Better then expected

Christine's Atlantic Circuit
Peter Lansdale
Wed 20 Jul 2016 21:26
41:11.08N 08:42.2W
 
We awake in the Monte Real Club de Yates marina in Bayonne to a cool grey day with little or no wind. It is very strange here waking up at 07.00 and finding it is only just after dawn, which makes a grey day seem even worse as it is still quite chilly and after all we have sailed all these miles south in the expectation of being warm. So much for daylight saving and being nearly 9 degrees west.
 
We were off by 0830 as we have some 60 odd mile to do to Leixoes in Portugal and it's flat calm with a remarkably flat sea. By 0930 it had warmed up and the clouds were showing some signs of breaking. We had a go at calibrating the log which has been seriously over-reading, using the GPS. Once I'd read the instructions it was simplicity itself and it seems to have improved things even though I'm not sure we were completely free of current when we did it. 
 
So we motored all morning under the grey skies but on a flat sea until after lunch the clouds started to clear giving a perfect blue sky as had happened yesterday. Today the wind started to appear and with 7-8knts from the NW we hoisted the mainsail and gennaker. Gradually the wind increased to 15-18knts and we were making wonderful progress at 7 plus knots. Having to bear away to make the course we even tried goose winging the gennaker which worked beautifully although it took us a very long time to set up as most of the downwind sails I have are untried at present. There will be quite a learning curve before we get to the trade winds in the Atlantic.
 
A large school of dolphins joined us to celebrate our good progress, or perhaps because the engine was no longer running and we spent the next 20 minutes or so trying to get photographs. It's really fascinating watching them playing around the boat and then they must have found something more important as they were gone.
 
We pulled into Leixoes marina around 1830 Portuguese time to be met by their very helpful and friendly staff and so were soon moored up and off for a shower and a well deserved evening meal.