Arrival in Spain
Stargazer of Southampton
Susie and Adam (both think they are skipper)
Wed 4 Aug 2010 21:07
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03:08.10,
43.32.38N 7:02.17W
Today
started with a change of wind direction from West to sort of North but not
really any wind so it was the first time the engine went on for a while.
This is the first day of clear blue skies and the first day we could really tell
we had come south - the sun was scorching by 0830 in the morning. Adam
made bread! - and it was most edible.
The
wind picked up during the day although it was hard to tell as we were sailing
downwind as we got further south we gybed around to try and get a better line on
LaCoruna, it was then we noticed that the wind and swell had really picked up
during the day - previously we hadn't really noticed much swell but realised how
big it was when we saw a tanker in the distance - you could only see the top of
the bridge so it looked more like a building than a boat, the radar could only
see it every so often.
All
was pretty peaceful and we were thinking that the Bay of Biscay was not really
much different to a slightly longer trip to the Isle of Wight - we didn't think
we would have much adventure to write of, that was until night fell on our last
night at sea. . . . the wind steadily continued to increase and our
forecast of a force 3 turned into a 5/6 - but it wasn't the wind that gave us
excitement but the swell which we were surfing down. As per the last two
nights - darkness fell and it was absolutely pitch black, clouds came over and
no moon (until midnight when it decided to rise). As per
the previous night - the coming of darkness seemed to bring out fleets of
fishing boats - all flashing orange lights to signify they had huge purse nets
between them with which to trap unsuspecting yachts-folk - it felt like we spent
hours trying to avoid fishing boats which seemed to chase us around .
There was one which I can only assume was some kind of huge factory fishing
vessel that was covered in floodlights - it looked like a UFO, but no lights to
give any clue as to its direction of travel - two hours of cat and mouse saw the
wind and swell continue to increase.
In
amongst the hurried checking of bearings on fishing boats and trying to avoid
being part of the catch ,the sky did clear and the stars were the most amazing
we have ever seen - just looked like a blanket covered with stars. We took
that in for a minute or so before returning to see which boats were bearing down
on us now.
by
0100 with the boat surfing along and the waves getting bigger we decided that a
better port of call for tired folk would be Ribedea so we gybed around and went
to the closer port (only 35 miles rather than 70) with difficult sailing
conditions and large seas there would be no sleep for this crew tonight. The
trip to Ribadea follows the coast line for the last 30 miles as we looked to
land the coast line was lit up we assumed with buildings, it was only with
the coming of day light that these lights revealed themselves to be fish farms
(not indicated on any chart), with the arrival of morning the wind and swell
decreased and time for a weary crew to get some rest. I knew it was time for
Susie to get some sleep when she fell asleep behind the wheel whilst I was
talking to her! Between them, Stargazer and the autopilot had carried us
the 30 odd miles to Ribadea with us two sat at the back watching out for ships
and trying to stay awake listening to the swooshing of waves - occassionaly
getting soaked.
Ribedea
was a welcome sight a new marina with easy visitor berthing - by seven in the
morning the sea was glassy and we could see the mountains on the
shore, our boat gradually slowed to a stop as the wind died completely and we
switched on the engine for the motor in. Time to tidy up some of the
deck and try and look half way organised for the motor into the
Ria.
Horror
of horrors - 50 metres from the Marina entrance the engine did something it has
never done - it stalled! - how could we get this far then the engine fail almost
touching distance from the shore. Luckily it fired up again and we were
safely tied up in a couple of minutes - however - investigating the boat we
found a big bunch of fishing net around the prop and rudder hence the reason for
the stall - time for Susie to get the wetsuit on and sort it out. Not sure
how long we had been dragging that along.
We
had to have a glass of wine at 1100 on Tuesday to celebrate successfully
crossing Biscay - but by 1200 we were both in bed and fast asleep.. .
.
Here's
a nice Atlantic Sunset . . .
 and
here's our dawn sight of land - Hurrray, Ribadea is in the distance on the left
of the pic - the water is just turning to glass
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