Phew!!
Jigsaw
Fri 3 Aug 2007 21:04
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Well we are motoring the last twenty miles to La
Coruna, the passage from Camaret was lively, to say the least, last night
we were caught in a full Biscay gale, force 8 winds and 5 metre waves. It was
all a bit hairy, Howard and Paul were on deck all night helming the boat
and keeping watch for other shipping. The waves threw the 16 tons
of Jigsaw around like a table tennis ball, the boat stood up well to the
treatment and the crew were in fine form, if a trifle suprised by the force
of the winds, and the sheer size of the waves. The term
breathtaking is, for once, appropriate. The sight of many tons of water
rolling, inexorably, towards the boat time after time was awesome. Each wave
that was succesfully negotiated was immediately replaced by another equally
enourmous!
Paul
When you went to sleep you'd
fall out of the bed, at least a dozen times. But there was compensations the day
before,namely the numerous dolphins and whales.
Molly
Wow and glad it's over at the same time. Filled
with a great sense of achievement at having crossed biscay (I think). The gale
which built up from about 8 o'clock in the evening, was a sight to behold, the
waves took on the appearance of mountains hurtling towards you at terrific
speed. Paul and Howard did a great job in keeping the boat upright and moving
despite my request for 'hove to' and let it pass!!! Kate, Molly and I were
located below decks and it felt like we were in a washing machine. I am
delighted at how well Kate and Molly coped, they were calm and demonstrated
a level of resilience beyond their years, fantastic!!!
The passage was not all rough I am pleased to say,
we were treated to numerous displays of dolphins dancing in the bow waves,
sighted whales and saw for the first time a submarine sailing above water.
Looking forward to the ongoing journey and feel
more confident about our ability to cross the atlantic.
Mary
Now that we have finished
our first long crossing, I think that the good side was seeing the
dolphins (loads of them!) and the spouting of whales (a few). Molly and me are
also learing how to jump of and tie the boat onto the pontoon.
Kate
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