Brest to Vivero
Oldnick
Thu 11 Jul 2002 21:25
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Azores High goes
walkabout!
Why the Azores High decided to head across to the
eastern coast of the USA is anyone's guess, but the normally predictable and
stable weather patterns of July turned into October like cold weather fronts.
Suffice to say we had headwinds for another 350 miles and in the end shortened
our trip by 50 miles to gain shelter in the lovely Spanish port of
Vivero.
It all started nicely enough with sunny weather and
westerly winds. Within a few hours they had turned to the southwest and remained
so for the next 2 days. The winds were light so it did not matter much, we just
headed into the depths of the Bay of Biscay waiting for the northerly winds to
re-materialise. Night sky was wonderful and the dolphins came out to play. We
had a bit of engine trouble that meant we could not use the self steering for a
day which brought on a bit of tiredness, but we were enjoying the
passage.
Day 3 saw the weather begin to go nasty and develop
into a SW F6 on the nose with very lumpy seas. This went on thru the night to
the point where we had 3 reefs in the mainsail and by daybreak we decided
to head for Vivero for refuge. After a hot shower the whole event became hazy
and after a gorging of Spanish Tapas and a couple of Cervesas everything was put
right. Vivero was a very enjoyable stopover!
Yachty
Details:
Departed (Brest): 1100 FST Saturday July
6, 2002
Arrived (Vivero): 1330 FST Tuesday July 9,
2002
Total Distance
travelled: 380 miles
Total Time: 74.5 hours
Total Avg Speed: 5.1 knots
Conditions: W2/3 then SW 3/4 then SW 5/6,
calm-moderate-rough seas (0.5-2.5m), 1m swell. |