So, yes, as I was saying, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy to be safely moored up in a marina. The sail down from La Vigne (Arcachon) was shocking. In fact, even my lifejacket thought it was submerged and accordingly inflated with a loud hiss just as I was wondering what else could possibly go wrong. By that time, I had made it out of the channel and despite thinking conditions would improve in the deeper water, I was struck by a series of really well defined isolated storms that each carried huge gusts of wind and of course a relentless barrage of torrential rain and hail. So I was wet – very wet. I’d had to go to the foredeck to untangle a genoa sheet and had been sick. I’d bent the pushpit trying to furl the genoa away in a 35 knot gust (force 8), I’d taken several waves over the deck and the forward hatch was still leaking. I would discover later that the navigation lights had failed completely too. I’m sure I’ve got much more of that to come but it was made worse by the fact that this was supposed to be an easy half-day sail down the coast! When the lifejacket inflated, I merely sat down behind the wheel and laughed out loud. It was an absurd situation and I only had myself to blame.

Looking back though, Canasta was amazing and after all, this is exactly what has made the Bay of Biscay so infamous. And by way of divine payback, Bayonne is a stunning city. In fact, the Port D’Anglet is as far from Biaritz as it is from Bayonne so I’ll be exploring Biaritz tonight. There is a cycle path all the way around the coast – Biaritz to the south and Bayonne to the east. My little fold-up bicycle seems to be attracting attention wherever I go on it but it’s proving to be incredibly useful (if a little wobbly!) Last night, after a day of unsuccessfully trying to straighten a few things on the boat (literally), I made the fifteen minute journey into town for some dinner. I was distracted though by a tiny bar on one of the narrow side streets from which I could hear live music. This turned out to be a couple of guys on guitars playing French and Spanish songs but what I hadn’t realized is that Bayonne is obsessed with it’s rugby team and tonight was a big clash with local team Dax. So, of course, the music stopped just long enough to watch the match before starting up again once it was all over. Disappointingly Bayonne lost but, well, my traumatic voyage was already just a memory and I was really starting to really enjoy Bayonne!

I’ve just got back from another trip into town on the bike. This morning, I discovered that being a Sunday, everything is closed so I thought I’d take a look at the cathedral. I shouldn’t have been surprised but a service was about to begin so I gave the dice an odds / evens choice of staying for the service. It said I should and so accordingly, I sat through an entire service not understanding a single word. I didn’t take communion as that might have been a little fraudulent but I did participate in the part of the service where everyone shakes the hand or gives a kiss on both cheeks of those sitting around them. This seemed to me to be the only cheerful part of an otherwise depressingly solemn service. I left wondering if the sour-faced, severe looking woman leading the half-hearted singing had been praying for the voice of an angel that she had clearly been denied. I didn’t find God although I think he was up there operating the strings that controlled the arms of the aforementioned woman conductor and I’m also quite sure that just once or twice, He was being electrocuted.

On the way back to boat, I stopped at A960 “Godetia”; a 2500 ton Mine Countermeasures Supply and Command Ship from the Belgian Navy. She was moored up on the quayside taking visitors as part of a public relations tour. I went aboard and introduced myself to Petty Officer Sander Van Eenooghe from Bruge* who was very happy to accept responsibility for the next dice throw. So, we went to the bridge and Sander flamboyantly threw the dice across the chart table… A three… Ria de Vigo in Portugal.

*Sander was as enthusiastic about the ‘Where to Next?’ project as I was about the film ‘In Bruge’ which, if you haven’t seen it already, is well worth a look!

That’ll be a 412 nautical mile trip around Cape Finisterre to Vigo which I’ll probably begin on Tuesday. I’m having some remedial work done on the pushpit and the unfathomably faulty navigation lights on Monday evening. So, assuming the weather stays as forecast, I will set off on Tuesday morning for a voyage that should take about three and a half days. I’ve been to the Ria de Vigo a couple of times before stopping at Baiona. I know there are several anchorages though in the river and I really need to start trying to save some money so I’ll let the dice choose from six localised options once I’m in the area.

Next stop then… Ria de Vigo

Bee

Rob Clark

W2N Global Ltd.

+44 (0)7967 661157

www.w2n.co.uk