Hecuba in La Coruna
Team Hecuba
Mon 5 Aug 2013 21:14
Hecuba arrived safely in La Coruna this afternoon from Falmouth after 4 nights at sea.
We were around 24 hours (and at least 100 additional miles ) behind schedule due to headwinds F5/6 ish for the whole passage.
Being hard on the wind slowed as down as we fought our way round Ushant going wide Atlantic side and then beating southwards.
Seeing exactly what an Atlantic low looks like when you are sat in the middle of it as opposed to absent mindedly listening to the BBC Weather was a very weird experience.
Being completely surrounded by stunningly ominous vertical cumulus ' anvil ' formations and 'walls' of dense cloud make you feel small and vulnerable and suitably humbled.
We crossed the continental shelf on Sat morning into a world of brightness and receding
lows as they tracked northeastwards.
Alas though the wind stayed in the SW and continued to blow particularly each night keeping us on our toes with squalls and sometimes testing conditions.
Plenty of shipping around although most of it predictable apart from the inevitable fishing vessels who just seem to suit themselves.
We had friends on the way with whales spouting and jumping a respectable distance from us but tracking us for a day or so and dolphins coming and going.
Hecuba easily did all that was asked of her - strong, fast and very seaworthy.
David K and David M did a great job keeping the boat flying ,standing watches and rustling up all sorts of meals.They get off here in La Coruna and Anne joins me for some relaxed cruising - when we fly back on the 14th.
So onto the Spanish Rias and Portugal with Steve joining in early Oct for the passage to Madeira as we start to get into ARC mode arriving Las Palmas Gran Canaria 10th Nov to be joined by Paulos and Phils ready to do the 'rock star' stuff across the Atlantic.
Will sleep well tonight on my horizontal bunk.
Cap'n Larry
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