Tuesday 15th August - Andy's birthday
The Adventures of Tin Man
Andy Topp & Steve Arnold
Tue 15 Aug 2023 10:28
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48:4.90N
005:29.74W
what three words - ghouls.dived.exponents
We passed the island of Ouessant off the north-western
coast of Brittany at around 0700 BST; a brief sighting of land at the junction
of the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, after which it's just us and the
sea again. Today's fun fact: Ousseant has it's own tartan, after hosting a
Scottish literary festival (expect the fun facts to dry up as we head into 48
hours with no mobile data access!)
Watch C (Andy and Will) and watch A (skipper Glenn) were
kept busy dodging commercial shipping and fishing boats during the night. The
excitement had died down by 3am when Watch B (Steve and I) climbed up the
companionway to the cockpit: we didn't see another vessel the whole shift, and
had only the lighthouses of northern France, the beautiful bio-phosphorescence
in Tin Man's wake, and another bunch of boisterous dolphins to keep us
company.
Unfortunately as the traffic died down, so did the
wind. With our speed over ground down to less than 2 knots, fighting
against the tide, and our ETA at A Coruña slipping rapidly, we started the
engine at 5am to help us make some headway. What we lost in peace and
tranquility we made up for in hot water: since the engine heats the water, we
could have hot showers to help wake us up. The
light winds are expected to continue over the next few days: although the
sailing is probably not going to be classic, it is preferable to the other
weather extremes that Biscay is famous for.
Today is Andy's birthday. The saloon is dressed
with balloons and decorations to celebrate. Maybe the phosphorescence will
spread some glitter over the sea later this evening
too.
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