrs on, 3 hrs off throughout the day and night, not that we managed to sleep much. There was lots of shipping keeping us alert and occupied on watch, with a few course alterations to avoid being run down!

By Monday 8 August we were into The Bay of Biscay.  3 dolphins came to play and a few flying fish showed themselves.  The wind changed direction to NW but dropped considerably so we motored through the night.  By 0500 hrs on Tuesday the wind had picked up to 18 knots, a perfect broad reach, so out came the genoa and off went the engine!  The sound of the engine being turned off was bliss!  In hindsight we should perhaps have put a reefed mainsail up to stop the horrendous rolling!  I was struggling to keep awake at the start of my first Tuesday morning watch so I devised an exercise programme that could be done in the cockpit, consisting of press-ups, crunches, lunges (albeit short ones and that’s to do with the size of the cockpit, not my short legs – see, I know what you were thinking!), squats, dips and of course, a plank!  Ken thinks I am ‘a plank’ – no change there then!

Throughout our passage we sent twice daily positions, 0800 hrs and 1800 hrs, in order for us to be tracked.  We will do this on all passages.  Visit http://cornellsailing.com/sail-the-odyssey/barbados-50/tracking-map/.  You can subscribe for free for regular updates on our position.  Marine Traffic www.marinetraffic.com only works within 12 miles offshore.  There is a marine traffic app.

Across Biscay the wind and rolling increased.  We reefed the genoa which helped considerably.   It picked up to a steady 27-28 knots, a force 7, gusting 34.5, a gale!  Not good going into the night.  I suppose the consolation is we can’t see the enormous waves coming at us!  Lady Rebel handled the rough seas well, surfing along on the crests of the waves.  I devised a way of tying myself to the cockpit seat in order not to be consistently flung off onto the cockpit floor!  As many of you will know I am familiar with the cockpit floor, but that’s after a wine or two, in port and my choice!  Ken found me under the saloon table at one point when I’d gone down to the chart table to plot our position and was caught off balance!  Absolutely nothing to do with wine; we are a dry boat when at sea!!

By Wednesday 10 August we were nearing our destination, in fact had to reef the genoa further in order to slow down.  The marina staff at La Coruna don’t start until 0900 hrs so that was the ideal time for us to arrive.  We arrived at 0905 hrs giving them 5 minutes grace, along-side Storm Breaker.

Hercules, the oldest operational lighthouse in the World, was an easy landmark to identify at the entrance to La Coruna.

We safely moored up in the marina, packed Lady Rebel away, hoisted our flags to ‘dress overall’, had a much needed proper coffee (our machine only operates when we are plugged into shore power), a much needed sleep, then met the other Barbados 50 participants and organiser in the marina bar that evening, for a much needed wine!